Agreement reached after almost 100 hours of bargaining over ten days

*In-person media availability today from Noon - 1 p.m. at OHSU Waterfront Campus. Please contact Myrna Jensen at 907-350-6260 to schedule a time and be directed to an exact location.

(Portland, Ore.) - Nurses at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) successfully reached a tentative agreement with hospital management the afternoon of Monday, Sept. 25 capping off almost 60 hours of negotiation meetings over five days, including work with a mediator. Nearly 3200 nurses at OHSU are represented by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA).

“Nurses at OHSU care for Oregon’s most critical patients—patients who require specialized nursing care that only we can provide. We deserve a contract that reflects the expertise, compassion and skill we bring to every patient in our care. This new contract will ensure we have the tools, the workplace safety and the staffing support necessary to deliver the high-quality care our patients deserve,” said Duncan Zevetski, RN, vice president of the ONA bargaining unit at OHSU. “I am proud of the nurses who organized, fought for and won this historic contract—a contract that our union colleagues across the country can look to as an example in their own fights for improved working conditions that will support them in caring for their patients.”

Members will vote to ratify the tentative agreement from Oct. 1-5 but detailed discussions of the proposed agreement will start Friday, Sept. 29. If approved, the agreement will include historic wage increases, which are key to retaining experienced nurses at OHSU, recruiting the next generation of nurses, and ensuring safe care for our community.

Key provisions of the tentative agreement include: 

• Nurse staffing standards that align with the higher complexity patients OHSU nurses care for. 
• Minimum safe staffing standards guaranteed by June 1, 2024, including a specific plan for the Emergency Department levels, and 1:3 Acute Care (mixed IMC) ratios written into the contract. A guarantee to follow professional standards that set ratios and levels for all other areas.
• Wage increases of 15%, 6%, and 6% each year as well as a new 30-step wage scale. The average base wage will increase 37% and will average to $20.67/hr increase over 3 years.
• Major expansion of the Code Green team that includes social workers trained in de-escalation for the Marquam Hill campus and newly provided to the Waterfront campus. 
• Paid training for trauma-informed care, in-person de-escalation training/including advanced physical skills, crisis intervention and assault prevention.  
• 24/7 coverage of metal detector screenings and DPS presence in the EDs.
• Major improvements to workplace safety at OHSU, including 50% of positions for nurses and AFSCME members on a task force to allocate $10 million in funds.
• A commitment to immediately institute urgent changes to lockdown procedures, securing entrances and other workplace violence reduction.
• The right to bargain the impacts of a merger with Legacy Health system.
• Full retro pay.

Nurses were also able to secure additional contract protections requiring break-relief assignments so that patient care isn’t compromised. Data from OHSU indicates that nurses missed at least 95,000 legally required rest in the last six months. Research has clearly shown that nurses who miss breaks are more likely to make mistakes, experience exhaustion and moral injury, and are ultimately more likely to leave the bedside—adding to a critical nursing shortage. 

“AURN won strong contract language for nurse staffing across our entire institution, including care areas ranging from ambulatory to inpatient. Most importantly, the contract centers on the expertise of the nurses providing care as essential to designing and driving staffing levels. We are proud to be raising the staffing standards for high-acuity hospitals across the country,” said Erica Swartz, RN and ONA staffing committee co-chair at OHSU.

“Going into negotiations, our team was faced with the realities of what our workforce has been enduring,” said Corinn Joseph, RN and ONA bargaining team member. “Across the nation, and the world, nursing has become not only a risk to our mental health but our physical safety. We set out with the intention to build a better contract, one that would change standards. We did this not only for our nurses, but to help raise the bar for hospitals everywhere. With the help of our dedicated members, we have done just that. We can stand proud of what we have set into motion for the decades of nursing that follow! Together we create our future. Together we care for the people. Together we care for ourselves. Together we stand strong.”  

Nurses began contract negotiations in December 2022 and their contract with OHSU expired on June 30, 2023. The new agreement will run through June 30, 2026. 

The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) is the state’s largest and most influential nursing organization. We are a professional association and labor union representing over 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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Hundreds of ONA frontline nurses at OHSU held a rally in the South Waterfront Sept. 18 to announce the results of their strike authorization vote and call for a fair contract that puts patients first and allows the hospital to retain, recruit and respect frontline caregivers. Photo Courtesy of Kevin Mealy, ONA.

ONA leadership will determine when to issue a 10-day strike notice at Oregon’s largest hospital.

(Portland, Ore.) – During a rally in the South Waterfront this morning, nurse leaders announced that the more than 3,100 registered nurses at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) overwhelmingly voted to authorize their bargaining team to call a strike. The frontline nurses at OHSU—Oregon’s largest hospital—are represented by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA). Nurses at OHSU last went on strike in 2001 in a walkout that lasted 56 days.

”As nurses, it is our responsibility to stand up to protect our patients and our community’s health. In fact, it is our ethical obligation to advocate for our working conditions because when our working conditions improve, our patients’ care does too. We’re ready to strike to make sure Oregonians get the care they need when they come through our doors,” said Duncan Zevetski, vice president of ONA’s nurse bargaining unit at OHSU. 

The strike authorization vote ran from Sept. 6 – 17. Nurses at OHSU voted nearly unanimously to authorize an open-ended strike.

Since December 2022, frontline nurses have engaged in more than 30 contract negotiation meetings with OHSU executives. Nurses’ contract with OHSU expired on June 30, 2023 and the nurse bargaining team declared impasse in August.

Nurses are calling for a fair contract to ensure a safe environment for patients and nurses, provide high-quality care through safe staffing, retain the highly skilled and valuable nurses who work at the hospital, and ensure frontline workers can reopen negotiations if OHSU’s acquisition of the Legacy health system is finalized.

Nurses announced the results of their strike authorization vote in front of hundreds of nurses and supporters during a “Ready to Bargain, Ready to Strike” rally at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in the South Waterfront. Following the rally, nurses and community allies marched to the Robertson Life Sciences Building where OHSU’s board of directors was meeting. A small group of nurses went inside to observe OHSU's board meeting and were recognized during the meeting by OHSU executives. Meanwhile, hundreds of nurses and allies peacefully gathered outside the building to march and call for a fair contract that puts patients first and allows the hospital to retain, recruit and respect frontline caregivers. 

“For decades hospitals have made billions of dollars on the backs of nurses and health care workers while telling us to take on more responsibility and bigger assignments at the expense of our patients and health,” said ONA President Tamie Cline, RN. “Hospitals have put profits over patients and are causing our health care crisis. All we want to do is take care of our patients, our neighbors, and our communities in the manner they deserve to be treated; not just enough to get by. We are asking OHSU to come to the bargaining table and work together with us to make sure that happens.”

If a strike is called, ONA will give OHSU and the community a 10-day notice to allow hospital executives adequate time to cease admissions and transfer patients or to reach a fair agreement with nurses and avert a work stoppage. 

The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) is the state’s largest and most influential nursing organization. We are a professional association and labor union representing over 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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Hundreds of frontline nurses and community allies held an informational picket at OHSU Thursday, June 29 calling on OHSU executives to partner with workers to build stronger, safer, healthier and more patient-oriented hospitals. Photo courtesy of the Oregon Nurses Association.

WHAT: Oregon Nurses Association (ONA)-represented nurses from Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) will announce the results of their strike authorization vote during a public rally at Elizabeth Caruthers Park on the South Waterfront Monday, Sept. 18 at 11:30 a.m. Nurses will also be available for one-on-one interviews. The rally will be livestreamed on ONA’s main Facebook page. The 3160 frontline nurses at OHSU are represented by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) through the Association of University Registered Nurses (AURN).

WHEN: 11:30 a.m., Monday, September 18, 2023  
 
WHERE: Elizabeth Caruthers Park (3508 S Moody Ave, Portland, OR)

WHO: Hundreds of frontline nurses at OHSU along with elected officials, community allies and supporters.

WHY: Local nurses are demanding OHSU executives reach a fair contract agreement with frontline caregivers that will retain the highly skilled and valuable nurses who work at the hospital, ensure a safe environment for patients and nurses, provide high-quality care through appropriate staffing levels and give them the opportunity to reopen negotiations if the acquisition of Legacy Health System is finalized.

Negotiations commenced December 2022 and have continued through the contract’s expiration on June 30, 2023. The nurse bargaining team declared impasse in August and the two sides have been working with a mediator during a 30-day cooling off period.

If ONA members vote to authorize a strike at OHSU, ONA’s nurse leaders will work to determine next steps, including setting potential strike dates. If a strike is called, ONA will provide OHSU with a 10-day notice to allow OHSU executives 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 OHSU management with a mediator.  

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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Local frontline health care workers, patients, elected officials, students and community advocates held a press conference outside PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District in Eugene Sept. 11. Speakers urged PeaceHealth to reverse its plan to close University District--Eugene's only hospital--and called on the Oregon Health Authority and state leaders to intervene and protect Oregonians' access to local health care. Photo Courtesy of Kevin Mealy, ONA.

SAVE EUGENE’S HOSPITAL TOWN HALL
Friday, September 15, 2023
3 - 5 p.m.
IAFF Union Hall
160 Madison St.
Eugene, OR

MEDIA ARE INVITED TO ATTEND.

(EUGENE, Ore.) -  Local emergency responders, health care workers, patients, seniors, students, and residents are leading a community town hall on PeaceHealth’s decision to close PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District and the negative impact it will have on Eugene workers, patients, families and vulnerable populations. 

Community members are invited to hear directly from first responders, health care workers, and patients; share concerns; get questions answered based on the limited information PeaceHealth has shared; and find out how you can help keep health care local and save Eugene's only hospital. 

Scheduled speakers include representatives from: 

• Lane Professional Firefighters IAFF-851
• CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets)/Teamsters Local 206
• The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA)
• AFSCME retirees
• NAACP
• Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation (GTFF) at the University of Oregon
• HealthCare for All Oregon (HCAO)

Speaker schedule is subject to change. Local elected leaders are also expected to attend. 

In just a few days, more than 2,000 Oregonians have signed a petition asking the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and state leaders to do everything in their power to prevent PeaceHealth from closing University District, protect Lane County residents and save Eugene’s hospital. 

Local frontline health care workers, city and county elected officials, union leaders, students and community advocates held a press conference Monday, Sept. 11 urging PeaceHealth to reverse its decision to close Eugene’s only hospital and calling on the state to protect Oregonians’ access to local health care. 

Speakers addressed the wide-ranging impacts closing University District will have on the community–particularly our most vulnerable residents–leading to worse care, longer waits, and slower emergency responses for everyone in Eugene.

“Make no mistake. The costs of this decision are high. Eugene Springfield Emergency and Rescue make approximately 4,500 trips to the emergency room every year. Consider the impact to our response time and cost. Our estimates are that every round trip transport will increase by 27 minutes. Think about what that means to people in West Eugene who have a heart attack or a house fire or another life-threatening crisis. Lives will be lost,” said Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis.

“This closure will decrease access and degrade health care in our community and we should all be very concerned,” said Lane County Commissioner Laurie Trieger. “A decision of this magnitude was not done in partnership at all. It was dropped on this community with no time to consider how best to mitigate and prepare for the loss, no time to plan for a thoughtful off ramp for services, no time to seek new allies or collaborators to help fill service gaps and plan for the future.”

“By PeaceHealth’s own admission, the closure of University District is being fueled by financial considerations, not community ones. PeaceHealth should honor its promise to the Eugene community by not closing this essential—and only—emergency service facility in the city. We expect more from a mission-driven, nonprofit organization,” said SEIU 49 leader Lorie Quinn, an environmental services worker at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center Riverbend. 

“Everyday I see patients come into the ER desperate for our help. Often, they have nowhere else to turn. They are counting on me and the other people you see standing here. We are not going to let them down. We won’t let PeaceHealth abandon our community and endanger our families’ and patients’ health and safety,” said ONA leader Kevyn Paul, a charge nurse at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District. “It’s time PeaceHealth does the right thing for our community. Today, we call upon PeaceHealth executives, the Oregon Health Authority and state leaders to reverse this disastrous decision and save Eugene’s hospital.”

BACKGROUND: On Aug. 22, PeaceHealth executives in Vancouver notified our community that they planned to close Eugene’s only hospital–PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District–this fall.  

This dangerous and irresponsible decision would leave nearly 200,000 people in Oregon’s second largest city without a hospital. 

Losing our only hospital is a clear and present danger to the entire Eugene community—particularly our most vulnerable residents. PeaceHealth is gambling with our families’ long-term health and safety and putting profits ahead of people.

Local elected officials, frontline health care workers, unions, allies and residents are calling upon PeaceHealth to reconsider this disastrous decision and asking the Oregon Health Authority and state leaders to do everything in their power to save lives and keep Eugene’s only hospital open.

• Learn more at www.SaveEugenesHospital.com.

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 Oregon. 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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Local frontline health care workers, elected officials, union leaders, students and community advocates are urging PeaceHealth to reverse its dangerous decision to close Eugene's only hospital.

SAVE EUGENE’S HOSPITAL PRESS CONFERENCE
Monday, Sept. 11, 2023
1:45 p.m.
Public sidewalk in front of PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District (1200 Hilyard Avenue, Eugene, Oregon). Near the intersection of E. 13th Avenue and Hilyard Street.

The press conference will also be livestreamed on the Oregon Nurses Association's (ONA's) Facebook page here.  

WHAT: Local frontline health care workers, city and county elected officials, union leaders, students and community advocates will hold a press conference Monday, Sept. 11 urging PeaceHealth to reverse its decision to close Eugene’s only hospital and calling on state leaders and the Oregon Health Authority to do everything in their power to protect Oregonians’ access to local health care. 

WHEN: Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. 1:45 p.m.

WHERE: Public sidewalks in front of PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District (1200 Hilyard Avenue, Eugene, Oregon) Near the intersection of E. 13th Avenue and Hilyard Street

WHO: Prominent local elected officials, along with frontline health care workers, union leaders, community advocates and patients are slated to speak including members of the Eugene City Council, Lane County Commission, Teamsters Local 206/CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets), the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA), the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP), SEIU 49, the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation, Health Care for All Oregon (HCAO) and other leading community organizations.  

Scheduled speakers include:

• Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis
• Lane County Commissioner Laurie Trieger
• Chelsea Swift, Teamsters Local 206 member and CAHOOTS Medic and Agency Outreach
• Lorie Quinn, Vice-President of SEIU 49 and health care worker at Sacred Heart
• Marianne Zundel, ONA member and registered nurse at Sacred Heart University District
• Kevyn Paul, ONA member and registered nurse at Sacred Heart University District
• Tina Davis, OFNHP member and pharmacy tech at Sacred Heart Riverbend
• Lou Sinniger, AFSCME Retirees & Health Care for All Oregon member
• Rajeev Ravisankar, Former President of the GTFF at the University of Oregon
• Anne Tan Piazza, ONA Executive Director

Speaker schedule is subject to change. 

WHY: On Aug. 22, PeaceHealth executives in Vancouver notified our community that they planned to close Eugene’s only hospital–PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District–this fall.  

This dangerous and irresponsible decision would leave nearly 200,000 people in Oregon’s second largest city without a hospital. 

Losing our only hospital is a clear and present danger to the entire Eugene community—particularly our most vulnerable residents. PeaceHealth is gambling with our families’ long-term health and safety and putting profits ahead of people.

Local elected officials, frontline health care workers, unions, allies and residents are calling upon PeaceHealth to reconsider this disastrous decision and asking the Oregon Health Authority and state leaders to do everything in their power to save lives and keep Eugene’s only hospital open.

Learn more at www.SaveEugenesHospital.com. 

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 Oregon. 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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(Portland, OR) – 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 representing over 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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