Bay Area nurses plan Christmas Eve strike

SAN JOSE -- Hundreds of registered nurses plan to strike nine Bay Area hospitals the day before Christmas in an ongoing dispute over wages, benefits and patient-care issues.

The affected institutions are in the East Bay and San Jose.

The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United has announced plans for a one-day strike Dec. 24 at seven Sutter Health hospitals, including three Alta Bates Summit Medical Center facilities in Oakland and Berkeley, Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, San Leandro Hospital, Sutter Delta in Antioch and Sutter Solano in Vallejo.

The union also plans to walk off the job at two San Jose facilities affiliated with the Hospital Corporation of America: Good Samaritan Hospital and Regional Medical Center.

It could not be immediately determined whether the hospitals will lock out striking nurses for several days, as some did during previous strikes when they brought in replacement nurses on multiday contracts.