Embargoed: Nurse Leaders To Announce 10-Day Strike Notice For St. Charles Medical Center Bend -06/01/23
EMBARGOED UNTIL JUNE 2, 2023, 9:00 a.m.
WHAT: Nurse leaders represented by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend will be joined by union leaders and elected officials to discuss the nurses’ issuance of a 10-day notice to strike. Following prepared remarks, speakers will be available for questions from the press. The 10-day strike notice was delivered by hand to St. Charles administrators on June 1 at approximately 4:30 p.m. and communicates the nurses’ intention to strike beginning at 7:00 a.m. on June 12, 2023. Following an overwhelming vote to authorize a strike that closed on May 21, 2023, nurse leaders and management met for two days of bargaining on May 23 and 24, 2023 with no significant movement on behalf of St. Charles.
WHEN: 9:00 a.m., Friday, June 2, 2023
WHERE: The Campfire Hotel (721 NE 3rd St, Bend, OR 97701)
WHO:
- Tamie Cline, RN, President of the Board, Oregon Nurses Association
- Erin Harrington, RN, Chair, St. Charles Medical Center Bend Bargaining Unit Executive Committee
- Heather Bristol, RN, Steward and PNCC member, St. Charles Medical Center
- Jonathon Baker, President, Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals
- State Representative Jason Kropf, District 54- Bend
WHY: Nurses are demanding St. Charles give nurses a fair contract that will recruit new nurses to the hospital, retain the highly skilled and valuable nurses who work at the hospital, and ensure high-quality of care for patients. St. Charles Medical Center has lost nearly 550 nurses due to unsafe working conditions and non-competitive rates of pay in just the past few years. Staffing violations, failure to provide legally required rest and meal breaks, payroll mismanagement and workplace safety concerns have plagued St. Charles for years, and management continues to stonewall the nurses on common sense contract fixes.
The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) is the state’s largest and most influential nursing organization. We are a professional association and labor union which represents more than 16,000 nurses and allied health workers throughout the state, including nearly 1,000 frontline nurses at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. ONA also represents nurses at other St. Charles facilities in Redmond and Prineville. ONA’s mission is to advocate for nursing, quality health care and healthy communities. For more information visit: www.OregonRN.org.
###