Nurse strike possibility came suddenly

Unlike the last round of hospital labor negotiations in 2011, the events that led to a threat of strike by union nurses at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center this week in Santa Fe have been more or less quiet.

It was an easy headline three years ago, with then Mayor David Coss, a labor loyalist, helping to negotiate on behalf of District 1199 nurses in the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees, but the story faded after the union agreed to accept management's final contract offer instead of striking.

In a sharp contrast, during the current round of labor negotiations, the two parties met frequently in private.The union didn't endorse any mayoral candidate as Javier Gonzales took over Coss' seat at City Hall in March.

The union flung allegations in June that management was attempting to muzzle nurses from talking about staffing levels to the public in one of its proposals. But with that language yanked from the deal, and as the July 31 deadline for the expiration of the current contract approached, everything seemed fine following that brief dust-up.

Until last week, when union nurses overwhelmingly rejected the hospital's "best and final offer" while issuing a 10-day notice for a strike on Monday.

Union president Fonda Osborn says the union decided to focus internally on earning support from its members rather than appealing to the general public.

Management hasn't issued scathing statements against the union but has been encouraging it to accept its offer. At issue, again, are hospital staffing levels, which the union says push the limits of caregivers. Meanwhile, the hospital braces for a financial hit that goes with retaining replacement nurses. Hospital spokesman Arturo Delgado notes that even with those plans, Christus plans to return to the bargaining table to "continue good-faith discussions" as both sides have agreed to meet this week.

Santa Fe Reporter