St. Rose Hospital nurses plan picket over stalled contract talks
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St. Rose Hospital nurses in Hayward plan an informational picket amid stalled contract talks and concerns that subcontracting part of the hospital to Stanford Medicine could create two tiers of care.
Registered nurses at St. Rose Hospital in Hayward, Calif., are planning an informational picket to show growing opposition among staff and community members to stalled contract negotiations with Alameda Health System, the hospital’s operator.
The nurses say they are especially concerned about St. Rose management’s effort to subcontract the hospital’s fifth floor to Stanford Medicine. They warn that the plan could create two tiers of health care for patients in Hayward and deepen existing barriers to care for lower-income patients.
The picket is scheduled for Thursday, June 25, from 2 to 4 p.m. outside St. Rose Hospital at 27200 Calaroga Ave. in Hayward. The action is being organized by RNs from St. Rose Hospital, according to California Nurses Association.
“Management has stalled negotiations and blamed missing federal funds,” said Amanda Saad, RN and charge nurse in the emergency department, who said she has 20 years of experience at St. Rose. “It’s on our local administrators and elected officials to find a way to preserve patient care and save our health system while maintaining a high quality of patient care for the most vulnerable in the Hayward community. We’re demanding nothing less.”
Nurses are also pressing management to drop its plan to contract out the fifth floor to Stanford Medicine. They say the proposal could widen differences in care within the hospital and leave some patients with less access than others.
In addition to the subcontracting issue, nurses say management has not responded to contract proposals focused on protecting staff from workplace violence and improving recruitment and retention. Nurses say those measures would help St. Rose better match conditions at other facilities in the Bay Area and within Alameda Health System.
St. Rose is described as a safety net hospital and the only hospital in Hayward. CNA says it represents about 180 registered nurses at the hospital, and those RNs have been in contract negotiations since January 2026.
California Nurses Association/National Nurses United says it is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation, with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities in California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.