Frontline Nurses at 2 Portland-Area Hospitals Vote to Strike

More than 2,000 ONA Nurses at 3 Providence Hospitals in Oregon Have Now Authorized Strikes Against Providence–One of the Country’s Largest and Wealthiest Health Care Systems. 

MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) nurses will be available Friday, June 3 for media interviews about their strike vote. Contact Kevin Mealy or Scott Palmer to schedule.  

(Portland, OR) – In two historic elections to protect patient safety, frontline nurses at Providence Milwaukie Hospital in Milwaukie and Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center in Oregon City voted nearly unanimously to authorize strikes against Providence–one of Oregon’s largest and most profitable health systems. They join nurses at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland who voted to strike in May.

All together, more than 2,000 Oregon nurses at 3 Portland-area Providence hospitals have voted to strike in the last month. Despite being one of the state’s largest companies and regularly collecting more than half of its total profits from Oregonians, Providence has never faced a strike in Oregon.

The unprecedented strike votes are to protest Providence’s illegal unfair labor practices (ULPs) and demand fair contracts which improve patient care, raise nurse staffing standards, make health care more affordable and address Providence’s growing staffing crisis.

Nurses at all three hospitals are proud members of the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA). ONA represents 233 frontline nurses working at Providence Willamette Falls, 239 frontline nurses working at Providence Milwaukie and more than 1,600 ONA nurses at Providence St. Vincent along with nurses at 7 other Providence facilities stretching from Portland to Medford.

“Providence isn’t taking patient or nurse safety seriously. For the last two years, I’ve watched nurses sacrifice our own health and safety for our patients and for Providence during COVID-19. And for the last six months Providence has forced nurses at my hospital to work without a contract when all we’re asking for are basic safety standards we need to protect our patients, our coworkers and our families,” said ONA Executive Committee President at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center Virginia Smith, RN. “We don’t take this action lightly. Nurses have reached across the aisle in bargaining and Providence has repeatedly slapped our hand away. We want to work but we need to work to be safe for our patients and our coworkers.”

“There’s a patient care crisis at Providence. Every day, nurses are forced to care for twice as many patients as is considered safe. We’re standing up for Oregonians and striking for safety. We won’t settle for anything less. Oregon patients and their families deserve safe, high-quality, affordable and accessible health care,” said ONA Executive Committee President at Providence Milwaukie Hospital Peggy Elia, RN.  “An emergency room nurse recently told me, ‘Every day I come to work and try not to quit and every day it gets harder.’ This isn’t normal and it isn’t safe. We need Providence to step up and help nurses raise standards for our patients, our nurses and our communities so we can give every Oregonian the care they deserve.”

“Our patients come first. Nurses overwhelmingly voted to strike to defend our rights to speak up to keep our patients and coworkers safe. Nurses’ top priority is improving patient safety by addressing Providence’s staffing crisis and raising standards to recruit and retain caregivers,” said ONA Executive Committee President at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center John Smeltzer, RN. “Providence is hemorrhaging nurses and staff. We can't wait and hope it gets better. We have to take action. We’re asking Providence to protect patients and nurses with basic care improvements, safe nurse staffing, better working conditions and a fair contract.”

At the bargaining table, ONA nurses have volunteered their time to meet with paid Providence managers more than 45 times over the last seven months to advocate for patient safety, staffing, affordable health care and fair compensation in multiple contracts at Providence's Oregon hospitals. ONA frontline nurses are asking Providence for basic safety standards and common sense proposals to protect our patients, our coworkers and our families including:

• Stronger patient safety standards to reduce future COVID-19 outbreaks and ensure the highest standards of care for all Oregonians.
• Safe nurse staffing to ensure high-quality care and patient access.
• Affordable health care and paid leave so frontline nurses can seek care after COVID-19 exposures and afford health care for their own families.
• A fair compensation package that allows hospitals to recruit and retain the skilled frontline caregivers our communities need to stay healthy and safe. 

Despite nurses’ sacrifices over the last two years serving on the frontlines of a deadly pandemic–Providence has left thousands of frontline nurses working without the safety and security of a contract. Providence allowed nurse contracts at major Oregon hospitals including Providence St. Vincent and Providence Willamette Falls to expire in 2021. Providence Milwaukie’s contract expired in May. 

ONA nurses are leading site meetings to begin preparing for strikes and working to determine strike dates. When strikes are called ONA will give Providence a 10-day notice to allow management adequate time to cease admissions and transfer patients or to reach a fair agreement with nurses and avert a work stoppage. 

Providence St. Joseph Health is one of the largest and wealthiest health care systems in the US with tens of billions in annual revenue. It is Oregon’s largest health care system and one of the state’s largest corporations. Despite its national reach, Providence regularly collects more than half of its total profits from Oregonians. ONA nurses are asking Providence’s corporate executives to re-invest in safe, high-quality, affordable health care before it's too late. 

“I take pride in being a nurse. I do my best every day to provide excellent care in the face of adversity and I strive to bring comfort and healing to my patients and their families, even in their darkest hour. I shouldn't have to fight this hard to ensure our nurses are taken care of too. It’s time for Providence to prove it cares for its caregivers.” Smith added.

Visit www.OregonRN.org/Providence to learn more.

The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) is the state’s largest and most influential nursing organization. We are a professional association and labor union which represents more than 15,000 nurses and allied health workers throughout the state, including more than 4,000 nurses working at 10 Providence Oregon health care facilities throughout the state. ONA’s mission is to advocate for nursing, quality health care and healthy communities. For more information visit: www.OregonRN.org.

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