PORTLAND, Ore. – On Thursday, the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) called on elected officials to intervene as Providence Health & Services continues illegally refusing to bargain with its healthcare workers; putting patients’ health and safety at risk ahead of a massive 5,000 healthcare worker strike Jan. 10.
ONA has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Providence, citing its illegal refusal to bargain and asking local, state, and national elected officials to urge Providence executives to return to the table in order to reach a fair agreement for all Oregonians.
Providence’s refusal to meet with its own workers is illegal and far out of step with its corporate peers. Other Oregon hospitals and health systems, including Kaiser Permanente and St. Charles Bend, successfully met with healthcare workers and resolved negotiated contracts in the final days before scheduled strikes in 2021 and 2023 respectively. In recent years, ten California hospitals and health systems have also reached similar agreements in the 10 days prior to strikes. Multiple hospitals and health systems in New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois have all continued talks with frontline healthcare workers in the leadup to strikes and successfully reached agreements that prevented strikes from occurring.
