Sutter Nurses Plan One-Day Strike

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The union that represents nurses who work at Sutter hospitals in the San Francisco Bay area says thousands of nurses will be walking off the job for one day later this month.

The California Nurses Association says about 4,000 registered nurses who work at eight Sutter hospitals will hold the one-day strike Dec. 22.

Also walking off the job will be 2,000 nurses who work at Long Beach Memorial Hospital in Southern California.

A spokesman for the union says nurses will be striking over a number of issues, including health care coverage, sick leave and patient care concerns.

Sutter says the hospitals are contacting agencies to hire replacement nurses during the strike.

The planned walkout comes after thousands of nurses at 33 hospitals run by Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health, and the independent Children's Hospital Oakland, went on a one-day strike in September.

(Copyright 2011 The Associated Press)