Hundreds of Keck Medicine of USC Nurses Walk Off Job Amid Contract Talks
BOYLE HEIGHTS, Calif. (KABC) — Hundreds of unionized nurses at Keck Medicine of USC walked off the job and took to the picket lines Thursday amid ongoing contract negotiations.
Registered nurses at Keck Hospital of USC and the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Boyle Heights began picketing outside the Keck facility located at 1500 San Pablo St. Approximately 1,400 nurses are expected to participate in the 24-hour strike, according to the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United.
“We are the frontline nurses of Keck Medicine of USC, caring for patients from across Los Angeles and beyond — your friends, your family, your neighbors, your loved ones,” said Jeong-A Cha, a registered nurse at Keck USC, in a statement. “Every day and every night, we give our hearts, our skill, and our strength to heal our community. But today, we are being asked to jeopardize the very lives we swore to protect.
“Keck USC nurses are working under unsafe staffing conditions that violate the most basic standards of patient care,” Cha added.
Keck Medicine officials responded by stating that their facilities “will remain open and fully staffed with doctors, nurses, and all other clinical professionals” throughout the strike. “We continue our commitment to exceptional patient care and safety,” their statement read. “We pride ourselves in consistently upholding state-required nurse staffing ratios.”
The officials also noted, “Importantly, our current contract proposal includes an increase in resource staff so nurses can more properly rest and recharge during their shifts. We remain committed to negotiating in good faith and look forward to collaborative discussions with CNA to reach agreements that are fair, provide competitive pay and benefits, and reflect our dedication and support of our staff.”
The union claims that staffing shortages at Keck and Norris facilities have led to severe conditions in 2024, including more than 10,000 missed meal breaks and 4,000 missed rest breaks. As of July, there have been 4,631 missed meal breaks and 2,210 missed rest breaks recorded.
“The break relief situation is currently very dire, with nurses working up to 10 hours without a break to use the restroom or drink water,” said Rudy Cuellar, a registered nurse at USC Keck, in a union-released statement. “Adequate staffing of resource nurses would correct this problem, but management has been unwilling to provide the adequate staffing of resource nurses that would correct this problem. As a result, they are compromising our ability to provide excellent patient care.”
USC Keck and Norris nurses have been engaged in labor talks with the university since May, according to the union. Nurses held an informational picket on July 24 and voted to authorize the strike on August 22.
City News Service contributed to this report.
