About two dozen nurses staged a noon protest outside Sutter Health's Natomas headquarters Thursday over contract negotiations.
Shouting slogans and carrying signs reading "Sutter is the Grinch," the nurses were part of larger one-day protests by California Nurses Association/National Nurses United at Sutter's Bay Area facilities and at non-Sutter hospitals in Southern California.
About 4,000 nurses in the Bay Area participated in a one-day walkout, promised by union leaders if Sutter-proposed concessions weren't withdrawn from the bargaining table.
Sutter's Sacramento-area facilities were not affected.
"They're talking about taking away sick time and pay cuts all at the same time," said Diane McClure, a Kaiser Permanente nurse and CNA spokeswoman who joined the Sutter nurses Thursday.
The nurses union and Sacramento-based Sutter Health are in negotiations over health benefits, pensions and sick leave, among other issues.
Sutter Health is seeking concessions from registered nurses at its Bay Area hospitals that nurses say will sharply hike health premium costs and retirement contributions, and eliminate paid sick leave.
But Sutter officials in Sacramento and the Bay Area say the concessions involving sick leave and retirement coverage are modest and that the changes are needed as the health network prepares for the onset of health care reform.
"We offer generous benefits and wages at Sutter and we're committed to maintaining that for nurses," said Sutter spokeswoman Karen Garner.
Sutter officials in Sacramento and the Bay Area said service at their hospitals was not disrupted.
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