(PORTLAND, Ore.) –  Frontline nurses are opening a strike vote at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). Nurses are voting to protect their community’s health and safety, and fix the ongoing staffing crisis.

The vote will run from Sept. 6 - 17. If passed, nurse leaders are authorized to call for an open-ended strike. The 3160 frontline nurses at OHSU are represented by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) through the Association of University Registered Nurses (AURN). After nine months of negotiations and meeting nearly 30 times, an agreement has still not been reached. By voting yes, nurses are authorizing their union leaders to call a strike to win improvements in their workplace for both nurses and their patients.  

Outstanding issues at the bargaining table include:

• Guarantees for safe staffing as more and more nurses leave the bedside due to burnout and moral injury. Safe nurse staffing ensures high-quality care and patient access.
• Immediate improvements to workplace safety following increased assaults, gun violence, and injuries impacting staff and patients.
• Retention and recruitment incentives to employ enough staff for all units and shifts.
• Prioritizing reaching a fair agreement with OHSU nurses before the purchase of Legacy Health System.

“We do not want to strike, but we will if that’s what it takes to protect our nurses and patients for years to come.  We must see real change at OHSU now more than ever. My fellow nurses have demanded that it’s time for a strike vote as we cannot wait any longer for OHSU executives to take action. We are fighting for our fellow nurses who have suffered immensely under the decision making of OHSU’s executives. We are fighting for our patients who deserve so much better.” -Elisa Youngman, RN, BSN, CCRN, AURN President

We are also calling on OHSU to stop violating the law. The Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA) guarantees workers’ rights to engage in union activity. PECBA violations are called unfair labor practices (ULPs). Workers have experienced the following ULPs:

• Intimidation and retaliation of union stewards and staffing committee members for speaking up about safe staffing.
• Side bargaining by attempting to direct deal with workers outside the bargaining table.
• Interference due to tearing down strike information posters.
• Coercion and intimidation of newly hired employees threatening them that they may not go on strike.
• Bad faith bargaining by withholding information from the bargaining team and misrepresentation about whether an acquisition of Legacy Health Systems was planned.

Nurses at OHSU have been working under an expired contract since June 31. On Aug. 9, nurses declared impasse which triggered a 30-day cooling-off period.

If ONA members vote to authorize a strike at OHSU, ONA’s nurse leaders will determine next steps, including setting potential strike dates. If a strike is called, ONA will provide OHSU with 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. ONA’s nurse bargaining team at OHSU continues to meet with management with the guidance of government mediators.

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 16,000 nurses and allied health workers 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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