Nurses at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis vote to authorize strike

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Nurses at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis have voted to authorize a strike. The unionized nurses voted 93 percent to make striking an option as contract negotiations continue between the union and the hospital.

For the last few months, the National Nurses United bargaining team and Ascension Via Christi have been meeting to work on a contract. The nurses at St. Francis unionized last November.

“We are willing, we are ready, to meet at this table for a fair contract,” said Shelley Rader, a registered nurse in the emergency room at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis and part of the team for the nurse’s union.

She said bargaining for a new contract is not only critical for staff but for patients and the community. There are three main issues the nurses union is focusing on workplace violence prevention, safe staffing-to-patient ratio and nursing staff recruitment and retention. The strike authorization is the latest step in those ongoing negotiations.

“We would give Ascension a 10-day notice at least to get them prepared to bring in nurses to come and take care of our patients for that one day,” Rader explained.

Ascension Via Christi issued the following statement:

“We continue to bargain in good faith with National Nurses United to come to a mutually beneficial agreement on an initial contract that supports all and will further our combined goal of providing safe, compassionate care to those we serve. We respect our associates’ right to organize themselves through union representation and participate in a strike authorization vote.

This action is disappointing given that our bargaining team and NNU’s continue to work toward an initial collective bargaining agreement and have multiple sessions scheduled through the end of August.

We have not received a 10-day strike notice from NNU. Should we receive an official strike notification, we have a comprehensive contingency plan in place to ensure our patients experience no disruption in care or service.”

Rader said the hospital has been doing the minimum meeting with the union once or twice a month since talks started earlier this year.

Jeremy Hill, Director of the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University, said with the shortage in the labor market. Workers are in a stronger position in general.

“That dynamic goes back to the labor side, which we haven’t had that power for a few years, compared to the last couple of decades,” said Hill.

He also said business leaders tell him, instead of continued wage increases, they’re looking at offering more benefits given the uncertainty around the economy.

“They just want to say, ‘how do we do this without overpromising a wage we can’t deliver on, if the market goes south here as we keep talking about a recession,’” said Hill.

Hill said while nationwide, union membership continues to decline, Kansas saw a sizable increase last year, from 9.2 percent to 9.8 percent. Higher membership, he said, gives unions more leverage.