Unfair Practice Charge filed against Washington Hospital for interfering with striking nurses’ labor rights

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) has filed an official Unfair Practice Charge (UPC) against Washington Hospital Healthcare System (WHHS) for attempting to interfere with and restrain union-represented nurses from exercising their right to strike for one day on May 1.

Nurses gave notice of their one-day strike to Washington Hospital management on Monday, April 22, in order to enable management to make appropriate plans for safe patient care in the striking nurses' absence. The new UPC was filed the next day, after management invoked an unlawful no-strike clause, claiming the provision barred nurses from striking. Despite this claim, the right to strike for public-sector workers in California, such as the nurses at Washington Hospital, is protected under existing legal precedent.

The new charge was filed with the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), the state agency that enforces and administers collective bargaining rights for the state's public-sector workers. Similar to an Unfair Labor Practice charge filed with the National Labor Relations Board, a UPC documents violations of California public-sector workers' labor rights, such as attempting to restrain them from engaging in a strike.

Nurses will move forward with their planned strike. Washington Hospital RNs will hand-deliver notice of their strike to the WHHS Board of Directors and will be available for press interviews afterwards outside Washington Hospital (2000 Mowry Ave. in Fremont, California) around 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Nurses at Washington Hospital have been in negotiations since April 2023 for a new contract. CNA remains ready and willing to mediate an agreement, but will not abide unlawful attempts to interfere with members' labor activity or restrain members from exercising protected labor rights.

CNA/NNU represents around 840 nurses at the Fremont, California, hospital.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and nearly 225,000 RNs nationwide.