WSNA in solidarity with historic strike by Oregon nurses
The strike came after more than a year of negotiations failed to produce an agreement over staffing levels, pay and benefits.
January 15, 2025 • 1 minute, 16 seconds to read
In Oregon, 5,000 nurses, physicians, physician assistants, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners walked out of eight Providence hospitals and six clinics and began an open-ended strike at 6 a.m. Jan. 10.
Most of those participating in the strike organized by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) are nurses but dozens of physicians at a Portland hospital and at six women’s health clinics are also partaking, making it the state’s first physicians’ strike.
The strike came after more than a year of negotiations failed to produce an agreement over staffing levels, pay and benefits.
ONA said Providence is risking the lives of frontline caregivers and patients by refusing to follow Oregon’s Safe Staffing law, understaffing critical care units and emergency rooms, increasing caseloads of physicians and advanced practice providers, and denying market-competitive wages and benefits.
ONA has filed multiple charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging the refusal to bargain; bargaining in bad faith; unilateral implementation of mandatory subjects; denial of access to employee representatives; and retaliation against union leaders.
WSNA staff have provided strike support on the picket lines and with capturing images and video.
Hundreds of ONA members and supporters heard from speakers at a rally in Portland Jan. 11, including AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, AFT President Randi Weingarten, Sen. Jeff Merkley, and several striking health care workers.
On behalf of WSNA, Executive Director David Keepnews brought “greetings of support, solidarity, love, and respect” for the strikers and ONA.
“Nurses, physicians and other healthcare workers are generally nice people,” said Keepnews. “And we’ll put up with a lot. But there’s a limit. And guess what? Providence has found that limit.”
Nurse Blake, a nurse and comedian with more than a million followers on TikTok, visited one of the strike lines, and stood in solidarity against corporate healthcare.
Providence Health and Services, a multistate corporation based in Renton, Wash., is Oregon’s largest healthcare provider and one of the state’s largest corporations. Providence is a $30 billion company whose recently retired CEO made $12 million in 2024.
To keep up with the latest developments, go to ONA’s news site.