Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson made a surprise guest appearance in support of Long Beach’s first healthcare strike since 2011 on May 22.
The one day strike was an organized collaboration between the California Nurses Association (CNA) and National Nurses United (NNU) for Long Beach MemorialCare nurses in demand of a fair contract, which included patient safety and fair wage negotiations.
Long Beach MemorialCare pushed back at the strike by doing a four day employee lockout, meaning any nurses who went on strike were unable to work until Tuesday.
Healthcare worker Stephanie Bobe shared that she was on strike due to workplace violence, nurse retention issues and the recruitment of new nurses.
“We have a lot of issues recently, just within the last couple years, where patients or family members, or everybody has been, unfortunately, been affected by workplace violence concerns. We continue to bring it up to the medical center and they continue to want to delay installing metal detectors or weapons detections system. They don’t seem to care about the patients’ safety or workers’ safety and we’re tired of that,” Bobe said.
Bobe elaborated on workplace violence issues, such as patients having loaded guns and machetes in their belongings, as well as staff being attacked physically and verbally and being followed out of work.
“This is a hospital that has a history of a mass shooting already and yet the hospital still remains unwilling to install metal detectors now,” Bobe said.
The incident happened in April 2009, when a hospital pharmacy worker brought a gun to work and shot his two managers and took his own life.
Jack Dang, a Long Beach MemorialCare registered nurse for 12 years, spoke about the layoffs that began in 2024, including management, pharmacy, a large percentage of outpatient pediatric nurses and night shift secretaries.
“They’re (management) asking a lot more of the staff, and we’re getting a lot less in terms of our contract, so that’s what we’re fighting for. We’re trying to make sure that first and foremost, staffing is accurate and safe for both us and the patients, as well,” Dang said.
Dang mentioned that upper management had been proposing wages that would eventually not be able to support the cost of living.
“The middle and lower management have been very supportive of us, and understanding. Upper management we don’t really hear too much from them, but they’re not doing a whole lot to help out. The increases and the wages they’re proposing will not even offset the inflation, and there’s a lot of things they’re not bringing to the table or addressing during negotiations,” Dang said.
Kurt Thodi joined the strikers on the picket line in solidarity for his wife, who is a nurse at the hospital. Thodi worked at the hospital as a case manager for 30 years, but is now retired.
“I was here before the union, so I saw the abuse that the management just did whatever they wanted to. After the union, certainly it was much better for all employees, but certainly better for the nurses as well,” Thodi said.
The strike lasted from 7 a.m.-8 p.m., with thousands of workers participating in the strike.
“We’re not asking for too much. We’re asking for what is fair, in terms of wages and the rights we need to have in order to take care of our patients,” Dang said.
