The State : Hospital Strike Continues

Members of Local 250, Hospital and Institutional Workers Union, continued their strike against 27 Kaiser Permanente hospitals and clinics in Northern California, while management employees and physicians handled emergency cases, tended patients, ran tests and dispensed drugs. A spokesman for Kaiser said routine appointments and elective surgery have been suspended but all emergency cases will be treated and admitted if necessary. The union, which represents 9,000 Kaiser employees, struck after negotiators said they had reached an impasse on management demands for a three-year wage freeze coupled with a two-tier wage system for all newly hired employees.