Red Cross Blood Bank Nurses, Technicians May Strike

As nurses and technicians who work for Red Cross blood banks in Los Angeles and Orange counties prepared for a possible strike today, hospitals Wednesday scrambled to develop alternative sources of blood.

The Red Cross provides 450,000 pints of blood each year to an estimated 200 hospitals in the two counties--90% of the annual supply, according to Red Cross spokeswoman Gerry Sohle.

Spokesmen for various hospitals differed in their opinions of how serious a problem a strike would create in the short term but generally agreed a long strike could create serious difficulties.

Teresa Conrow, a spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union, Local 535, which represents 225 Red Cross nurses and technicians, said the employees are prepared to strike because the union and agency are far apart on several important issues in negotiations. The union is seeking a 7% wage increase and an increase in staffing that would reduce the ratio of patients to nurses.

Top-scale registered nurses at the Red Cross earn $26,942 annually, and licensed vocational nurses earn $18,840. Conrow said the vocational nurses’ pay should be raised close to that of the registered nurses because they do “essentially the same work” at the blood banks.

Tuesday night, the nurses voted by a 6-1 margin to strike today if a satisfactory contract has not been reached. Their old contract expired at midnight Tuesday.

The two sides resumed negotiations Wednesday afternoon at the behest of federal mediator Frank Allen.

Ralph Wright, a spokesman for the Los Angeles-Orange County Red Cross Regional Blood Program, said that if the nurses and technicians strike, the center plans to use administrative personnel who have been trained in the procedures performed by the striking personnel. He said the blood supply “is in excess of 100% of desirable levels” for all blood types.

The center collects and processes about 1,500 pints of blood a day at its nine permanent stations in the two counties and from mobile units that visit about 28 locations daily.

Hospital officials said they would reduce elective surgeries and recruit blood donations from staff members and relatives of patients to make up any shortage.