PORTLAND, Ore. — Nurses from Providence Portland Medical Center and Providence Seaside Hospital on Friday reached what they called a “landmark” tentative agreement on a new two-year contract, nearly two months after they went on a five-day strike.
The Oregon Nurses Association said in a a release that the agreement, which came after two marathon negotiations, "takes critical steps to improve patient care and safety, addresses Providence’s ongoing staffing crisis and provides significant wage increases for all."
Some 1,400 frontline nurses at Providence Portland and Providence Seaside will vote on the contract in coming weeks. It would take effect immediately after being approved.
In June, the nurses held high-profile pickets on the blocks surrounding Providence's large Northeast Portland hospital. Signs supporting the nurses and other front-line workers appeared in many city yards as negotiations continued.
“Making the decision to hold a five-day strike was not an easy one, but we knew that if we didn’t walk out, conditions would only get worse for our patients and ourselves. Nurses are dedicated to putting our patients first," said Richard Botterill, who's ONA's executive committee chair at Providence.
"We stood up to one of the nation’s largest health care systems and we’ve reached an agreement to make immediate improvements to our patients’ health care.”
ONA had pushed for safer working conditions, higher staffing levels and an increase in compensation, sick time and paid time off. Providence had offered a 12% raise in year one, followed by 3% in each of years two and three, along with 30 more hours of PTO.
According to highlights of the tentative agreement ONA shared on Friday, Providence agreed to the following:
- Additional 40 hours of paid time off
- Raises between 17%-26.7% over the life of the two-year agreement — the highest percentage increases in the Portland metro area
- Retroactive pay dating back to the previous contract’s expiration date
- a commitment to comply with Oregon's new nurse-to-patient ratio law
- A pilot program to establish the use of meal and break RNs
Providence Portland issued the following statement about the tentative deal: “Providence is grateful for the hard work and commitment of both bargaining teams. We look forward to collaborating as we continue to serve our patients with compassionate, high-quality care.”
The agreement comes after protracted and, at times, contentious negotiations. ONA in late June called on Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to investigate whether Providence hired professional strikebreakers while nurses were on the picket line. Providence brought in 475 replacement nurses hired from U.S. Nursing Corp., which provides "turn-key staffing solutions during labor disputes," to continue to care for patients.
Providence argued that the "strikebreaker" law is outdated, unconstitutional and unenforceable.
In addition to the nurses at the two Providence hospitals, nurses and clinicians at Providence Home Health and Hospice also went on strike, but they ended their mediation without an agreement, ONA said. Bargaining team members said they remained far apart on wages and safe staffing protections and were prepared to continue bargaining, but Providence ended the session, according to ONA.
