Editorial: Obstinacy leads to pickets

Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006 | 7:08 a.m.

Hundreds of nurses began picketing outside of Valley Hospital Medical Center and Desert Springs Hospital early Monday morning.

This threat to vital health care services did not have to happen, at least not now.

On Sunday morning three of Nevada's leaders, including Republican Gov.-elect Jim Gibbons, called upon the hospitals' management and the nurses to agree on a 30-day "cooling-off" period. Joining Gibbons in the appeal were two of the state's most influential Democrats - incoming Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley and Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid.

Gibbons, Buckley and Reid even offered to appoint a neutral third party to help both sides in the monthslong contract dispute to reach agreement, so that a strike could be avoided.

The Service Employees International Union, representing about three-fourths of the nurses at the two hospitals, agreed to the extra negotiating time.

Yet the management of the two hospitals rejected the plea by the political leaders.

"We rescinded a strike call, but the hospitals rejected Nevada's leadership just as they rejected the nurses," Chris Coil, an SEIU spokesman, told the Associated Press on Monday. "This is clearly a lockout."

The two hospitals are owned by Universal Health Services, based in King of Prussia, Pa. It is one of the largest hospital companies in the country. The Valley Health System manages the local Universal Health hospitals.

David Bussone, group director of the health system, told the local affiliate of National Public Radio on Monday morning that he did not believe another 30 days of negotiation would achieve a breakthrough.

The hospitals went ahead with their strike plan, filling the vacancies left by the picketing nurses with staff from U.S. Nursing Corp., a Colorado company that specializes in providing replacements for hospitals experiencing labor disputes.

Nurses at the two hospitals, which combined have 695 beds, say staffing is a major issue. Donna West, a nurse at Valley Hospital, told KLAS Channel 8 Monday morning that, "The nurses in this hospital are taking care of too many patients at one time."

In our view the Valley Health System should have respected the wishes of Nevada's incoming governor and the leaders of the state Assembly and County Commission. Rejection of their call for renewed talks in lieu of a disruptive strike, in a county with too many health issues as it is, displays an obstinacy that gives credence to the union's claim that management is not bargaining in good faith.