the bullying of corporate america. all 12 1/2 million members of the afl-cio are not only standing with them, we are standing them. reporter: the numbers illustrate the scope of this dispute. it looks like this outside 34 hospitals in northern and central california. estimated 23,000 nurses walked off the job today. it is nice to be with all these nurses and to know that we stand so strong. reporter: inside hospital administrators say they brought in enough temporary nurses to provide basic care. they did postpone elective surgeries. business as usual. we have a lot of good replace workers who come, all experienced and a fair number of our employees who crossed. reporter: his mother is at medical center in burke , recovering from surgery it in burke ily. totally support the nurses. somebody has to be in there. we love our patients. but we need health care also. we need benefits also. reporter: it is health care that is the main issue between the nurses union
standing them. reporter: the numbers illustrate the scope of this dispute. it looks like this outside 34 hospitals in northern and central california. estimated 23,000 nurses walked off the job today. it is nice to be with all these nurses and to know that we stand so strong. reporter: inside hospital administrators say they brought in enough temporary nurses to provide basic care. they did postpone elective surgeries. business as usual. we have a lot of good replace workers who come, all experienced and a fair number of our employees who crossed. reporter: his mother is at medical center in burke , recovering from surgery it in burke ily. totally support the nurses. somebody has to be in there. we love our patients. but we need health care also. we need benefits also. reporter: it is health care that is the main issue between the nurses unions and the hospitals. administrators say they are offer a freebase i can plan that free basic plan, they currently g