SEIU Local 121RN

Early Wednesday morning Nurses picketed in front of Garfield Medical Center in Monterey Park to pressure hospital management to work with them to solve unsafe staffing levels, break relief, and working condition issues during ongoing contract negotiations.

“In 2023, Garfield Nurses went on strike. One of the biggest issues was this exact problem. Break relief. We fought hard. We won language in our contract that we believed would give us dedicated break relief Nurses. Real Nurses coming in to cover us so we could step away, reset, and come back refreshed. It was happening. And then hospital leadership shut it down. They said the charge Nurse handles breaks, and that’s that. Three years later, here we are, standing outside this hospital, fighting the same fight,” said NICU Nurse Maria Elana. “My colleagues in Telemetry, in Med-Surg, in the ICU are stretched to the breaking point. They deserve a hospital that keeps its word. We need dedicated break relief. Not a charge Nurse doing double duty. Not a system that runs on penalties and fear. Real relief. Every unit. Every shift,” she added.
Nurses have raised these concerns repeatedly throughout contract negotiations, but none have led to improvements in the hospital or progress at the bargaining table, they said. Nurses fear that left unresolved; these problems will produce a downward spiral of dwindling staff and worsening patient care.
“What frustrates me most is this. The Nurses at this hospital have been raising these concerns for years. About staffing. About patient safety. About the basic tools we need to do our jobs. And Garfield keeps ignoring us. They focus on the budget and expect us to figure out the rest,” said Labor and Delivery Nurse Rosanna Kou.
GMC nurses were joined by Monterey Park Mayor Pro Tem and City Council Member Henry Lo, and Monterey Park City Council Members Thomas Wong and Jose Sanchez.
“During the deaths of the pandemic, you were there to take care of our community, our patients, and as my colleague has said, more than ever we need to stand with our healthcare workers,” Lo said.
Turning to the hospital, Lo shouted “shame on you Garfield Medical!”

Happy !

Nurses ensure that our loved ones are safe and cared for. Theirs is often the first face that a patient sees, and the last to wish them well at the end of their hospital stay. They are our best advocates on our worst days.

For union Nurses, that advocacy goes far beyond the bedside. Our members have won groundbreaking legislation that makes all of us safer when we visit a hospital.

SEIU 121RN members have led the fight to ensure safer staffing. They faced down the corporate hospital lobby to win Senate Bill 596, a new law that tightens enforcement of California’s Nurse to patient ratios and makes it harder for hospitals to violate them. They pressed lawmakers to pass our “Secure Hospitals for All” bill (Assembly Bill 2975), which will require all acute care hospitals to place metal detectors at public entrances, staffed around the clock, so that weapons can’t be brought in to harm staff, patients or visitors.

For more than two decades, SEIU 121RN members have fought for higher standards, better protections, and safer patient care. This week (and always!) we celebrate our Nurses’ resilience, their strength, and the sacrifice they make for all of us.

Happy ! At SEIU 121RN, we’re proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our union family.

Here in Los Angeles, the energy, solidarity and power is palpable. There is no other way we’d rather spend International Workers’ Day than in the streets with all of you.

We’ll return to our hospitals recharged and ready to fight for patients, and a better healthcare system for all.

We’re here at with our Union siblings and all working people in LA because We the People will always stand up for each other.