We are urgently updating all AURN members of what transpired with mediation Friday night into yesterday. We met with management for over 14 hours Friday, for the third day in a row. We called it a night and told management we had no movement left to offer, after they refused to properly address many of our top priorities, including differentials, wages, retro pay, staffing, and safety. After we had packed up and gone home, leaving the mediated bargaining session—management emailed at nearly midnight a proposal that they hope will split our solidarity and break our momentum. Before our bargaining team could even consider the proposal, management communicated publicly only a partial report of their offer, leaving out critical details.

They are trying to get us to give up on our priorities and the lasting changes that are needed to improve our contract, in exchange for a one-time lump sum payment - with strings attached.
This is a thinly veiled attempt to break our solidarity and momentum. 

Previously, they offered a package deal, which if not accepted would expire on 9/17.  We did not agree, so they then gave us an even larger package deal. They gave us a new deadline of 9/18 to agree to all terms or they will not provide a one-time 10K bonus for 0.5 FTE and above, and 5K for everyone else. What they also didn’t tell you about the $10K/5K bonus is that they threatened to decrease it every day this week if we don’t give up everything else unresolved and concede on differentials, retro pay, and much more. This level of disregard towards the collective bargaining process will not result in an agreement. We refuse to engage in such behavior. Our bargaining team met yesterday to review the offer and notified them that if management is prepared to make serious movement to reach an agreement, we are open to further mediation. 

If we can reach a tentative agreement, all members will be able to review all the details, full copies of articles, and will get to vote on whether the membership will agree to it or not. In the meantime, strike vote results will be announced tomorrow.

Ready to Bargain! Ready to Strike! Rally

We are calling on the entire campus community and supporters from around the metro area to join us for our rally tomorrow 9/18 1130 -1400 at Elizabeth Caruthers Park on the waterfront! Now more than ever we need to show the OHSU administration that we stand together.  If you cannot attend the rally, wear your union colors, Ready to Bargain Ready to Strike buttons, talk to your family, friends, and community, and continue to prepare for going on strike.

The Strings that are Attached…

Some key items management is demanding we give up in exchange for a bonus:

• Retropay: They are refusing Retropay when we know our members will not ratify an agreement without this.

• Differentials & Wages: They want us to continue to earn below-market night shift differential, certification pay, on-call rates, and no further movement on other differentials.  Nurses can do the math and know that base wages plus the differentials they are offering still put us below the market.  The loss we would take here far exceeds a one-time diminishing 10k/5k bonus.

• Shift Incentives: They are still demanding we have a Prescheduled CNI instead of CNI+ to actually address huge staffing shortages in the moment with last-minute sick calls, etc.

• Safety: Management refuses to take immediate steps to improve workplace safety such as the expansion of the Code Green team to prevent escalation and violence, in-person self-defense training, and increased staffing for DPS to provide full 24/7 coverage for the emergency department.  Currently, they only are offering to “endeavor to”, i.e. maybe try to improve each of those things.  When it comes to violence in our workplace, we need these improvements now.

• Staffing: Management refuses to fully address long-standing staffing crisis in ambulatory where we need to be able to assess data and have baseline FTE increased.  We cannot accept the status quo in ambulatory.  For the entire hospital, they refuse to provide additional paid release time to UBNPC members specifically when a staffing plan is not in compliance with the law.  This release time would allow nurses to actually help management not violate the law and avoid penalty fees saving the hospital money.  Also, they will only pay for the 0.3 release time for our Hospital Based Nurse Staffing Committee Chair for 2023 and 2024, but not 2025 when all the penalties will be kicking in from Oregon’s new staffing law.  This is highly problematic.

•  FTE/MRS: Our members are unwilling to change the current and previous practices that accruals count toward FTE and MRS. Suggesting otherwise would suggest that nurses would have to make up all hours while sick or on vacation.  Management seems to want to do this to deny CNI or other incentives to those who have been out or sick.

• International Agencies: They want to have the right to bring in huge groups of international travel agency nurses without bringing us a proposal in these negotiations regarding this, or being willing to reach a mutual agreement later on the terms and conditions.

• Contracting Out: Management wants the right to contract out our positions and our work without our agreement.

• Coverage for Lactation: Management refuses to guarantee break relief coverage for lactating employees who may need accommodations required under the law for longer breaks.  Leaving lactating nurse and their colleagues without proper support.

• CNI+ to replace MOV: Our MOV system is broken.  Management utilizes it like a type of CNI+ that kicks in when CNI isn’t enough.  We need them to use CNI+ which has clear and fair rules, and guarantee they will offer CNI+ before MOV which has no guardrails on how MOV can be used unfairly and improperly.  Management continues to insist on the right to give different increase rates to one cluster over another which divides and demoralizes our campus.

• Paying Hold Bank Hours: Management doesn’t want to pay out hold bank hours when a nurse leaves OHSU. That money was earned by our members and belongs to us.

• 3rd party insurance: Management is refusing a 3rd party health insurance option, and is oddly refusing to list our PPO plan as the default.

• Supporting Mental Health: Management refuses to pause disciplinary investigation meetings when a nurse is in a major mental health crisis so that the nurse has time to seek out details regarding their rights to take OFLMA/FMLA leave and get support.  This could even involve a nurse who needs inpatient mental health treatment.  

• Resuscitation Certifications: OHSU was found to be in violation of our contract regarding floating. A labor arbitrator ruled strongly against management that has set a clear precedent for the entire state of Oregon. However, management now refuses to pay for resuscitation certifications for nurses who are required to float to other units.  Such as NICU nurses floating to the PICU, etc.

• Home Infusion: We have not reached a fair agreement for Home Infusion Nurses

• Nurse Licensure: We have not reached a fair agreement on Multistate Nurse Licensure

Please know that we will always do what's best for our membership and the future of our union, and will stand strong on the top priorities.

Nearly all nurses have cast their strike votes. If you haven’t voted yet, you have until 2300 tonight (9/17) left to vote. The results will be announced tomorrow, Monday 9/18.  Those of you who have voted, we have heard you loud and clear. The support has been overwhelming, we so appreciate everyone who has been involved and engaged!

Stand tall, stand strong, stand together.

The AURN Bargaining Team