By KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Nurses at St. John's Mercy Medical Center went on strike this morning (Wednesday).
Issues holding up a new contract include whether union membership should be optional, as well as the make-up of a committee that nurses sit on to discuss patient care.
Nurse practitioner Kathy Schleef says it's a difficult decision, but the union has done all it can.
"This is not what we wanted to do," Schleef said on Tuesday evening. "This is the very last resort. We've tried everything and shame on St. John's for not wanting to have nurses who stick up for their patients and want better patient care."
Surgeon Martin Bell is among those who have cleared his schedule this week, anticipating the strike. He feels the union forced the nurses into a situation where they had to strike, but he also says patients at St. John's will keep getting the best care.
"There will be nurses here who are familiar with the hospital," Bell said Wednesday morning. "The [temporary] nurses coming in will have a few days' orientation so they will know where things are. And these are people who are experienced nurses, so those skills are transferable."
Some St. John's nurses say they plan to cross picket lines and keep going to work because they many nurses weren't at the meeting to vote to authorize a strike.
On the issue of union membership, the union says the hospital wants to give nurses a choice about whether to join the union.
Union President Jim Dougherty says making union membership optional would weaken the nurses' voice on patient care. "They want to take away the nurses' strength in being united and being together."
Hospital and union officials last met Sunday over the three year contract.