![]() “The nurses, at least in my unit, have dealt with short staffing, lack of both PPE and patient care supplies. Vincent RN, provided further details on the horrible working conditions at the hospital. If the strike is the only way they’ll be taken seriously, then I support them 100 percent.” ![]() I fully support the workers taking a stand to ask for better treatment. “If I’m being honest, I don’t know a whole lot about the demands being made or the contracts being offered, but I know the nurses are asking for things that will benefit the hospital and how the staff are treated and the contracts being offered aren’t providing those things. Vincent patient care technician offered his support for the nurses. If your co-worker is on a lunch break, then you take on their patients and have 10 patients instead of five.” Nurses, who should not have to take on patients, now must do so: “The charge nurse is not supposed to take on patients, but when our unit is maxed out, then the charge nurse has had to take on patients.”Ī St. Nurses who have health insurance in the network are paying out of pocket until costs are over $3,000.” As to a nurse who recently became a parent, they decided to pay for private insurance because “private pregnancy insurance is cheaper than what Providence is offering. ![]() We are paid less than workers at other hospitals. The RN also spoke on the conditions nurses at St. My coworkers know that the union will drag out this process.” The RN also noted that “the Stanford nurses strike only lasted a week because their union ended it.” “The union is dragging out the process to go on strike. There is also broad frustration with the ONA for not calling a strike earlier. But there is more than enough money to meet all of the nurses’ demands the RN pointed out that “the amount of money these hospital CEOs are making should be illegal!” Providence made $5.3 billion in revenue in 2021. In it, nurses were asked to rank their demands, i.e., to determine which ones should be sacrificed first. The nurse also shared a survey from the ONA with the WSWS which was sent out after the original tentative agreement was voted down. Vincent workers should accept the agreement, he said that ‘this is just how it goes with the union.’” He further explained that “nurses are getting the latest news about negotiations from flyers the union hands out after they privately discuss with Providence management, and concerned nurses swarm the union rep to get the news.” The ONA also told this RN that “Providence told us they would not talk about health care until 2023.” One Providence registered nurse (RN) insisted that “when a union rep told nurses they should vote ‘Yes’ on the tentative agreement, nurses were angered and wanted to know the details of the proposed contract. Vincent nurses and other health care workers spoke to the WSWS about the conditions they face in the hospital and the role the ONA has played in suppressing a broader fight by health care workers at the hospital and across the region. The ONA has promoted them as “NURSE WINS,” all of which are at best baseline items from previous contracts and which do not address the demands for wage increases above inflation, drastically reduced health care costs and better nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. It has not, however, released the full contract but rather a series of highlights of the new agreement. ![]() After what the ONA called a “historic” bargaining session on June 27, it announced a new TA on June 30. Rather than preparing its membership for a battle, the ONA immediately went back to the bargaining table in an attempt to secure a second tentative agreement to head off a strike. ![]() The strike was scheduled for July 11 after nurses voted down a sellout contract by a margin of more than 4 to 1, a clear indication by the rank and file that they are ready for a fight for better wages, benefits and working conditions. Vincent Medical Center outside of Portland, Oregon, remain in the dark about the status of their planned strike after last week’s announcement of a new tentative agreement reached by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) and Providence executives. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon, 2009. ![]()
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