As if being on strike weren’t bad enough, now it seems like the folks striking against Cal Pacific Medical Center have to put up with physical assaults:

Two versions of an incident Thursday at the California Pacific facility at Buchanan and Clay streets illustrate how wide the chasm between employer and union is. Lorena Hernandez, a striking nurse assistant, was injured in the abdomen as picketers protested the arrival of a group of replacement workers in a van. She was treated at the hospital’s emergency room and released.

Rosselli claimed a security guard kicked Hernandez, who had fallen to the ground, while Chris McMurry, a hospital spokeswoman, said Hernandez was stepped on by other strikers.

Hernandez was unavailable for comment but told officers she was kicked twice in the rib cage by a security guard.

In addition, three other union members told officers they had been punched by guards. There were no arrests.

One thing the strikers are doing is writing a blog about their experiences on the picket line. Here’s part of a post from a week ago:

Not only are people getting used to our presence, we’ve developed a following! Those fake motorized cable cars that tourists ride to see the “sights” have begun driving by the lobby entrance picket line.

Today the driver drove by and said, “Ladies and Gentleman this is a genuine San Francisco Protest” and then asked the strikers, “How many weeks has it been?”

We told him and the tourists “3 Weeks!”

Hopefully the strike will end before we make it into the next Frommer’s Travel Guide.

San Francisco is a very different Community which makes it a very different Market. People who ignored us at the beginning are now stopping to ask us our side of the story. None of them wants a CNA with 18 patients. None of them wants to stay longer in the ER because there are not enough people to clean and disinfect the beds. But all of them want do want a warm meal served by our great dietary workers.

People got their strike pay today. At the table were applications for temporary work at other union hospitals. People were well informed of their options and seemed to have made their decisions about their finances. I think most people feel this strike is worth the sacrifice. I do.

We’re adding this blog to our blogroll, and I suggest you check it out when you can.