November 29, 2018
City News Service
A threatened strike by Los Angeles County emergency room nurses and nurse practitioners was averted tonight, county Chief Executive Officer Sachi A. Hamai said.
“Los Angeles County is gratified that the bargaining committee of SEIU Local 721 has reached a tentative agreement with the county,” Hamai said.
“This means that the county’s registered nurses will remain on the job, serving vulnerable patients who depend on them and preventing widespread service disruptions that a strike would have caused across our massive health care system.
“This is a win for the county and its nurses, and most of all for the hundreds of thousands of people who turn to us for health care every day.
“Following ratification of this agreement by the members of SEIU 721, the county looks forward to moving forward in a collaborative effort to continue providing our broad array of medical and public health services that so many of our constituents rely on.”
A representative of Service Employees International Union Local 721 delivered a 10-day strike authorization notice at the Nov. 13 Board of Supervisors meeting after 98 percent of the more than 7,000 nurses represented by the local voted to authorize an unfair labor practice strike.
The local claimed the county was violating labor laws by not complying with legally mandated nurse-to-patient safety ratios.