Nurses picket outside Tacoma medical center to highlight staffing, safety issues

Nurses at Tacoma’s St. Joseph Medical Center, part of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, took to the picket lines Wednesday after failing to make progress in bargaining talks after 10 sessions in two months.

The nurses seek improved staffing levels, higher pay and safer conditions to and from parking lots, among other issues. In a statement, Washington State Nurses Association, which represents the nurses, said, “In recent incidents, nurses have been assaulted at work, harassed on their way to and from the parking lots, and been the victims of vehicle break-ins.

St. Joe’s refuses to take common-sense steps that would help protect the nurses who serve our community.”