Upgrade your nurse leadership skills at ONA’s Bargaining Unit Leadership Conference (BULC), held virtually June 25, 2021, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

This year’s Bargaining Unit Leadership Conference will look at the concept of Bargaining for the Common Good (BCG), how it impacts bargaining in health care, how it impacts our communities we care for, and how ONA might utilize these concepts to further our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the future.

Bargaining for the Common Good

Bargaining for the Common Good is a return to the roots of unionism – the basic idea of advancing shared interests. We are not just nurses, we are community members, parents, users of public transportation, social justice advocates and renters too! Our employers are required by law to negotiate employment contracts with us, but that only addresses one part of our lives and largely ignores the community members we live with and care for.

Failing to support our community members outside the hospital leads to problems inside our workplace. For example, nurses have cited the lack of community-based mental health services as a factor in increasing boarding and violence in hospitals. This is the definition of a lose-lose issue. Patients, nurses, and our community are all needlessly suffering because of the same problem. So, what happens when union members, especially nurses, take the power of bargaining and pull in the concerns of the communities we live in? How can we use our collective power to advance social justice goals and our values of diversity,equity and inclusion?

In recent decades, we’ve seen union teachers make a difference using BCG. In 2018 United Teachers of Los Angeles brought a demand to the bargaining table that the school district—in collaboration with the Community Schools Implementation Team (CSIT) and school communities—designate 20 schools in high-need areas to engage in a Community Schools transformation process. Their demand included a district allocation of $10 million each year to protect them from being turned into charter schools, which wouldn’t serve their communities well. This is a powerful example of how bargaining brought forward a community issue which also addressed the needs of teachers. Win-win! 

It's time to bring BCG and these kinds of win-win solutions into the health care industry in Oregon. Given the bright light COVID-19 has shone on the racial inequities and public health weaknesses of our health care system, 2021 offers a significant opportunity for ONA members to redefine what's at stake for the communities we serve through the bargaining process. 

Join us virtually for ONA’s 2021 Bargaining Unit Leadership Conference, Friday, June 25 to learn more about the BCG framework and how negotiations can achieve win-win results both for ONA members and our communities.

Who Can Attend?

ONA members who are in a bargaining unit can attend for FREE. If you want to attend but are unsure about your membership status, please contact us.

Registration

In addition to the full day experience of the BULC, the first 100 registrants will receive a free copy of Jane’s most recent book, A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy. 

Schedule of Events

• 8:30-9am - Welcome and Introductions
  
• 9am-10:30am - Keynote: Organizing for Patient-Centered Care 
• 10:30am-10:45am - Break
• 10:45am-12:15pm - Bargaining for the Common Good 
• 12:15-1:00pm - Lunch break
  
• 1:00-2:15pm - Breakout sessions
• 2:15-2:30pm - Break
• 2:30-3:45pm - Breakout sessions
• 3:45-4:30pm - Discussion and Wrap-up

Featured Speaker: Jane McAlevey

ONA is thrilled to welcome internationally acclaimed labor activist Jane McAlevey as the featured speaker at our upcoming virtual Bargaining Unit Leader Conference!

Jane McAlevey is an organizer, author, and scholar. She is currently a Senior Policy Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley’s Labor Center, part of the Institute for Labor & Employment Relations. Her third book, A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy, argues that despite, if not because of, the withering attacks on working people from the US Supreme Court, conservative state and local governments, and the corporate class, the survival of American democracy depends on rebuilding unions.

Her first book, Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell), published by Verso Press, was named the “most valuable book of 2012” by The Nation Magazine. Her second book, No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age, published by Oxford University Press, was released late in 2016. From 2010-2015, she earned a Ph.D., followed by a two-year Post Doc at the Harvard University Law School. She is a regular commentator on radio and TV.

See clips of Jane’s workshops and learn more about her extraordinary career by visiting  her website at janemcalevey.com.

Plenary Session Descriptions

Keynote: Organizing for Patient-Centered Care

• We know treating the whole patient extends beyond the four walls of our institution, but what will it take to create a truly patient-centered system of care? This session will explore how RNs and other health professionals are building bridges with the communities we serve and leveraging those relationships through the process of collective bargaining to advance our common interests.

Bargaining for the Common Good

• Across the country, union members are joining community stakeholders to use the power of collective bargaining in new and creative ways. This session will examine several bargaining for the common good campaigns, and how they helped advance not only the interests of union members, but the wider community. We will also explore what it would take for Oregon RNs to start bargaining for the common good.

Breakout Session Descriptions

Bargaining for Racial & Social Justice (Breakout Session)

• RNs and other healthcare professionals are crucial advocates for patient and community health, as well as our own professional practice. Collective bargaining is becoming an increasingly important tool for addressing issues faced by women, LGBTQ healthcare workers, and people of color on the job, as well as tackling broader disparities in the community. In this workshop we’ll hear from frontline caregivers and others who have centered racial and social justice issues in bargaining, making concrete gains as a result.

How to Build Effective Alliances in Your Community (Breakout Session)

• This workshop is designed for nurses and other unionized professionals interested in linking up with patients and community members but don’t know where to begin. We’ll explore the value of these community partnerships, and review the basic steps involved in building effective community coalitions to defend access to quality care and protect other essential services. We will also examine potential pitfalls, along with the key ingredients for a lasting alliance.

Charting Your Connections to the Community (Breakout Session)

• In this workshop, RNs will learn to identify and document their organic connections with faith communities, civic organizations, elected leaders, and other local institutions. We will also discuss how to activate these connections to advocate for our patients and influence healthcare decision-makers.

Identifying “Win-Win” Issues Between RNs and Community Partners (Breakout Session)

• This workshop is designed for RNs who want to take the next step with community allies, and start working together to close service gaps for underserved patients and communities. We’ll explore concrete examples where healthcare professionals successfully forged alliances with patients and community members and examine how, together, they were able to improve access to care.

Continuing Education

Limited continuing nursing education contact hours will be available.

Oregon Nurses Association is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.