Sutter of Calif. does it again...

Testa Rosa, RN · Jan 21, 2014

Sutter just restructured Alta Bates in a private, poorly managed and unilateral rebid process. Within a week, they have left many nurses stripped of hours and benefits without having the decency to let them know where they have been placed or if they even have a job next week--many nurses found out where they were placed by the grapevine when schedules were posted. At the very same time, Sutter is advertising for hundreds of "temporary workers." This is part of their "Go Lean" strategy as if health care was an assembly line.

All along, this facility has been short staffing it's units to dangerous levels. Clearly Sutter is a corporate bully who believes it's above the law. That it does not need to honor it's contracts or have the decency to treat it's workers with a modicum of respect. It has a right to restructure and to lay off and I am open to new ways of scheduling that saves money--but the way they are going about it is pure EVIL. They are placing former full time staff into weekend only 0.4 positions with little notice or time to obtain benefits/income elsewhere. Single family income earners are at wits end--and it's difficult to get work when all your weekends are scheduled as you need one week end available for the other facility. They are too cheap to lay off so they placed people in these unworkable schedules like a mom friend of mine who was doing 3 12's and now is 8hr dats 1.0 FTE--who wants to work at this awful facility 5 days a week? Nobody but the most desperate nurses.

How can all those officers who earn upwards of millions a year treat their workers this way? Clearly they believe they are above the law and are just thinking of $$$ and believe their powerful lawyers will protect them. I wonder if they realize how connected the health care industry is....and one day a nurse will get to chose the size of urinary cath they will need....or if they will use lube...or how hard it is to get that IV in....or how to bevel the edge of a large bore needle for that IM injection....not that I ever would.....but one can imagine a situation like this and where karma is finally served and feel a small sense of justice prevailing if only for a moment.

Those in ivory towers should walk a mile in the shoes of their nurses. They might learn a thing or two.

Testa Rosa, RN · Jan 23, 2014

…..It's all Planned to disrupt and cause disharmony so they can hire temp workers and union bust. It actually is so poorly done I wonder if they hired some inept consultant to help them without realizing what they were getting into. I feel sorry for any patient walking into Alta Bates in the next couple months--short staffing, temp workers and mixed up schedules do not create safe conditions for Healing and Wellness. "We minus YOU" makes for a bad health care model. But Sutter does not view itself as a health care provider but rather a profit machine.

iluvivt, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2014

Unfortunately, I think Dignity Health is following their example. They have recently robbed our pensions without any warning or bargaining,now the are cutting RNs from many non-mandated ratio areas including IV Therapy RNs and are seeking to cut benefited RNs and replacing them with per diems. God forbid you should need overtime because it takes an act of congress to get it approved.

We want viable companies but corporate greed at the expense of hard working professionals and ultimately the patients will bite them in the behind. Truly the most succeesful and respected companies value and respect their employees and great success follows. Just look at Google and Apple! Shame on you Sutter :no:and Dignity Health.

Testa Rosa, RN · Jan 23, 2014

So True--they would realize so much savings if they just listened to their nurses. I support corporate health and want my corporation to make money, but not at the expense of my patients, my practice and and my community.

I think this is who Sutter hired to union bust:www.healthcarelabor.com. They are going about it so ineptly that I imagine it's purposeful. I don't think they realize how strongly united we actually are, how freaking smart nurses are, and how fierce we are when we are fighting mad.

Sad to say, I used to be anti union back in my MBA daze. I now realize how much they protect me and my patients now that I am working on the other side of the fence. Sutter has created an unsafe situation with staffing conditions and it will bite them in the end. Greed $$$$ is all consuming.

Good Deeds · Jan 24, 2014

I'm coming out of lurking to say that I've worked at Alta Bates for over 7 years and have lost my job and benefits. I am a highly regarded professional. I am pregnant with my second baby due in March. I am the primary wage earner as well as the benefits carrier for my family. My job is currently listed on the website as "Temporary" What they are doing is so wrong. Unfortunately I cannot wait for the dust to settle and the CNA lawyers to rectify this situation. I am being forced to sell our home and move in with my inlays. I feel just broken and so angry at Sutter and Pat Fry. Someone calculated he earns $25,000 per day. This is more than our housekeepers make and they just fired 5 of them. This is half of what my husband makes in a year. He is our only salary now and I am worried about my nursing skills if I take off work for more than a year. I hate Sutter; I will never work for a Sutter facility again.

Testa Rosa, RN · Feb 26, 2014

Hang in Good Deeds--we are CNA Strong and we are not giving up the good fight. Hang around for implementation and get ready to watch the fur fly! PM me and become part of our secret society online where you can see how powerful in number we really are and how serious we are about this. We are ground ZERO and other nurses from other facilities have our backs sister. Come to the negotiations tomorrow where you can see the stupidity and lack of respect for nursing we are dealing with. DO NOT GIVE UP!

Did you actually get a termination letter?….they CAN'T terminate you when we have travelers in the house. And sister, We are sick with travelers right now. Even with that, we've been chronically short staffed and had a couple scary near misses as a result, I have been filling out ADO's left and right and documenting everything that has been going on. It's a health care travesty--I'm actually thinking of writing a book about it starting with the first strike and subsequent sentinel event -- how their greed and refusal to negotiate led to consecutive strikes in a population of nurses that values their community.

I've actually been using these last weeks as an educational opportunity to showcase the protection being part of a Union affords these travelers so they can bring the message back to their "Right to Work" facilities. LOL! So much for Union Busting--more like Union Seeding via Travelers. Please Come to the negotiation meet tomorrow--dress in RED--and then you can see for yourself how Sutter[COLOR=#333333] didn't think this "paper layoff" through. And now we are on the cusp of implementation all hell is going to break loose. I've got the State, Media and JACHO on speed dial sister because you know chit is gonna hit the fan. I'm just waiting for implementation to watch the Union Lawyers go to town.

I think Sutter actually thought that we would give up on fighting for our contract by now when in fact they've made every nurse at ABSMC more determined than ever--even the ones that used to cross the lines! It's a hostile environment that has drawn us closer together and together we will fight them. PM me--I've got some RED scrubs for you. We've set up a fund to help our displaced brethren. Your CNA brother's and sisters have got your back.