News

A new survey shows that short staffing at Kaiser Permanente is even more severe than previously understood. A study conducted by the Alliance of Healthcare Unions, a coalition of nearly twenty union locals including two in Oregon and Southwest Washington, shows that 90% of Kaiser departments are facing short staffing. The OR/Southwest WA coalition includes ILWU Local 28, which represents the security officers at Kaiser, and OFNHP - AFT Local 5017, which represents nearly 4,000 RNs and health professionals. Both locals say that short staffing is creating crisis conditions for both workers and

September 20th

Bargaining started on Monday, September 18th, as we continued to negotiate over what kind of access our members have to bargaining sessions. We believe that we should create the most transparency, while management has tried to limit access by employing a “sign in” system.

Once we got into the issues, management countered many of our proposals, such as one that would ensure union access to work spaces and allow stewards to be paid for their representational time (which would cost PeaceHealth less than $400 a year). They also countered proposals on veteran and disability

200 Techs from PeaceHealth Southwest and supporters rallied amidst 100 degree heat on Wednesday, July 19th, demanding that PeaceHealth offer reasonable raises, a fair contract, and solve the staffing crisis. These Techs have been working without a contract since June 30th, and are now asking that PeaceHealth resolve their historically low wages so that they can attract and retain qualified staff.

“The staffing crisis is a result of unbelievably low wages, which have not kept up with the cost of living in this area and are driving staff away from PeaceHealth,” says Shawna Ross, an Ultrasound

On June 28th, the Lab Professionals at PeaceHealth St. John in Longview, Washington had their latest in a months long series of negotiations for their next union contract. As has happened in the past several sessions, management has refused to bargain on required issues and are denying our members the ability to receive living wages. The Lab Professionals are facing historically low wages for their position relative to the market, which means that staffing levels have been low enough to potentially harm the future of patient care. This is a problem that many of our members have seen in their

ONA Members at Providence Portland Medical Center, Providence Seaside Hospital and Providence Home Health and Hospice:

The Nurses of OFNHP want to send a message of support to you as you stand together against Providence. Our members work at Kaiser Permanente, PeaceHealth, St. Charles, and Mid-Columbia Medical Center. Your fight for safe staffing and fair pay, and just working conditions is something that unites all of us and your success will improve patient care throughout the Pacific Northwest. 

All of our “non-profit” employers hide behind their inflated bank balances while screaming poverty

In our most recent bargaining session, the employer met our team with little movement on multiple important issues. We have an update in our table below to highlight the positions of both the union and the employer.

To this date, the employer has violated Federal Law and committed multiple Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs). The employer first committed a ULP when unilaterally taking away our overtime pay and changing clock in/out practices in March 2023. Most recently, the employer refuses to bargain over mandatory subjects of bargaining that our members care about, such as: Paid Time Off, Fair