The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the independent federal agency responsible for upholding the NLRA, ruled on July 22 that PeaceHealth illegally changed the health insurance of its Professional employees. These workers are members of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP, AFT Local 5017, AFL-CIO) and have been bargaining their first union contract since last year. Labor law prohibits employers from unilaterally making changes to wages, working conditions, and benefits while unionized employees are bargaining a first contract. The government agency has now ordered PeaceHealth Southwest to reimburse workers for the premium increases incurred in 2025 as well as out-of-pocket medical expenses from 2024.
In 2024, PeaceHealth unilaterally changed health insurance providers for thousands of its healthcare workers, resulting in the affected unions filing both grievances and Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges. The NLRB found that PeaceHealth violated federal labor law, and each affected Professional will receive a financial settlement, the amount of which is still being calculated from the increased premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs.
"When PeaceHealth unilaterally decided to switch our health care benefits from UMR to Moda, it was the healthcare workers fighting for our patients who felt the consequences of this last-minute decision,” says bargaining team member Kimmie Russell, a pharmacist at Southwest.
PeaceHealth remains one of our region’s largest employers, and these changes affected thousands of workers across Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. In a survey of our members, we found devastating stories, including a cancer patient who was assured their treatment would be covered only to discover it effectively wasn't, and workers whose mental health therapy costs jumped from $40 to $175 per session.
In 2023, when OFNHP members in the Tech, Service & Maintenance, and Lab Professional bargaining units went on strike, PeaceHealth threatened to cancel the health insurance for around 1,750 workers. That action was also found to be illegal earlier this year after our colleagues at the Washington State Nurses Association challenged it, exposing it for what it was: a grievous, immoral, and illegal attack on workers' rights to union advocacy and healthcare access. While the Professionals will receive a settlement for this assault on their healthcare, thousands of other PeaceHealth employees will not. As the same bargaining units that struck in 2023 begin negotiating their next contracts next year, this will be a major issue in negotiations.