Nurses on strike at eight Bay Area hospitals are wrapping up their ten-day action as their union makes plans to support two Democrats vying for open state seats in moderate Republican districts.
The California Nurses Association has had 4,000 of their 80,000 members picketing the Sutter Health medical facilities since March 21. This is CNA’s third strike against Sutter since November and it ends Sunday. The CNA is known for aggressive public actions like this and over the years it also has protested Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger when he’s appeared at various women or health-related events, loudly promoting bills he has opposed such as single-payer health care.
This year the nurses union also is backing two Democrats vying for open seats which are being vacated by Republicans:
“We only need two more Democrats in the senate and six more in the assembly to have a two-thirds Democratic majority,” said CNA legislative director Donna Gerber, who spent six years as a Contra Costa County supervisor.
“When there are budget cuts those budget cuts pretty much happen in health care and education. So for sure we are supporting Hannah-Beth Jackson and Joan Buchanan. Those are two that we’re putting a lot of our energy into.”
The CNA plans what Gerber called, “traditional actions of notifying our membership,” about the candidates and other grassroots help from local nurses.
“What’s special to us about these races is that currently they’re Republican-held seats,” she said. “These are districts where if a good candidate runs a really good race and has a lot of support, they have a very good chance of winning.”
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