Nurses at Tenet Healthcare hospitals in three states stage one-day strike over wages
Registered nurses staged a one-day strike Friday against Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare's hospitals in Florida, California and Arizona, demanding better working conditions and higher wages as the nation's labor movement has begun flexing muscles weakened by decades of declining membership amid business and government attacks.
About 6,500 National Nurses United members walked out at 12 Tenet facilities after working toward a first contract for a year in Arizona and under expired contracts for months in California and Florida, the union said. They plan to resume working Saturday. Members also passed out leaflets in Texas, where contracts at two Tenet hospitals in El Paso expire later this year.
The Tenet walkout is one of several strikes and organizing efforts nationwide as unions work to rebuild from a steep membership decline that began 50 years ago. Many are focusing on white-collar, female-dominated and service-sector industries such as health care, teaching and the media and not just blue-collar, male-dominated industries like manufacturing, where the United Auto Workers is striking against General Motors. A recent Gallup poll showed Americans support unions by a 2-to-1 margin, up from a near split 10 years ago and nearly the highest level since the 1960s.
About 30 nurses picketed outside Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, Florida, during intermittent rain Friday morning. They waved red flags with a white N and carried signs with such slogans as "Happy RNs (equals) Healthy Patients."
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/health-care/2019/09/20/nurses-at-tenet-healthcare-hospitals-in-three-states-stage-one-day-strike-over-wages/