The nurses union at University Medical Center, which formed late last year, announced Tuesday (Sept. 24) that its members will vote on whether to strike after months of what union members say are stagnant contract negotiations with LCMC Health, the private nonprofit group that manages the public hospital.
Negotiations between LCMC and the nurses union began in March, with members pushing for increased compensation, benefits and safety measures. Nurses on the bargaining team told Verite News they are striking because management has given them no choice. An LCMC spokesperson did not immediately provide a comment on the plan for a strike vote.
Nurses have yet to set a date for the strike vote. If a majority of members vote to strike, they must give LCMC 10 days notice so that the hospital can make arrangements or renew negotiations with the union.
Hailey Dupré, a registered nurse at UMC who is on the bargaining team is worried that LCMC will accuse the union of abandoning their patients.
“We don’t want to leave our patients, but we want…them to do the right thing by us that is also right by the patients,” Dupré said.