In June 2020, Registered Nurses represented by Service Employees International Union Local 121RN (SEIU) at Riverside Community Hospital (RCH) held a 10-day strike. HCA Healthcare (HCA), which runs RCH, was forced to find and hire replacement nurses.
At the time, SEIU justified the mid-pandemic strike as an effort to force the Hospital to increase staffing and improve safety as COVID-19 infections surged. The SEIU and nurses also voiced complaints about shortages of personal protective equipment, which were not subjects addressed within the collective bargaining agreement between SEIU and HCA.
HCA disputed the legality of the strike, and the dispute went to arbitration. In May 2023, the arbitrator concluded that SEIU violated the parties’ collective bargaining agreement in connection with the strike. One year later, in May 2024, the arbitrator ruled that SEIU must pay HCA $6.26 million in damages linked to a 10-day strike.