With a nearly unanimous vote to strike and more than two hundred nurses walking the picket line, the nurses working at University Medical Center in Fresno, California began a one-day strike at 7:00 a.m. today. Walking in solidarity with the striking nurses were members of Service Employees International Union Local 535 and the Fresno County Peace and Freedom Party.

At issue are improved retention of experienced RN's, a "union shop," patient protection through adequate staffing and objective pay scales. UMC nurses were forced to strike when management failed to bargain in good faith after the recent assignment of a federal mediator to the more than year-long negotiations.

Represented by the California Nurses Association, UMC nurses are fighting a classic David vs. Goliath battle against a persistently anti-union employer who has flown in union busting attorneys and consultants from Ohio and Chicago – at a cost of nearly 2 million dollars. In addition, UMC is using scab nurses from the U.S. Nursing Corporation. At a minimum hourly wage of more than $50.00 per hour and a guarantee of three days pay for each days work, these strike breaking tactics are costing more than what it would cost UMC to meet all of what the nurses are asking for in their contract.

"Left unchecked, these expenditures threaten the financial viability of the UMC Level 1 Trauma Center and Burn Unit, which are the only such facilities between Bakersfield and Sacramento," said one of the striking nurses.