Providence St. Vincent Nurses Vote On Whether To Authorize Strike

PORTLAND, OR — More than 1,600 nurses will vote on whether to authorize a strike against Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. The vote begins Tuesday and continues through May 3.

The Oregon Nurses Association, which represents the group, said that if the nurses vote yes, then the ONA will be authorized to call a strike in protest of what they term the hospital's "repeated unfair labor practices."

The union's executive committee chair at the medical center, John Smeltzer, RN, said that "our patients and staff deserve better. Nurses are affirming our rights to speak up and advocate for our patients and coworkers to make sure work is safe for nurses and patients.

"Instead of interfering with nurses' rights, Providence should be working with us to raise staffing standards, improve patient care, make health care more affordable and retain the frontline nurses and health professionals our community counts on."

A spokesman for Providence said that it is doing much of that, pointing out that the two sides just concluded their 15th bargaining session since they started talking in October.

"Providence has been asking for multiple additional dates from ONA in order to get a deal done and to get a 9.5 percent increase into the paychecks of our represented nurses," Providence Communications Director Gary Walker said.

"ONA has not been able get additional sessions on the calendar beyond one set for April 28."

Walker said Providence has suggested adding a federal mediator to help with the talks but that ONA has rebuffed the idea.

The union said that if nurses authorize a strike, it will give Providence St. Vincent a 10-day notice to allow for time for the hospital to take whatever steps are necessary to deal with the strike, including possibly transferring patients and not accepting any more admissions.