Registered nurses at MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center (LBMC) in Long Beach, Calif., gave notice to their employer on May 8 that they will hold a one-day strike starting at 7 a.m. on May 22 to protest the hospital’s refusal to engage in good faith negotiations over needed improvements to patient care, RN working conditions, and staffing.

The nurses, who are represented by California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU), have been in negotiations since February of 2025 for a new contract with little to no movement on key issues. 

Nurses say long ER wait times, workplace violence incidents, and staffing issues remain prevalent and unresolved at LBMC. However, instead of bargaining in good faith to address nurses’ concerns, LBMC announced cuts in services and layoffs before cancelling negotiations scheduled for May 9 with CNA.

“During negotiations at the beginning of May, the hospital announced the layoff of 78 registered nurses,” said Brandy Welch, a pediatrics RN. “This broke our hearts, because these nurses are critical to our Long Beach community. We expect our hospital leadership to share our commitment to quality patient care.”

Who: Registered nurses at Long Beach Medical Center
What: One-day strike for patient safety and nurses’ rights
When: Thursday, May 22, 7 a.m. to Friday, May 23, 6:59 a.m.
Where: Long Beach Medical Center, 2801 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach

LBMC negotiators have engaged in unfair labor practices to stymie negotiations over RN-proposed improvements to workplace violence protections, working conditions, and patient safety. Thus nurses are also striking to protest hospital management’s actions.

“I am a member of the union bargaining team, and I am among the 78 nurses who received layoff notices,” said Amy Wolk, RN and a member of the bargaining team. “I am disappointed, but I am not demoralized. I am proud to be going on strike for my patients and my profession.”

Working conditions at the hospital have led nurses to stand firm in their demands for contractual improvements. The RNs urge management to invest in nursing staff and agree to a contract that provides:

• Workplace violence protections
• Recruitment and retention of skilled nurses
• Improvements to working conditions/patient safety

“Nurses are ready and dedicated to continuing negotiations,” said Stephanie Jobe, RN in the neonatal intensive care unit at LBMC. “As all our actions up to this point suggest, we are fully committed to good faith bargaining. We have urgent patient care issues that need to be resolved, and the hospital is behaving as if our concerns for our patients aren’t a priority.”

California Nurses Association represents more than 2,100 nurses at Long Beach Medical Center.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.