Can nurses be forced to go on strike?
No one can force a bargaining unit to strike. Only unit members themselves can make such a decision. Experience has shown that nurses who have chosen to strike have done so as a last resort. It should also be noted that, if nurses decide to strike, they do not abandon patients on short notice. There are legal safeguards to prevent such actions. Provisions set forth in the 1974 Health Care Amendments to the National Labor Relations Act guarantee continuation of adequate patient care by requiring contract expiration notice, advance strike notice, mandatory mediation, and the option of establishing a board of inquiry prior to work stoppage.
