27 June 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Nurses represented by the National Nurses Union at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis and St. Joseph are on strike Tuesday.
“We had to do that because Ascension has refused to bargain in good faith and give us a contract,” RN at St. Joseph Whitney Steinike said.
Shelley Rader is an emergency room registered nurse at St. Francis and says they have been negotiating with the hospital since February.
“We are upset that Ascension has been dragging their feet at the bargaining table,” Rader said. “Still, as of today, they have not wanted respond to any of the proposals.”
The main things they are asking for in contract negotiations are safe staffing, employee recruitment and retention and workplace violence prevention.
“We’ve had a lot of safety issues, including the patients that got raped at St. Francis,” Steinike said. “The gun going off in the pediatric unit, working short-staffed in deplorable conditions and not having the resources to do our job. Something as simple as buying a box of crayons for the adolescent unit, they can’t even provide that.”
Nurses strike at St. Francis:
Rader says they have been in a staffing crisis for years.
“There is 20,000 registered nurses in the state of Kansas that are not at bedside,” Rader said. “That means there’s plenty of nurses that Ascension could go and recruit.”
“They refuse to work in deplorable conditions that put their license at risk,” Steinike said. “When you have so many patients to take care of, we’ve been left with one nurse for 14 patients on my unit.”
Steinike says Ascension won’t hire staff, including security.
“Anybody could just walk into the hospital, which is why we had those multiple incidents happen, and they still refuse to hire security and provide them with a living wage,” Steinike said.
Nurses strike at St. Joseph:
Steinike says they have had over 20 sessions and proposed a 52-page contract.
“They have given us zero counter to our contract,” Steinike said. “The hospital has been treating us horrible. And we have not gotten anything back on our contract. We have tried to speak to management. We have had the door shut in our face, been locked out and had security called on us even when we needed to talk about a safety issue.”
The NNU is holding a 1-day strike, but they will not go back to work until July 1.
“Very disappointing that the nurses out here who are standing up for our patients are not allowed to be back in the building,” Steinike said.
Ascension Via Christi released the following statement:
While as a ministry of the Catholic Church, we affirm the right of our associates to organize, we are disappointed that National Nurses United made the decision to proceed with a strike, especially given the hardship this presents for our associates and their families, and the concern this action may cause our patients and their loved ones.
Patient safety is our top priority, and Ascension Via Christi remains open and well prepared to continue to provide patient-centered, holistic careduring this unfortunate strike. We have a comprehensive plan in place to ensure there is no disruption in service for those who are entrusted to our care.
Ascension Via Christi is following national best practice for implementing a strike contingency plan that is compliant with The Joint Commission, OSHA, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In order to fulfill our commitment to uninterrupted quality care for our patients, we have contracted with a staffing agency that specializes in work stoppage events and has provided us with a full complement of highly skilled and credentialed registered nurses.
Regardless of the planned duration of this disappointing strike, we are contractually required to commit to a minimum of four days of work for any registered nursing staff replaced, starting from the first day of the strike. Ascension Via Christi registered nurses who choose to work today are not being replaced and may work their regularly scheduled shifts during the contractual replacement period. Any registered nurse who chooses not to work today will be temporarily replaced and can return to their scheduled shifts beginning the morning of July 1, 2023, as soon as our replacement agency contractual obligation is fulfilled. This decision is guided by our commitment to safe, high-quality, compassionate care for our patients, and our fidelity to the virtue of justice and the appropriate stewardship of resources.
Notwithstanding this disheartening strike, we will continue to negotiate in good faith to come to a mutually beneficial agreement on an initial contract that respects the human dignity and rights of all. We look forward to returning the focus to resolving issues at the bargaining table and reaching agreement on a fair and reasonable collective bargaining agreement for our registered nurses.”
Ascension Via Christi
Union nurses will try to return to work on June 28, starting with the 7 a.m. shift. Negotiations will resume in July.