LAKEPORT, Calif. – Thousands of nurses around the Bay Area plan to walk out on May 1 to protest concessions they say Sutter hospitals are seeking at the bargaining table.

An estimated 4,500 registered nurses at eight hospitals will take part in the one-day strike, according to the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United.

Nurses from Sutter Lakeside in Lakeport, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center facilities in Berkeley and Oakland, Mills-Peninsula Health Services hospitals in Burlingame and San Mateo, Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, San Leandro Hospital, Sutter Delta in Antioch, Sutter Solano in Vallejo and Novato Community Hospital will participate, the unions said.

The California Nurses Association’s nurses last went on strike Sept. 22, 2011, as Lake County News has reported.

The latest strike announcement comes as Sutter Lakeside and its union-represented nurses have reached an impasse in negotiations, according to hospital Chief Administrative Officer Siri Nelson.

“Unfortunately, I think that’s where we are,” Nelson told Lake County News on Tuesday.

The hospital has been in negotiations with the California Nurses Association for nine months, taking part in 25 bargaining sessions, according to Nelson. The union represents 124 of Sutter Lakeside’s registered nurses.

The plans for the strike also follow Sutter Lakeside’s recent announcements of plans to cut 10 percent of its staff and close its Upper Lake and pain management clinics in order to avoid a multimillion shortfall for the current fiscal year, as Lake County News has reported.

The California Nurses Association said Sutter affiliates are demanding reductions in patient care, nurses’ standards and workplace conditions. In the case of the latter, top issues revolve around sick leave, health benefits, retirement and overtime requirements.

The union said that Sutter is making the demands despite making more than $4 billion in profit since 2007, giving Chief Executive Officer Pat Fry a 215-percent salary hike to more than $4 million annually last year and paying its top 21 executives more than $1 million each annually.

Nelson said Sutter Lakeside Hospital will remain open for business as usual on May 1, with trained nurses ready to fill in for striking nurses.

“Patient care and patient safety is our No. 1 priority,” she said.

Nelson said the hospital is contracting with a temporary service agency to bring in qualified registered nurses.

The agency’s shortest minimum contract requirement is five days, which will mean that striking nurses will not be able to return to work until the five-day period ends, Nelson said.

“Unfortunately, Sutter Lakeside Hospital is not in a position to double pay for service,” said Nelson.

The practice of bringing in such an agency – which has been done previously – rankles the union.

California Nurses Association spokesman Chuck Idelson questioned why the hospital needed to lock out nurses and said he didn’t believe Nelson’s statement about a minimum contract length.

Nelson said the hospital doesn’t know how many nurses may participate in the strike. “It changes minute by minute.”

Idelson said he believes that most of those nurses will take part in the May 1 strike.

Idelson accused Sutter Lakeside management of pursuing takeaways such as ending benefits for registered nurses who work part-time and forcing other nurses to work overtime, which he called “a very dangerous practice.”

Contract negotiations stall

Nelson said Sutter Lakeside’s contract with its nurses expired Aug. 31, 2011.

She said the hospital began negotiations six months before the contract was to end, and with the help of a federal mediator reached agreement on noneconomic proposals.

When it got to the economic proposals, she said the process stalled, with the union not offering any written economic counter proposals.

“Really, this is all about money,” she said.

“It’s really sad to me that CNA is calling for a strike against a small rural hospital that is working hard to stabilize its financials” and be able to stay in the community, Nelson said.

Nelson, who called the situation “extremely frustrating,” said Sutter Lakeside offers a competitive wage package, very generous health benefits and a fully funded pension plan.

Regarding the latter, she said, “I don’t know any other health care system that can make that claim,” adding that it’s a commitment of the organization.

Nelson said Sutter Lakeside’s nurses have received an overall 27-percent pay increase over the past four years. “And now I’m in a position to have to lay people off.”

Idelson called the claim about money being the union’s main issue a “smoke screen” used to divert attention from Sutter’s attempts to cuts services and work standards.

“The strike is not about wage increases the nurses are seeking,” Idelson said, adding that if Sutter is concerned about wages that it should look at its top executives.

The union accused Sutter Lakeside of planning to close its home health services. Nelson replied, “Sutter Lakeside Hospital has not done home health services in years so I’m not really sure what they’re talking about.”

The hospital also isn’t planning to limit acute-care hospital stays, as the union has claimed, according to Nelson, who said, “we treat people for as long as its clinically appropriate.”

Nelson said the hospital presented its last, best and final offer to the union on March 27.

“We’ve asked the union for a counter proposal,” Nelson said. “We have not received it.”

According to a summary of the offer’s highlights presented to staff and shared with Lake County News, Sutter Lakeside is offering ratification bonuses for registered nurses; 1-percent across the board increases one year after ratification and an additional 1 percent two years after ratification; step increases beginning one year after ratification; no-premium health benefit options for registered nurses and their families; employer contributions to a fully funded employee pension plan; between 19 minimum and 48 maximum paid days off; an increase in the retiree health care spending account to $30,000; and rewards for professional development.

Nelson said she went “all in” on the March 27 offer, adding, “we don’t have any more money, there is nothing else.”

Idelson did not have information on any union counterproposal, and also could not say if the union had presented the offer to its members.

However, he said the nurses at Sutter Lakeside voted to take part in the strike.

He said the union was able to conclude negotiations with hospitals in Marin and Santa Rosa after management there withdrew concessions requests.

Sutter, he said, should do the same, saying it’s a multibillion dollar Wall Street corporation.

“We’re not dealing with a mom and pop hospital here that’s on the verge of going belly up,” Idelson said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .