County Nurses Work Past End of Contract
About 5,000 nurses who work in Los Angeles County hospitals have agreed to stay on the job despite the fact that their two-year contact expired Sunday.
“The county is talking,” said nurse Debra Porter, a member of the Local 660 negotiating team of the Service Employees International Union. “We’re not where we want to be, but we’ve been negotiating every day, and we’re making progress.”
However, in a union vote Thursday, nurses set an Oct. 11 deadline for a contract, or they may take to the picket line.
“Our membership voted overwhelmingly to authorize the bargaining committee to do whatever is necessary to get a contract (by Oct. 11), up to and including a strike,” Sharon Grimpe, Local 660 general manager, said.
The nurses have agreed to work day-by-day under the terms of the old contract, officialssaid.
County negotiators could not be reached for comment.
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