Nearly 1,800 nurses and clinicians will walk if a deal isn’t reached during negotiations next week.
(PORTLAND, Ore.) – On June 8, 2023, nurses and clinicians at Providence Portland, Providence Seaside and Providence Home Health and Hospice, represented by the Oregon Nurses Association, delivered a 10-day notice of their intent to strike to management. The notice informed management that the nearly 1,800 nurses and clinicians of the three bargaining units intend to begin their strike on June 19, 2023, at 5:30 a.m. at Providence Portland and at 7:00 a.m. at Providence Home Health and Hospice and Providence Seaside.
Richard Botterill, RN, Chair of the Providence Portland Bargaining Unit Executive Committee, said during a press conference this morning, “We have provided a 10-day notice to give enough time for the hospital to transfer patients and make decisions about what services they will continue to provide. It is important for you to know that Providence has a duty to provide adequate care to our communities, and because they need to meet that need, Providence should seek to settle this contract as soon as possible.”
Nurses, clinicians and management have been engaged in contract negotiations for eight months and nurses and clinicians are clear that Providence management has not responded to their concerns with serious proposals. “The four priorities established by our nurses are wages to be brought up to the level where we are market competitive; decent healthcare that is comprehensive and reasonably priced; adequate staffing; and reasonable paid time off and sick time,” said Botterill. Nurses at Providence Portland and Providence Seaside are scheduled for negotiation sessions on June 13 and 14 respectively.
“I cannot and will not stand by while Providence pushes me and my colleagues to provide rushed, infrequent, and incomplete care in service of their profit margin,” said Lori Curtis, RN, bargaining team member for Providence Home Health and Hospice. “At the height of the pandemic, Providence increased the number of patients many of my colleagues were expected to see in a day by up to 70%. More visits on my schedule means less time to provide care for each patient and family.”
“Specifically in the clinic setting, Providence’s compensation for clinic nurses is incongruent with the market for wage parity,” said Christy Youngquist, RN and member of the Providence Seaside Bargaining Team. “The VA system, Kaiser, OHSU, and our local competitor, Columbia Memorial Hospital, all pay their clinic RNs on the same pay scale as their inpatient nurses. This is one of our most concerning issues for our new contract. Unfortunately, Providence has refused to offer parity for the clinic nurses to the inpatient nurse scale, even though this has created retention and recruitment hardships in the clinics that provide triages, wound care, cardiology services, and virtual visits.”
Also in attendance at the press conference was Oregon State Representative Travis Nelson, who called upon Providence to return to the bargaining table prepared to reach a fair contract. “Providence must do better. They can start by investing in adequate staffing at the bedside and in the home,” said Nelson. “I am urging Providence executives to reach a fair contract that empowers our nurses and clinicians. If Providence cares about this community, as their commercials and billboards say, they will do everything in their power to reach an agreement that appreciates these workers’ dedication to their patients and the difficulty of their jobs.”
Community members can visit RespectOurNurses.com to learn more about ongoing negotiations, sign a community petition in support of the nurses and clinicians, and get information about the impact of a potential strike.
Other relevant materials:
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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