Nurses union must pay Riverside Community Hospital more than $6 million for 2020 strike

A Riverside hospital nurses union has been ordered to pay millions of dollars for a 2020 strike.

A federal arbitrator ordered the Service Employees International Union 121RN to pay $6.26 million in damages to Riverside Community Hospital because the 10-day strike was illegal.

The union says nurses felt compelled to raise the alarm because the hospital’s practices were failing to ensure the safety of staff, patients and the community just three months into the COVID pandemic. They say they have suffered from staff shortages and a lack of personal protective equipment while hospital floors have been overwhelmed with seriously ill patients.

The hospital, however, claims that all health facilities were overwhelmed during the pandemic and that nurses were told four years ago that the strike was illegal.

Union members disagree with the decision, especially since healthcare workers across the United States were hailed as heroes in the early stages of the pandemic.

The Federal Court concluded that the strike was a breach of the union’s collective bargaining agreement. The money will be used to cover the cost of replacing workers who stopped work for safety reasons during the industrial action.

Months after the strike, the hospital was still so overwhelmed that the National Guard had to send in a team to help. The hospital claims this is a nationwide problem.

“Our contract was clear, and the union’s call for a strike showed reckless disregard for its members and the Riverside community,” HCA Healthcare said in a statement. “We welcome the arbitrator’s decision.”

SEIU 121RN, which plans to appeal the ruling, also issued a statement saying:

“Healthcare workers have made tremendous sacrifices to protect their communities during the pandemic – including overcoming their fear of retaliation for telling the truth about what was happening inside hospital walls. Punishing them for this is a violation of the free speech rights of all workers.”