University Medical Center nurses hold a one-day strike for decent contract

New Orleans, LA – On October 25, nurses at University Medical Center gathered on the corner of Canal and Galvez Streets for a one-day strike to demand safe staffing ratios, workplace safety protections, higher pay and improved benefits.

The strike began at 7 a.m. on Friday, when nurses joined the picket line outside the hospital. They were joined by dozens of community members, chanting loudly and proudly as they marched. Chants included “What do we want? A contract! When do we want it? Now!” Some signs read “If nurses are outside, there’s something wrong inside.”

The crowd was filled with energy, with music blasting and people dancing together. “It feels so uplifting to be out here standing together surrounded by our community,” said Zoe Krulak-Palmer, a nurse with National Nurses United (NNU). “Nursing working conditions are patient care conditions.”

University Medical Center nurses successfully unionized in December of last year. University Medical Center was the first private hospital in the state of Louisiana to successfully unionize with an 82% majority. They have been in negotiations with hospital management since March, with no progress on key issues. “We had hoped to avoid the strike, but the hospital left us with no other choice,” Krulak-Palmer said.

While many of the recent strikes in the country have been from an economic stance, the nurses at UMC are striking for better conditions for their patients. The nurses argue that while they give their all for their patients, the hospital does not give them adequate resources, short staffs nurses and leaves them without proper security.

“I have been a nurse at UMC for 18 years and have witnessed the change from a focus on patient care to profit over the years,” said Heidi Tuiague, a nurse on the bargaining team for National Nurses United. “Patients should always be our number one priority.”

The 24-hour strike was set to end at 7 a.m. on Saturday. At that time, as the nurses gathered and walked over to the hospital, they found the entrance locked with hospital security behind the doors. When the nurses walked over to a different entrance, security officers shut and locked the doors right in their faces. One of the nurses exclaimed, “We want to go in and treat our patients, but you are not letting us in!” The buses which brought the strike-breaking travel nurses were still parked right outside that same entrance.

It is clear that University Medical Center does not care about the community nor about employees. The hospital knew that the strike would last only 24 hours, but still chose to punish the striking nurses by not letting them back to work. The hospital chose to keep using the more expensive temporary labor from traveling nurses, who are unfamiliar with the hospital and with its patients.

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