Nurses union to pay HCA Healthcare $6.2M over 2020 strike

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Source: Modern Healthcare
Author: Hayley Desliva
Date: June 19, 2024

A local unit of SEIU has been ordered to pay HCA Healthcare's Riverside Community Hospital $6.2 million for conducting a 10-day strike in 2020.

An arbitrator last month ordered the payment after it was found last year that nurse labor union SEIU Local 121RN violated a collective bargaining agreement with the hospital by holding the strike in June 2020.

The union said it plans to appeal the decision.

HCA applauded the decision, saying the contract language was clear.

The damages will be used to replenish costs of hiring additional workers to help curb staffing issues caused by the strike, according to a news release from the Riverside, California hospital.

The strike began after nurses alleged working conditions at the 517-bed Riverside Community Hospital were unsafe due to low staffing, which they alleged existed before the COVID-19 pandemic worsened conditions, and a lack of personal protection equipment. The hospital denied the allegations.