News briefs

Los Angeles county pharmacists strike

Pharmacists at county-operated medical centers staged a strike
that caused delays for patients needing medicine, but a judge cut
the job action short by issuing a restraining order.

Managers had stepped in Monday alongside temporarily hired
pharmacists to fill prescriptions as regular pharmacists stayed
away on the first day of a planned two-day strike.

The Guild for Professional Pharmacists, which represents about
225 county pharmacists, has been in stalled negotiations over its
contract. Union officials said about 160 members did not report to
work.

The pharmacists have been without a contract for more than a
year and are not satisfied with the county’s current offer,
said Ralph Vogel, president of the guild.

Most county pharmacists make up to $40.76 an hour, compared with
$51.39 an hour paid by Kaiser Permanente, whose Southern California
pharmacists also are represented by the guild, Vogel said.

At the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar, only two of the
center’s 15 scheduled pharmacists reported for duty Monday,
forcing doctors to cancel appointments for some oncology patients,
officials with the county’s Department of Health Services
said.

Santa Ana congresswoman prohibited from visiting
Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam “”mdash; Vietnam has prohibited an outspoken U.S.
Congresswoman from visiting the communist country, saying a trip
“˜”˜would not serve Vietnam-U.S. relations,”
officials said Friday.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez from Santa Ana, California, was told in a
letter sent that her visa application was rejected because she
“˜”˜altogether lacks objectivity and goodwill toward
Vietnam,” according to a statement from her
office.

“˜”˜The Vietnamese National Assembly and Vietnamese
public opinion share the view that a visit to Vietnam by Ms.
Loretta Sanchez would not serve Vietnam-U.S.
relations,” according to a reprinted version of the
letter accompanying the statement.

Sanchez, who represents the largest Vietnamese community in the
United States, has been a vocal critic of Vietnam’s human
rights record and has backed House legislation calling on Vietnam
to grant more political and religious freedom.

Compiled from Bruin wire reports.