SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Registered Nurses are holding a strike on Tuesday morning to protest work conditions at Chinese Hospital in San Francisco.

“For the past year, we’ve given Chinese Hospital numerous proposals aimed at improving staffing, patient care, and retention of nurses for our patients and our community,” said Sherry Yee, RN. “Instead, the hospital administration has failed to create a better working environment that allows us to provide proper care for our patients to the best of our ability.”

The Chinese Hospital is the only one in the U.S., the nurses said in a press release, and is a “critical resource” for the city’s Chinese residents.

Over 100 registered nurse at the Chinese Hospital are represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United since 2019.

According to the press release, the RN’s have been in negotiations for their first collective bargaining contract since February 2020.

The strike comes after the RN’s say they are operating under “substandard workplace and economic conditions.”

According to the RN’s, they have also been fighting to get meal and break relief.

The Chinese Hospital CEO told KRON4 they are trying to get the registered nurses a competitive contract, but they are limited because they are not that big of a hospital.

“Our goal has always been to serve our Chinatown community, which has had to endure so much, including horrible physical attacks,” said Hospital CEO Jian Zhang, herself a nurse practitioner. “The CNA strike is just the latest obstacle we face. But Chinese Hospital will never waiver from its mission of being the People’s Hospital.”

Here’s partly what the hospital said it has offered to the unionized employees:

  • An average increase of 6.4% to our nurses after we reach an agreement, which is an average hourly rate before increased extra pay of $73.87 per hour.
  • Increased extra pay for those who work nights and weekends.
  • Tuition reimbursement of $2,500 per year for 40 hours of classes.

The strike began at 7:30 a.m. and will go on until 7:29 a.m. on Wednesday.