Nurses at Windfall Willamette Falls Medical Heart in Oregon Metropolis, Ore., and Windfall Milwaukie (Ore.) are launching simultaneous votes on strike authorization, in response to the union that represents them.
The votes will launch Could 23 and run by way of June 2.
If nurses at Windfall Willamette and Windfall Milwaukie authorize strikes, they would be the newest members of the Oregon Nurses Affiliation to take action. Nurses working at Windfall St. Vincent Medical Heart in Portland, Ore., voted to authorize a strike earlier in Could. All three hospitals are a part of Renton, Wash.-based Windfall.
The most recent vote is “to protest Windfall’s unlawful unfair labor practices and demand honest contracts which enhance affected person care, elevate nurse staffing requirements, make healthcare extra reasonably priced and deal with Windfall’s rising staffing disaster,” the union stated in a information launch shared with Becker’s.
The Oregon Nurses Affiliation represents 233 nurses at Windfall Willamette, 239 nurses at Windfall Milwaukie, and 1,600 nurses at Windfall St. Vincent. Contracts at Windfall St. Vincent and Windfall Willamette expired final yr. Windfall Milwaukie’s contract will expire this month.
A strike authorization vote doesn’t imply there shall be a strike. It provides the union the flexibility to provide the hospital a 10-day strike discover. If a discover is issued, a strike might be averted if a deal is reached earlier than the scheduled strike date.
In a press release shared with Becker’s, Windfall Milwaukie known as the strike authorization vote “disappointing and untimely.”
The hospital additionally stated it has proposed market changes and across-the-board will increase that can common 6.76 % and preserve the hospital aggressive for recruitment.
In a separate assertion shared with Becker’s, Windfall Willamette stated it “imagine[s] actual progress is being made [in negotiations], [and] it is unlucky that this vote will take time and vitality away from the bargaining course of.”
Windfall Willamette additionally stated it provided wage will increase and contract enhancements, together with common pay will increase of seven.75 % within the first yr of the contract and extra will increase in years two and three.
The Oregon Nurses Affiliation stated the union anticipates asserting voting outcomes at Windfall Willamette and Windfall Milwaukie on June 3.
Negotiations for Windfall Willamette nurses are scheduled for Could 25 and June 3.
Negotiations for Windfall Milwaukie nurses are scheduled for Could 26 and June 16 and 23.
Each hospitals have contingency plans within the occasion strikes are finally known as.