KQED Public Radio
- 7:00am Morning Edition
- 9:00am Forum Bay Area Wins Bid to Host Super Bowl in 2016
Weather/Traffic
News & Public Affairs Programs on KQED
KQED e-Newsletters
Get regular updates on great programs and events
More from KQED
Health
Sutter Health Nursing Strike Under Federal Mediation
A federal mediator is stepping into the negotiations between local union nurses and Sutter Health, owner of Alta Bates Hospital.
Both sides continued bargaining Thursday after the nurses went on their fourth strike Wednesday.
Ann Gaebler is a registered nurse at Alta Bates. She says right now the union and the hospital do not see eye-to-eye on anything. The nurses are protesting what they call “takeaways” from their current contract, and changes to patient care.
"It's very difficult to pick one thing and say this is the thing that is pushing the nurses,” says Gaebler. “It's the whole package."
An Alta Bates Summit Medical Center spokeswoman, Carolyn Kemp, says the package it has offered is intended to keep down costs. The hospital wants to change its sick time policy to combine sick and vacation time, and have nurses pay for some of their healthcare benefits.
