Registered nurses at Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital in Marina del Rey, Calif. will hold a three-day strike starting Dec. 24, 2023, announced California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU). Currently in contract negotiations, striking nurses will protest Cedars-Sinai management’s attempts to take away nurses’ bargaining rights.

“During Covid-19, nurses made a lot of sacrifices to give more, more, and more to our patients and the hospital despite limited resources and an RN staffing crisis,” said Sophia Sabido, RN, and member of the bargaining team. She works in emergency room case management. “After all we have given up already, they want to take away our basic rights. Instead of respecting our contributions and our union rights, Cedars-Sinai now wants to have complete power over our wages, benefits, and working conditions.

In negotiations, the hospital has held up a fair contract to extort the nurses’ future bargaining rights.

“Ridiculous management demands like these are driving nurses away from our hospital faster than they can replace – even when there are plenty of nurses to fill open positions,” said Cody Kuok, a post-surgical RN and member of the bargaining team. “We hope management addresses our concerns so that the hospital can be safely staffed, now and in the future.”

• Who:    Registered nurses at Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital
• What:   Three-day strike | Sunday, Dec. 24, 7 a.m. PT to Wednesday, Dec. 27 6:59 a.m. PT
• When:  Rally on Sunday, Dec. 24 at 10 a.m. PT. Nurses will be picketing outside the hospital every day of the strike, from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. PT. 
• Where: Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital, 4650 Lincoln Blvd., Marina del Rey

Marina del Rey nurses have been in contract negotiations since February 2023. They provided the required 10-day advance notice to the hospital about the strike.

Sabido continued: “Nurses work grueling hours on behalf of our patients and our communities, and our ability to rest and recover is essential to quality care. We will not accept any takeaways by Cedar-Sinai that threaten time for ourselves and our families.”

Despite widespread media reports and hospital industry claims, there is no national shortage of nurses. In fact, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, there are over one million registered nurses with active licenses who are choosing not to work at the bedside because of the hospital industry’s unsafe and unsustainable working conditions. More data and information debunking the nurse “shortage” myth can be found here.

Cedars-Sinai recently agreed to the presence of a federal mediator in contract negotiations with CNA nurses. The next bargaining session is scheduled in January 2024. Marina del Rey previously went on strike on Sept. 6, 2023.

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