The Right to Strike vs. the Right to Care

Abstract:     
This article addresses the struggle between hospitals and the nurses who are entrusted to care for the patients. In December, several thousand nurses staged a strike in hospitals throughout California. In New York, the threat of strikes recently passed, at least for now. Last month in Riverside County, California, a Judge issued an eleventh-hour injunction to avert a walkout. Without opining on the propriety of nursing unions or collective bargaining in the United States, this article raises the need to balance the demands of hospital patients who have a functional "right" to health care with the legal entitlement on the part of nurses who wish to participate in strikes as a lawful exercise of collective bargaining rights.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 2

Keywords: Hospital, nurse, union, strike

JEL Classification: J5, J4, I1, M5, N42, N44

working papers series