The picket line at Providence Medford Medical Center was filled with enthusiastic nurses on Thursday morning, despite the nearly freezing cold temperatures.
Chrystal Brunston is a nurse in the endoscopy department, and a part of the bargaining team for the Oregon Nurses Association. She said their nurses are paid 13% less than at Portland-area hospitals, leading to high turnover rates.
“Currently, even with Providence's really best offer, it doesn't really make us competitive with even Asante across town or Grants Pass or Ashland," Brunston said. "So we've definitely lost a considerable amount of nurses.”
Nurses at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center a couple of miles away negotiated a new contract in 2023 that included some significant pay raises as well as limits on travel nurses; employed to fill staffing gaps in the short-term and cost more than permanent nurses.
It took several days for Providence to send their proposal to the union after officials said last Saturday the company was willing to restart negotiations.
Brunston said the union’s own latest proposal represents the minimum that nurses are willing to accept.
“I think that we're pretty close together, which I think makes it even harder that it feels like their counters have been very slow and not very significant," said Brunston.
Providence declined to be interviewed. But, in a statement, officials said the company is actively engaged with federal mediators.
"The dates offered include resumption of bargaining as early as Friday morning and continuing through the weekend and into next week," said Providence officials in a statement. "Providence teams believe focused, intensive discussions at each table will be needed to make progress in negotiations."
Brunston partly blamed the federal mediators for the reasons negotiations are so slow, because the mediators are stretched thin.
The company has also been trying to lure striking nurses off the picket line and into the hospital, telling nurses to show up on Sunday if they want to begin working again.
The union doesn’t have a fund to pay the nurses salaries while they’re striking, aside from some emergency situations. But, Brunston said because of how negotiations have gone for months, many were aware a strike was on the horizon, and prepared for it.
