Hundreds of Ascension nurses in Wichita hold one-day strike amid contract negotiations
Nurses at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis and St. Joseph went on strike Wednesday.
The one-day strike, the second of this year, comes as Ascension and nurses negotiate the first contract after nurses at both hospitals unionized with National Nurses United.
The roughly 650 nurses at St. Francis and 300 at St. Joseph will join roughly 700 nurses, who are also amid a first contract negotiation since unionizing, at Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin, Texas.
Nurses in Wichita say that Ascension has prioritized profits and has created unsafe conditions for nurses and patients.
Ascension did not immediately respond to questions. It has said it has hired contract nurses to cover for the strike days.
One of the specific complaints nurses have is floating nurses specialized in one area of the hospital to another. Marvin Ruckle, a neonatal intensive care unit at St. Joseph, said putting a nurse who specializes in women delivering babies with psychiatric patients is dangerous for both the nurse and patient.
“There is no limit to where you can be floated,” he said Tuesday evening from a sign making gathering at the UA Local 441 Plumbers & Pipefitters in west Wichita.
Ruckle, who planned to protest Wednesday, said that Ascension had made some concessions in their negotiations, but he would not say specifics.
“They are just kind of dragging their feet on everything,” he said, adding the nurses “want to get this contract done. It has been dragging out for a while.”
He added: “(The nurses) realize we have to make Ascension take notice and this is the best way we know how.”
Nurses plan to protest outside of their hospitals from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nurses, just like in the June 27 one-day strike, will not be able to return to work for the three days after the strike. The earliest they can go back to work is Sunday.
Ascension said the contracted nurses they hire require that long of work period. Ascension has not said who the contract is through or provided a copy of it. The National Nurses Organizing Commission, an affiliate of National Nurses United, has called the waiting period a scare tactic.
Ascension, a Catholic, not-for-profit health care system, is one of the largest health care systems in the country, with roughly 139,000 employees and hospitals in about 19 states. The company had more than $1 billion in cash in the fiscal year ending June 30.
