Historic Strike Involving Thousands of Oregon Healthcare Workers Comes to an End

A strike involving nearly 5,000 healthcare workers at Providence Health in Oregon, which began Jan. 10, has come to an end.

Late Monday, eight RN bargaining units voted overwhelmingly to ratify their contracts and end the strike, which was believed to be the largest involving healthcare workers, and the first involving physicians, in the state’s history, according to the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA), which represented the workers.

Among the key provisions in the contracts were that nurses will receive wage increases ranging from 20% to 42% over the life of the contract, with an immediate 16% to 22% raise upon ratification, and that patient acuity will be factored into staffing plans.

“As RNs, we believe that these contracts will lead to greater recruitment and retention of frontline nurses as wages become more aligned with other health systems, and we have staffing language that will allow us to spend more time with the patients that need the most care,” said Virginia Smith, RN, of Providence Willamette Falls in Oregon City, who was the leader of the ONA bargaining unit, in a statement.

In emailed remarks, the health system noted that “Providence Oregon is pleased that union-represented RNs at all eight Oregon hospitals voted to approve new contracts and end their strikes. We recognize the challenges faced over the past 6 weeks and are proud of these agreements that address issues the union bargaining teams identified as priorities during negotiations.”

“We are grateful to the bargaining teams from Providence ministries and the union for their collaborative work on finding common ground,” the health system added. “We look forward to working in cooperation to find sustainable solutions to Oregon’s future healthcare needs.”

Achieving an end to the strike was not without challenges.

Earlier this month, hospitalists at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland voted unanimously in favor of their own contract. However, they also expressed their solidarity with colleagues, who rejected either the latest offer from Providence or a tentative agreement with the health system.

“While there is always more change to advocate for, this contract is a huge step in the right direction and lays a great foundation to build upon to ensure continued quality care for our community and quality of life for our members,” Jahnavi Chandrashekar, MD, an internist at Providence St. Vincent and member of the bargaining team, said at the time. “It means that when we go back to work, we will have safer staffing, be able to better recruit and retain hospitalists, and can spend more time with our patients. But for now, we will continue to hold the picket line until the nurses who work beside us also get the contract they deserve.”

The strike had garnered the attention of state leaders.

In late January, the ONA and Providence Oregon issued a joint statement, noting that at the request of Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D), they “have agreed to have representatives from both sides re-engage in intensive, in-person mediation … in an effort to end this strike.”

“Both sides are engaging in every effort to get this dispute resolved as expeditiously as possible and get people back to work,” the statement added.

The group of healthcare workers on strike included mostly nurses, but also physicians, nurse practitioners, physician associates, and nurse midwives.

“We’ll be out here as long as it takes,” Jennifer Lincoln, MD, an ob/gyn at Providence St. Vincent told MedPage Today on the first day of the strike.

“Doctors, nurses, all of us united at this scale is unprecedented,” Lincoln said. “It’s us taking our power back so that we can do what’s best for the patients. Our voices matter.”

At the time, she also addressed the significance of physicians striking for the first time in Oregon’s history, noting that “we have to uphold our oath of taking care of our patients, and first doing no harm.”

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