Local News in Brief : Strike Storm-Warning

The union representing 4,000 registered nurses who work in Los Angeles County’s hospitals, clinics and correctional facilities announced Friday that it has requested strike sanction from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO) with the goal of keeping members of other unions from crossing nurses’ picket lines in the event of a strike.

The contract between the nurses and the county expired Sept. 30 and has been extended on a day-to-day basis. The nurses, represented by Service Employees International Union Local 660, have scheduled a strike vote for Thursday.

Sharon Grimple, general manager of Local 660, said nurses who work for the county are paid about 22% less than their private-sector counterparts. Low pay and overcrowded conditions have caused vacancies in close to 20% of the nursing jobs with the county, she said, which results in an increased workload for nurses and a decline in the quality of care they can provide.

Debbie Davenport, co-chair of the nurses bargaining committee, said the nurses have reduced their salary demands to call for increases “to bring county nursing salaries into competition with private hospitals within one year.”