Picket August 15th at St. Charles Demanding Fair Union Contract and Safe Staffing
Bend, OR.— Today, August 15th, the Technical employees at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, Oregon will be walking the picket line to demand that management agree to common sense proposals that will help secure safe staffing and living wages for healthcare workers. These healthcare professionals, who are members of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP), AFT Local 5017, have been in negotiations over their next union contract for months. These are workers who are employed in high-skilled, essential healthcare positions, such as Respiratory Therapists. Sonographers, and Surgical Techs, but who often make less than similar positions like RNs.
“We want a contract that can better recruit and retain qualified staff in this challenging market,” says Tyler Ecklund, Nuclear Medicine Technologist and OFNHP union leader. “Management’s current proposal will restrict many employees from receiving pay raises and will have a negative impact on those raising children or caring for elders. What St. Charles is offering simply does not work for its healthcare workers.”
This picket will be joined by supporting organizations, patients and community leaders. These workers began their fight years ago, including an eleven-day strike in 2021 when they were negotiating their first union contract. The issues now are largely the same that forced a strike that year, including historically low wages that have established a systemic problem with attracting and retaining qualified staff at St. Charles. With Bend’s skyrocketing cost of living, many of these workers cannot afford to live in the community they serve and are struggling to survive despite putting their health on the line to keep Central Oregon safe.
If management continues to refuse common sense proposals that could help stabilize the region’s healthcare system, St. Charles could once again force a strike that will affect the entire Central Oregon region. OFNHP will similarly be entering into negotiations with Kaiser Permanente next year as part of the over 50,000 member Alliance of Healthcare Unions to negotiate a union contract that will help set wages and healthcare standards across the country.
Who: 150+ Techs at St. Charles Medical Center, all members of OFNHP (AFT Local 5017, AFL-CIO), as well as Central Oregon patients and community members
Where: 2500 NE Neff Road, Bend, 97701
When: August 15th, 4pm - 7pm
Why: We are demanding living wages, safe staffing, and a fair contract!