TUCSON, Ariz. — The first nurses strike in Arizona's history. Today nurses at St. Joseph's and St. Mary's hospitals in Tucson have been on strike all day starting early this morning.
A 24-hour strike incited 5,400 nurses in the country, including 900 of them in Tucson, according to National Nurses United (NNU).
St. Joseph's and St. Mary's are joined by two other hospitals in Florida and eight more in California. All share the same parent company, Tenant Health Network, that nurses are demanding change from.
"Here at St. Joseph's Hospital, for example, our staffing grids for the Progressive Care Unit, the PCU, which is the unit one step below the ICU, currently allows for one nurse to take care of eight patients. Research indicates that an optimal staffing level would actually be one nurse to every three patients in that unit," said Slade, a registered nurse who has worked for St. Joseph's Hospital for four years.
The nurses say they are fighting for a strong contract and urging the hospitals to invest in the recruitment and retention of registered nurses.
"We organized in October, we did hold an informational picket in May. The same things were are fighting for today, are the same things we were fighting for then. So it's just an escalation," said Slade.
NNU is the California-based union representing nurses at St. Joseph's and St. Mary's. Slade said, Tuscon nurses are now following the footsteps of California nurses who advocated for a stable patient-ratio years ago.
"60 years ago when nurses formed the first union, that's what we saw. And California has those ratio laws because of those actions that those first nurses took. So we get to have the opportunity to have that here in Arizona and start that process here," said Slade.
While picketing will end at 7 p.m., the strike officially ends at 7 a.m. Saturday morning.
In a statement from Carondelet Health, which is owned by Tenant Healthcare, a spokesperson said they are "disappointed the union is taking strike action in Tucson," as they are in early negotiations with the local union and have established a "respectful, professional and productive relationship," with the union.
