Striking Hospital Workers Return

Striking health care employees at Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center ended their planned four-day walkout Monday but vowed to continue efforts to secure higher wages and other improvements.

“The workers have shown they are together on this and are not going to back down,” said Blanca Gallegos, spokeswoman for Local 399 of Service Employees International Union, which represents most hospital staff.

Almost 200 people--employees and supporters--signaled the end of the strike Monday evening with a boisterous rally and vigil outside the hospital’s emergency room entrance on Vermont Avenue.

Nurses, lab technicians, therapists and other staff launched the strike Friday in an attempt to put pressure on hospital administration to increase its wage and benefit offer. The union’s last contract expired May 13, and negotiations between the two sides broke down a week later.

Hospital management brought in 150 replacement nurses and other workers to fill the void, said Gregory Monette, a spokesman for the medical center.

“We welcome our workers back, and we look forward to working together with them,” Monette said.

Union representatives said the replacement care led to many patient complaints at the 434-bed facility. But the hospital spokesman said operations ran smoothly. The two sides also disagreed on how many employees are represented by the union.

According to the union, higher wages are needed to make the facility competitive with other area hospitals and attract and retain staff members. Pay for registered nurses ranges from $21 to $29 an hour, compared with $27 to $36 an hour at other hospitals, said Jeanne Estanislao, who said she has been a nurse at Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian for 20 years.

“We’re losing people all the time,” said Estanislao, who charged that the nurse to patient ratio was excessive and unsafe.

The hospital spokesman said wages were competitive with other similar hospitals. He said the hospital did not skimp on patient care, despite dealing with a nationwide nursing shortage.

The union rejected the hospital’s last contract offer, which included an 11% raise over two years.

Management was notified of the planned strike in advance. Union leaders say another walkout is possible if management does not come up with an improved offer. The workers were not paid for their missed days but received limited compensation from the union.

The hospital spokesman said management was open to negotiating anew with the union.

“We didn’t want to see a strike; we just responded to it,” Monette said.