With contract talks still stalled, Antelope Valley Hospital (AVH) nurses will strike today, Wednesday, Sept. 28, the California Nurses Association announced.

"The nurses are standing together to support excellence in patient care. This is our community, our hospital,” said Amber Miller, RN, noting that over 90 percent of the bargaining unit lives in Antelope Valley. 

The California Nurses association represents approximately 1,000 RNs at AVH—who are striking to draw attention to issues such as safe staffing and retention of experienced nurses. The Sept. 28 strike comes on the heels of management taking a hard line in negotiations, say nurses, putting their patients in jeopardy and pushing for cuts to the RNs’ own livelihood and standards.

"We want to tell Antelope Valley Hospital: protect our patients; invest in your nurses," said Maria Altamirano, RN. “As nurses, we can no longer accept threats to our profession and to our patients.”

Antelope Valley Hospital is managed by Alecto Healthcare, and RNs say that Alecto cutting corners on staffing is coming at a cost to the hospital’s ability to recruit and retain experienced nurses. Nearly 60 RNs have left the hospital in the past year.
 

“Inside the walls of this hospital, we have had our babies, we have lost our loved ones,” said Reymi Updike, RN. “Unlike Alecto, our ties to this hospital and this community run deep. We committed to fair practices for our community and our patients. We need to respect our history and protect our future.”

The strike is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 28 and conclude at 6:59 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 29. The California Nurses Association represents nearly 100,000 registered nurses statewide.