'Everybody's pretty fired up': Akron General, union negotiate against contract deadline

The nurses union at Cleveland Clinic Akron General plans to continue working even if an agreement is not reached with the hospital before their contract's midnight expiration Friday, said Linzi Lentz, intensive care nurse and co-chair of the union.

Negotiations between the hospital and the union, the Professional Staff Nurses Association, Ohio Nurses Association of Akron General Cleveland Clinic (PSNA), continued on Thursday, the last day before the union’s three-year contract expires.

"Our biggest fight here is patient safety and staffing ratios," Lentz said. "Everybody's pretty fired up about the hospital not wanting to really budge on at least guaranteeing that they're going to make efforts towards patient safety."

Union nurses want a limit on the number of patients they can care for at one time, the Beacon Journal previously reported.

More: Akron General nurses union authorizes negotiating team to issue strike notice

Lentz said Thursday that the union is meeting with hospital representatives Friday and is "really hoping to make some progress" with negotiations.

If a contract agreement is not reached, Lentz said, the union will have an informational meeting and will make signs at their labor hall this Saturday, then host an informational picket from 7 a.m. Wednesday to 6 p.m. Thursday.

The union voted Feb. 15 to enable the negotiating team to issue a strike notice. No strikes have happened yet.

For a strike to occur, the union would have to hold another vote on issuing a 10-day strike notice, Lentz said, adding: "We could potentially issue a notice."

In an update Monday on its website, the union stated: “We are doing everything we can to prevent a strike in the interest of our patients and community, but the hospital does not seem to be serious about getting a contract. We are sending out a survey to see where the members are on many of these topics so we can make a decision based on what the members want.”

A Cleveland Clinic spokesperson did not respond to the Beacon Journal's question Thursday about whether the hospital system will continue to provide services in the event of a strike. The spokesperson emailed the same statement that the Beacon Journal published in a story last week, saying negotiations are being conducted in "good faith" and citing appreciation for the union nurses and the rest of the system's caregivers.

"Our goal is to achieve a mutually agreeable contract renewal, as we have in past years," the spokesperson said.

PSNA represents more than 800 nurses at the hospital.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron General nurses union contract expires Friday; talks continue