Around 600 nurses at University Medical Center in New Orleans will strike during Super Bowl week amid ongoing union negotiations with LCMC Health.
The nurses, represented by National Nurses United, called a two-day strike starting Feb. 5, their second planned strike after voting to unionize in December 2023. However, because the Super Bowl is considered a "peak event," the contract agency that will send in around 300 fill-in nurses requires a five-day minimum, according to CEO John Nickens, meaning regular nursing staff will be absent through Sunday, Feb. 9.
UMC executives said that the hospital will have uninterrupted patient care during the planned strike.
"We fully expect to meet all of our obligations to the city," said Nickens. "You'll still have your same clinic appointment or surgery case, or if you need to be admitted, we will be available."
Staffing and safety concerns
In a statement, nurses said they are striking over concerns about inadequate staffing and stalled responses to contract proposals.
Emergency department nurse Heidi Tujague said that the union was "frustrated with management's behavior and their clear intent to bust our union because we want to change how health care is delivered in New Orleans."
Increased pay, better nurse-to-patient ratios and workplace safety are among their top priorities. Attracting and retaining nurses who are being lost to higher-paid positions elsewhere makes everyone's job harder, said Kisha Montes, a behavioral health nurse who has worked at UMC since 2008.
"If we keep losing people, we won't have the quality of nurses that we need," Montes said.
Montes said that some proposals put forth by the union, such as free parking and parental leave, have been approved for other facilities, but are not yet in place at UMC. Nurses have been told the new policies can't yet begin at UMC due to the ongoing negotiations, Montes said, which has frustrated nursing staff.
"We want to just call attention to those things, and that's what we're going to strike for," Montes said.
UMC has responded to roughly 50 documents, and are now in the process of going back and forth on several items, Nickens said.
Timing amid a busy week
The strike is scheduled during an incredibly busy week for New Orleans, as hundreds of thousands are expected to visit for the Super Bowl on Feb. 9. As the region's only Level 1 trauma center, UMC is the go-to hospital for severe injuries such as gunshot wounds and car accident trauma. The hospital treated the majority of injured victims during the recent New Year's Day attack on Bourbon Street that killed 14.
The union's first strike in October was also planned during a busy time for the city. Nurses called for a 24-hour strike on the first day of Taylor Swift's tour stop in New Orleans. The nurses were out of work for the rest of that weekend due to the three-day minimum required by the contract nursing agency.
Union representatives said communications challenges arose at the hospital after the Bourbon Street attack because of a "lack of preparedness and unsafe staffing." Nickens called that claim "dangerous" and "completely false."
"There's a whole process that is designed, that's connected with the city officials that are responsible for responding to a mass casualty event," Nickens said. "We've gone through exercises specifically to prepare for the Super Bowl with Homeland Security. We've been evaluated and inspected multiple times. We're certified and recognized."
Strikes cost LCMC Health approximately $2 million per day due to the expenses of hiring travel nurses, CEO Greg Feirn said in an interview last year.
The nurses' union at UMC is Louisiana's first for private-sector healthcare workers.
LCMC and the union had 20 meetings last year and two in January. Four more are scheduled, Nickens said.