Nurses to protest cuts to staffing that jeopardizes patient care

Registered nurses who work at Alameda and San Leandro hospitals in Alameda County, Calif., will hold a rally and speak-out at the Alameda Health Systems (AHS) Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 18, to highlight their patient safety concerns, including cuts to staffing, and AHS's failure to meaningfully address these serious issues during bargaining, announced California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) today.

"We have been bargaining for a new contract since December of 2023 and working without a contract since April of this year," said Mawata Kamara, RN in the emergency department at San Leandro Hospital. "Throughout negotiations, our goal has been to address the working conditions that drive us away from the bedside, so we can retain experienced nurses and attract new ones. Unfortunately, AHS has neglected to take this process seriously."

For the last ten months, nurses have proposed improvements to workplace violence safety, improved staffing, and protections to ensure technology is used to enhance nursing practice, not undermine nurses' ability to provide safe patient care. Nurses say AHS has failed to address nurses' staffing concerns; instead, management has focused on cost-cutting measures and the closure of entire surgical units at Alameda Hospital.

Who:    RNs at San Leandro and Alameda Hospitals

What:   Rally and Speak Out for Safe Staffing

When:  Wednesday, Sept. 18, rally 4:30-4:50 p.m., speak-out at AHS Board of Trustees Meeting 5-5:30 p.m.

Where: Wilma Chan Highland Hospital Campus, 1411 E. 31st St., Oakland, CA 94602

"After all this time and little movement at the bargaining table, we're taking our concerns directly to AHS decision makers: the Board of Trustees and AHS executive leadership," said Linda Strack, RN in the operating room at Alameda Hospital. "We are calling on the AHS Board of Trustees to support nurses' bargaining demands for the highest standards in patient safety. It's time they meaningfully address our concerns, so that we can best serve our patients and community."

CNA represents more than 350 registered nurses at Alameda and San Leandro hospitals combined.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and nearly 225,000 RNs nationwide.