Picketers target state hospital

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- About a dozen people from the Health Services Department

of state hospital Fairview Developmental Center took to the streets with

picket signs Friday afternoon to pressure management to change scheduling

practices.

In their second week of public protest at the corner of Harbor

Boulevard and Fair Drive, the unhappy health services specialists --

members of the California State Employees Assn. Local 1000 - also

recruited their children to help spread their message. Of the dozen

picketers, about five were children doing their best to hold signs that

read ‘Stand up for state services,’ which were almost as tall as they

were.

“They just ignore us and act like we’re nuts, so we will be out here

every Friday until our concerns get heard,” nurse Fran Fain said.

Nurses contended that since a change in management about five years

ago, their schedules have been erratic and unpredictable.

“It makes it impossible to complete any school courses or even

schedule baby-sitting,” said Fain, who has worked at the facility for

more than 20 years. ‘It gets to be a little harder on us older gals, too,

when all of the sudden we have to work nights or weekends.’

Karen Larson, a hospital spokeswoman, said the center supports the

employees’ right to express their opinion.

“We take all concerns seriously and will be looking into all of them,”

Larson said.

Costa Mesa police officials said they had received no complaints about

the picketing, which is legal as long as there are no disturbances.

Health Service Specialist Josephine Garde said she was recently asked

to works nights although she is in the first trimester of a pregnancy,

her husband works nights and she has a 2-year-old at home.

“It creates a personal scheduling nightmare,” Garde said.

The nurses say they hope management will implement a “post and bid”

system that enables employees with the most seniority to choose their

most desirable schedule, Fain said. With that system, about 60% of the

nurses will be tenured and the other 40% would work on rotating

schedules.

Fain would benefit from this system, given her more than two decades

at the hospital, but said it would be a good incentive for newer

employees also.

It is a ‘pay your dues’ type of system, Fain said.

Fairview Developmental Center offered mediation to the picketers, but

Fain said the group is not happy with that.

“We don’t think mediation will work. We want arbitration, where it is

ordered by a judge and written in a binding contract,” she said.