A court order to prevent a 24-hour strike by registered nurses at the University of California's five medical centers will be sought early next week by the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), the university was informed today (June 4).

PERB's notification of its intent to seek a temporary restraining order against the California Nurses Association came after UC representatives successfully argued before the quasi-judicial agency, which oversees collecting bargaining for public sector employees, that the walkout, scheduled for June 10-11, was unlawful and would risk the health and safety of patients. CNA represents approximately 10,800 UC nurses.

PERB officials told UC representatives they intend to seek the injunction in San Francisco Superior Court on Tuesday, June 8.

With contract negotiations between UC and CNA in their early stages, all provisions of the current contract — including a "No Strikes" provision — remain in effect. UC had complained to PERB that the union's strike call violated that provision, constituted bad faith bargaining and unnecessarily placed patients at potential risk. In a complaint issued Thursday (June 3), PERB agreed with the UC position.

"We are pleased that PERB has taken this action," said Dwaine Duckett, UC vice president of human resources. "Patient safety should not be leveraged by CNA leadership as a negotiations tactic. Hopefully, the union leadership will now refocus and join us at the bargaining table to reach a fair and just agreement with our much valued nurses."

Full successor (2010) contract negotiations between UC and CNA began in May with an exchange of initial proposals.

CNA previously threatened to strike UC in 2005. That walkout was blocked by a court order, which cited the risk to public health and safety. PERB recently ruled that CNA's 2005 strike threat constituted an unfair practice and ordered a hearing to determine the extent of the union's financial liability. With patient care involved, the necessary preparation of contingencies in the face of a threatened strike can run into the tens of millions of dollars.