St. Charles Health System is continuing to prepare for a strike of its technical employees who are represented by the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals. According to the notice received last week, the strike is set to begin at 8 a.m. on March 4 and will last for an indefinite period of time. OFNHP represents about 150 technical caregivers on the St. Charles Bend campus. According to St Charles Health System’s latest media release:
St. Charles has filed two unfair labor practice charges against OFNHP with the National Labor Relations Board because we believe the strike notice was not lawful and that the union is not bargaining in good faith.
“The National Labor Relations Act requires that when a first contract is being negotiated the union must provide at least 30-days’ notice of the contract dispute to state and federal mediation agencies so the dispute may be resolved without a work stoppage,” said Rebecca Berry, vice president of Human Resources for St. Charles. “As a result, we believe the strike notice is unlawful and the NLRB is now investigating that issue.”
It is our understanding the NLRB will not reach a decision before the March 4 strike date. Consequently, St. Charles has also filed a complaint for injunctive relief to ensure we can maintain health care services until the issue can be resolved.
A hearing is scheduled related to the injunction request in federal court in Eugene at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, March 2. If the injunction is not granted, the strike will not be paused, but the issue of the legality of the strike notice will remain before the National Labor Relations Board.
“It is our fundamental mission and responsibility as a health care organization to take care of our community,” said Aaron Adams, president of St. Charles Bend. “Although we believe the strike notice is unlawful, we will proceed with preparations to ensure continued care for our patients.”
Until the outcome of the injunction hearing is known, St. Charles is continuing to prepare for a work stoppage. The health system has contracted with an outside agency to hire qualified replacement workers and is also asking internal caregivers who hold technical certifications, but who are not part of the bargaining unit, to help fill hospital shifts. The goal is to reduce disruptions to patient care as much as possible.
“The union has indicated they are striking to get St. Charles to come back to the bargaining table,” Berry said. “We find OFNHP’s reasons for the strike confusing since we already had a bargaining session scheduled for March 10 with a federal mediator. We were also discussing additional, earlier bargaining dates with the mediator prior to receiving the strike notice.”
St. Charles requested a federal mediator to facilitate negotiations in order to speed up the process to reach a final agreement.
“We continue to be unclear as to what OFNHP hopes to accomplish with this strike,” Adams said. “But what we do know is the union’s decision to strike has an impact on our patients, our caregivers, our physicians and our community.”
