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Stanford, Packard nurses demand raises
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6-12-2000 Palo Alto, Calif. Nearly 1,700 nurses went on strike at Stanford Hospital and Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital late last week. Kim Griffin, RN, spokeswoman for the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement, said the last two contracts that nurses accepted were "way below" the cost of living. Griffin, a 12-year employee at Stanford in the radiation and oncology unit, pointed out that the Palo Alto area has the most expensive housing market in the nation. "There were counterproposals going on through the night," said Melodie Jackson, Stanford University Medical Center spokeswoman. Nurses are demanding an 11.5 percent pay raise the first year and 9.5 percent the second year. When Stanford’s offer of a 4 percent raise for each of the two years came in, nurses walked out, Jackson said. Nurses’ wages start at $25.50 an hour at Stanford, Griffin said. "The strike will continue indefinitely," she said. "We’re trying to help the hospital make a good decision this time, to put the money into RNs and good patient care. " Jackson said, "The low-risk patients have been transferred to hospitals such as the University of California at San Francisco and Children’s Hospital Oakland." About 500 nurses from the U.S. Nursing Corp. were brought in to substitute for striking nurses. Jackson said the hospital plans to use other temporary nurse agencies as well, if the strike continues.
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