Former California State Senator Sheila Kuehl, Director of the Public Policy Institute at Santa Monica College, has offered her services as mediator in an effort to resolve the St. John’s nurses’ scheduled one-day strike and St. John’s management’s four-day lockout.

The following email was sent by Kuehl to the California Nurses Association and St. John’s officials early Sunday afternoon, June 10.

Dear Everybody Engaged in Working Out Issues re St. John’s and California Nurses Association:

I have been following, from a distance, the discussions and negotiations between St. John’s and CNA and feel increasingly concerned about the potential impact that the current, continuing labor dispute might have on our community. As a former Assemblymember and Senator representing our community, I wanted to reach out to both of you to offer my services as a mediator/facilitator in hopes of preventing a strike/lock out. I am aware that, sometimes, the use of a public mediator can help both sides make a few more attempts to work together before retreating to their respective corners.

My understanding is that the parties have been quite successful in negotiations up to this point and are not actually all that far apart. I hope you might all agree with me that it would be so much more positive for our community if we did everything possible to try again for a solution prior to a strike/lockout.

I propose that the California Nurses Association postpone their notice of a job action until such time as a meeting can be scheduled to address the remaining issues in your collective bargaining negotiations. I propose that the St. John’s Medical Center officials postpone their planned lock-out and agree to such a meeting with the California Nurses Association and, with my assistance, if that is seen as helpful, work toward a common goal of settling a fair contract.

At the moment, I am in Hawaii on vacation, and will return to Santa Monica on June 18th, Monday. I stand ready to help in any way both sides might find helpful and hope that I may be of service.

I don’t really have constant internet access here, but would be most happy to receive a call from all or any of you taking into account that we are three hours earlier here. I hope that you will decide to try once more and, if I can be helpful as a mediator, let’s begin to set up some talks.
Warmest regards to all of you.

Sheila James Kuehl
Former State Senator

CNA issued the following statement mid-afternoon Sunday:

CNA’s Nurse Bargaining Team held an emergency meeting and voted unanimously to accept Sen. Kuehl’s offer of mediation and a resumption of bargaining. The Bargaining Team also agreed to Kuehl’s request to postpone the one-day strike as a gesture of Nurses’ good faith desire to reach a mutually acceptable agreement that protects patients and improves nurse retention. CNA’s bargaining team faxed a letter to Sen. Kuehl and the hospital that stated: “We concur with Sen. Kuehl that a negotiated settlement is preferable. Our goal from the beginning was not to have a strike or lockout, but to reach a contract we can all be proud of. CNA therefore accepts Sen. Kuehl’s offer, and hereby gives notice of the withdrawal of our strike notice for June 13, 2012. All Saint John’s RNs will report to work as usual on that date and on the dates of [the] putative lockout.”

At presstime, 4:30 p.m., there had been no response from St. John’s management.