[Online Exclusive] Judge blocks scheduled UC nurses’ strike

A judge’s order has blocked the University of California
nurses’ scheduled July 21 strike, requiring the nurses’
union and the UC to attend legal proceedings in August before a
strike can be reconsidered.

On July 8, UC nurses announced their intention to hold a one-day
strike. The nurses, represented by the California Nurses
Association, emphasized their desire for a secure pension plan,
guaranteed staffing ratios and wage increases, and said the
university was bargaining in bad faith.

UC representatives said the university has been bargaining in
good faith, but said the CNA’s strike plan itself was
illegal, as contract negotiations are still officially
underway.

Earlier this week, the UC took the issue to the state Public
Employment Relations Board, which found in favor of the UC and
filed a complaint against the strike on Tuesday.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining
order on Wednesday, just one day before the CNA’s scheduled
strike date.

The temporary restraining order calls for the CNA to stop
sanctioning the Thursday strike and for the UC to refrain from
taking any retaliatory action against employees involved in the
strike plans. The restraining order is in effect until a
preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for August 11.

The CNA has cancelled its planned strike, instead planning to
hold pickets and rallies on Thursday, a decision that is agreeable
to the UC.

“So far as it’s peaceful and lawful “¦ we
don’t have a problem with that,” UC spokesman Paul
Schwartz said.

But the CNA maintains that the strike would have been legal,
were it not for the temporary restraining order, and that the
university’s recent actions have widened the rift between the
UC and the nurses.

“The strike was planned in response to certain violations
of labor law that the UC committed during negotiations,” said
CNA spokeswoman Liz Jacobs.

“Because of these unfair labor practices, we believe we
acted legally in calling a strike.”

“UC nurses are outraged that the University would go to
court to block their democratic right to strike,” said CNA
Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro in a Wednesday press release,
adding that this is “an action taken against no other UC
employee.”

Schwartz said hospital employees should not fear retaliation
even after the temporary restraining order ends.

“We don’t take retaliatory action, period,”
Schwartz said, adding that the systemwide attendance policy
continues to apply to all employees regardless of strike
involvement.

Earlier this year, UC workers from three other unions staged
one-day strikes, one of which the university called unlawful.

Schwartz said that the Public Employment Relations Board has
never before sought an injunction against a union for striking.

“That fact, combined with the temporary restraining order
that was issued today, signals the seriousness of the CNA’s
activities,” Schwartz said.

Both the UC and the CNA have said that they hope the current
situation will reopen contract negotiations.

“We hope that, in the interests of UC patients and nurses,
the union will return to the bargaining table,” said Howard
Pripas, executive director of UC labor relations, in a Wednesday
press release.

“We haven’t been at the bargaining table since July
8,” Jacobs said. “We’re eager to get
back.”

The strike would have affected UC medical centers at six
universities.

“I am absolutely pleased that we will be able to provide
full services in our hospitals,” UC President Robert Dynes
said.

No further negotiations had been scheduled as of Wednesday.

With reports from Bruin wire services and Melinda Dudley,
Bruin senior staff.