Hospital strike narrowly averted

A five-day nurses' strike at a Camarillo and Oxnard hospital had been set to begin Sunday but was called off earlier this week.

The 1,400 nurses represented by SEIU Local 121RN had planned to strike Sunday through Thursday at Camarillo's St. John's Pleasant Valley Hospital, St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard and a Northridge hospital, all owned by SanFranciscobased Catholic Healthcare West, but called it off Tuesday after a federal mediator called both sides back to the bargaining table.

"We're obviously very pleased that they have," CHW spokesperson Jill Dryer said.

Union representative Chris Slane said the Tuesday meeting was productive, and he thinks a contract could be in place by Saturday.

The nurses have been working without a contract since midJune and both sides had been meeting for two months with a federal mediator when the Oct. 7 strike notice was delivered to hospital administrators.

The union had taken issue with support staff cutbacks that have resulted in more clerical and administrative duties for nurses, taking them away from patient care, and the hospitals' unsafe practice of "floating" nurses, sending them to work in specialty medical units for which they are untrained, Slane said.

Contract talks also broke down over wages.

Nurses want salaries they feel are comparable to hospitals outside the CHW system, Slane said.

Dryer said those details and those concerns will be worked out at the negotiating table.

Catholic Healthcare West, which operates 41 hospitals in three states, is California's largest nonprofit hospital provider and the eighth largest hospital system in the nation.