SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Nurses at nearly three dozen hospitals in Northern and Central California are set to go on strike over benefit cuts and other concessions sought by hospital management.
The strike at 33 not-for-profit hospitals run by Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health is scheduled to start at 7 a.m. Thursday. The walkout would also affect Children’s Hospital Oakland.
The California Nurses Association _ the union organizing the strike _ estimates that 23,000 nurses will walk off the job.
Officials at Sutter Health and Children’s Hospital say they are prepared to bring in licensed replacement nurses. Kaiser Permanente says it, too, has made preparations.
The focus of the strike is Sutter Health, where union officials say management has proposed a broad range of concessions that would affect nurses and patients.
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