Thousands of nurses continue strike as bargaining begins between Stanford, Packard and nurses’ union

About 5,000 nurses at Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital remained on the picket line Tuesday as leaders began the first day of negotiations in the early morning.

Union leaders and hospital officials were tight-lipped about the closed-door bargaining, but nurses say they are prepared to strike indefinitely until a reasonable contract is agreed upon.

On Monday, Stanford Health Care and Packard Hospital canceled appointments, postponed surgeries and sent chemotherapy patients to sister hospitals as the thousands of nurses walked off the job Monday, forcing hundreds of traveling nurses to scramble to meet patient demand.

After treating patients without a contract since the end of March, 5,000 nurses lined streets near Stanford Hospital raucously picketing and urging medical center officials to deliver an agreement ahead of negotiations scheduled for Tuesday morning.

Holding signs that read “Stanford hates caregivers” and shouting slogans like “shame on Stanford” as drivers blared their car horns in support, nurses appeared more than ready to pressure Stanford indefinitely until a “reasonable” contract is reached.

The strike has been a headache for Stanford and Packard, which have employed more than 2,000 nurses from across the country to provide patient care amid the labor struggle. Traveling nurses have been in training for the past three days off-site in anticipation of Monday’s mass walkout and continued to work Tuesday.

Stanford has signed a 5-day contract with the traveling nurses through nurse staffing agencies HSG & Aya, according to the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement, the union that represents nurses at Stanford and Packard.

The strike was authorized by about 93% of eligible nurses and marks the first for CRONA in more than two decades. A CRONA spokesperson said the union is still at the negotiating table and it’s very possible that if they make any movement today the union will update the public this afternoon on its website.