UNAC/UHCP’s First Strike in 34 Years Began with a Big Day

September 2014

On Thursday, July 3, more than 200 Parkview RNs and allies walked the picket lines. RNs waved signs in the spirit of the holiday that read, “Patient Care is an Inalienable Right,” “United States of Patient Care,” and “Don’t Tread on my Patients.” Vehicles passing by honked support at RNs holding up “Honk if You Love Nurses.”

We rallied at Hunt Park, where Rabbi Suzanne Singer of Temple Beth El in Riverside, and Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) gave the invocation. Bill Perez, Secretary-Treasurer of the Building and Construction Trades Council in San Bernardino, told the crowd, “My mother was a patient at Parkview recently. You can bet she didn’t brag about the CEO and his spreadsheets. She bragged about her nurses.” Parkview RNs Megan Joyce, Viera Daniels and Judy Vargas also addressed the rally, followed by UNAC/UHCP President Ken Deitz, RN.

On the 4th of July, California State Senator Richard Roth, a longtime supporter of PRNA, joined the picket line to support PRNA’s declaration of independence from Popkin. California State Assembly member Jose Medina, also a consistent supporter of Parkview RNs, visited the picket lines on the third and final day to offer his own supportive counsel.