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Lawmakers decry Providence bargaining stance as nearly 5,000 health workers strike
Summary
Two representatives used the House floor to press Providence to return to bargaining as nearly 5,000 health-care workers across Oregon, including nurses and other clinicians, remain on strike and allege reduced standards of patient care.
Two state representatives used floor remarks to press Providence health system to resume bargaining as nearly 5,000 health-care workers across Oregon remain on strike.
Representative Nelson, speaking during remonstrances on the House floor, said nearly 5,000 health-care workers — “including nurses joined by about 50 doctors and advanced practice providers and midwives across all eight Providence hospitals and six women's clinics in the state” — have been on strike for nearly three weeks. Nelson said picketing workers want “safe staffing, more time to care for their patients, and competitive wages and benefits.”
The remarks followed an earlier floor statement that blamed Providence leadership, saying the system’s executives were prioritizing corporate interests over patient care and workers’ needs. That speaker said, “If Providence was experiencing that much financial hardship, I doubt they would have been able to pay their CEO $14,800,000 in 2023,” and called on Providence to bargain and reach “a fair contract.”
Nut Graf: The speakers framed the dispute as both a labor and patient-care issue: they described bargaining breakdowns and alleged substandard care inside hospitals while caregivers remain on the picket line. On the floor, lawmakers urged Providence to return to the bargaining table and reach a contract addressing staffing and pay.
House floor text indicated the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) and allied clinicians had sought to continue talks, but Providence “cut off all bargaining and walked away from the bargaining table 10 days before the strike,” according to Representative Nelson's remarks. Nelson said Providence has “continued to negotiate in bad faith, making no meaningful progress on wages or benefits at the table.”
Both representatives praised striking caregivers and called for a swift resolution. Nelson said, “This situation cannot continue,” and thanked caregivers for their sacrifices.
Ending: The floor remarks were part of the remonstrances section and did not record a formal House action or vote related to the dispute. No committee referrals, motions, or legislative directives on the strike were recorded in the transcript excerpts.
