Registered nurses are planning to stage a one-day strike against Tenet Health hospitals in Arizona, Florida, and California Friday, demanding higher wages and better working conditions.
About 6,500 National Nurses United members walked out at 12 Tenet facilities after working without a contract for two years in Arizona and under expired contracts for months in California and Florida.
The union says they plan to resume working Saturday.
Tenet, which has 65 hospitals and 115,000 employees nationwide, issued a statement saying it has negotiated in "good faith" and it is disappointed the union chose to strike.
According to the U.S. Labor Department, almost 3 million registered nurses are employed nationally, with an average annual salary of $75,510. Florida's average RN salary is $66,210, Arizona's is $77,000 and California's is $106,950, tops in the nation.