Asheville Mission nurses strike? Strikes in North Carolina, Florida and Texas

July 5, 2024

ASHEVILLE – A possible nurses’ strike at Mission Hospital would likely be accompanied by strikes at numerous other hospitals, all owned by the nation’s largest health care system, HCA HealthCare, a member of the nurses’ bargaining team said.

Nurses at Mission said they were preparing to go on strike after negotiations with management failed to produce an agreement by the time their three-year contract expires on July 2. Disagreements over pay, staffing and guaranteed meal and bathroom breaks remained, nurses said.

“We think you should also know that we are negotiating 17 different contracts with different HCA hospitals in different states, including North Carolina, Florida, Nevada, Kansas, Missouri and Texas. I would say strikes are likely at multiple hospitals. So we will not be striking alone,” said nurse and member of the union’s collective bargaining unit Mark Klein in a video posted on the local union’s Facebook page.

A spokesperson for Mission HCA declined to comment on potential strikes in several states or their impact on HCA. The Tennessee-based company bought the former nonprofit Mission in 2019 for $1.5 billion, and nurses formed a union a year later.

According to Becker’s Hospital Review, 2,400 nurses at HCA hospitals in California went on strike last year, citing workplace violence and staff shortages.

The Citizen Times contacted Klein through National Nurses United, but a spokesman for the California-based union said he was unavailable. Another bargaining unit member, Kelly Coward, spoke to the Citizen Times on July 3 and said while contracts are being negotiated at several HCA hospitals, nothing is “set in stone” regarding a strike.

Still, nurses at the mission are being told they must work extra shifts to prepare for unpaid strikes, Coward said.

“We’ve told people to maybe work an extra day over the next few weeks and put the money aside to prepare for a strike,” Coward said.

Although the nurses said they would only strike for one day, Coward acknowledged that the hospital could lock them out for longer.

In addition, strike promises are being circulated as a preview of a possible vote on authorizing a strike, Klein said in the video.

“In other hospitals where a majority of nurses sign these strike commitments, that’s a very strong escalation on our part that makes HCA pause or at least make them take us seriously because they know a strike is possible,” he said.

Rallies for nurses

On June 5, Mission nurses held a rally to make their demands known. According to union press releases, similar rallies have been held at HCA facilities in Florida. On June 26, nurses from the Orlando area gathered, and on July 2, nurses from the western city of Largo demonstrated.

The demands were similar. Nurses in Florida protested against what they considered missed meal and rest breaks as well as staff shortages.

“When nurses are out, there’s a problem inside,” Keosha Morris, a nurse at HCA Florida Largo Hospital, said in one of the union statements. “We stand together to assert our contract rights against this greedy corporation.”

At Mission, nurses will continue to work under the terms of the expired contract without a new agreement. Negotiations are expected to continue, with the next collective bargaining session scheduled for July 16.

However, the bargaining unit could call a strike vote that could include both the hospital’s union and nonunion nurses, who total 1,600 employees. Coward said she does not currently know how many union nurses are involved. If the nurses approve a strike by vote, the union must give the hospital 10 days’ notice, according to federal law.

“If NNU leadership decides to strike, Mission Hospital will remain open,” Mission/HCA spokeswoman Nancy Lindell told the Citizen Times on July 3, adding that the hospital has already taken steps to finalize contracts with striking nurses.

“We will not compromise our commitment to exceptional patient care and safety as the destination for advanced clinical services in the region,” Lindell said.

Different accounts for salary increases

On salaries, both sides have accused each other of making misrepresentations. Klein and Coward said HCA offered a 3.5 percent raise over three years, an amount they said would not keep pace with inflation. But Lindell, the Mission/HCA spokeswoman, said many nurses would receive an overall raise of between 11.5 and 12.5 percent.

“It is disappointing but not surprising that they are deliberately misrepresenting our proposal to pursue their own interests,” Lindell said. “We would be disappointed in the leadership of National Nurses United if they decided to strike. Given the serious effort we have put into negotiations since mid-April, this is absolutely unnecessary.”

Coward said she “didn’t know” where Lindell got her numbers.

“With the wage share, we want to attract new nurses who want to work at Mission and stay. Life in Asheville is expensive, and 3.5% is not enough for that,” she said, pointing out that there are 400 open positions.

According to Coward, points on which the parties have agreed or are close to agreement include limiting the use of artificial intelligence to avoid replacing nursing staff and improving measures to reduce violence against nursing staff and patients.

The possible strike comes after Mission was sanctioned for what state and federal regulators say were deficiencies in staffing and other areas that led to patient deaths.

More: New NC rules for “unregulated” Mission/HCA healthcare monopoly? Legislators: Review options

Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years and covers politics, government and other news. He has written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Have a tip? Contact Burgess at [email protected], 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.