It was a long day down at ONA Headquarters. After reporting massive increases in revenue in the OHSU Board of Directors report, management only changed their financial offer by a measly 0.5%, equating to an additional investment of just $1 million.

Management’s Latest Offer: 1st year 15%, 2nd year 4.25%, 3rd year 4.25%, with absolutely no movement on differentials or certification pay. Finally, they considered a crisis differential for units that are in dire strain for staffing, but by taking the percentage of travelers up to 55%, there do not appear to be any units that would qualify for this crisis differential.
 
Management’s financial movement does not reflect the serious stance OHSU nurses are taking, and therefore, we did not make any movement on our priorities.
 
We made a little progress today on some of the articles that have been stuck, but management is being unreasonable about changing the language to give nurses rights to maintain their working conditions. We managed to reach one Tentative Agreement today on Article 27: Committees which has some very serious improvements to Justice, Equity, Inclusion and Diversity.
 
However, we remain far apart on some very serious components of our contract that if not resolved, could leave nurses exposed to changes to current working conditions, vulnerable to forced change of hours worked, and forced floating to new units/areas of the hospital.
 
Additionally, some departments are still being forced to take Mandatory Call as a way to cover baseline staffing, including pre-scheduled appointments in Home Infusion.
 
Management continues to assert that they should have the right to contract out the work of OHSU nurses, including not allowing a fair process to bargain over the Legacy merger. This is very concerning to us, as this will not provide protection for our work and positions.
 
This was just the first day in a week of mediation marathoning - please stay tuned for more updates!

A message from the AURN Bargaining Team:

 We implore you to talk to some nurses outside of your own department and cluster to better understand what your colleagues need in this contract to protect them. We stand with each of you and are dedicated to advocating for you and raising your priorities at the bargaining table. It is absolutely inspiring to see you all standing up for your colleagues and fighting the good fight to protect all OHSU nurses.