Thursday, June 10, 7am-7pm: Picket for Safe Staffing at Kaiser Westside
Picket times will be 7:00am-8:30am; 11:00am-1:00pm; 4:30pm-7:00pm on day of.
On June 10th the nurses and healthcare professionals from the Kaiser Westside Medical Center are holding an informational picket to address short staffing, which affects the care patients receive in the hospital. These workers are members of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP), and are asking that management address many of the concerns that they fear could interfere with their ability to provide patient care.
“We are fighting for our patients, and we know that safe staffing is a necessary piece of keeping our community healthy and safe,” says Jodi Barschow, RN and President of OFNHP. “This is an ongoing issue that did not begin with the COVID-19 pandemic, but being short staffing is a problem both for us as healthcare professionals and the patients who are relying on us.”
Kaiser Permanente and its union employees have a partnership agreement that allows them to work collaboratively on solving problems. The employees are asking for these issues to be addressed through this partnership and that the systemic issues with staffing are addressed. This picket is only a matter of weeks after another recent informational picket that happened at the Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside Medical Center, where staff in the Emergency Department highlighted problems with short staffing, high turnover, and a lack of a voice on the job.
This informational picket comes at the same time as OFNHP members begin bargaining with Kaiser, both at the local level and nationally through the Alliance of Healthcare Unions. Issues like safe staffing are on the agenda, as well as maintaining industry leading wages and benefits and giving staff a voice on how to best care for patients. OFNHP recently won a historic contract for the medical professionals at St. Charles in Bend, securing 25% raises after a nine-day strike that brought unions, community members, and political leaders together in support of the workers who were fighting for a fair contract.
Location: Kaiser Westside Medical Center, 2875 NW Stucki Ave, Hillsboro
Wednesday, June 16, 3-7pm: ONA/Unity Nurses Informational Picket
Join ONA represented nurses from Unity Center for Behavioral Health as they fight to ensure fair treatment for workers, gain a voice in hospital decision making, raise safety standards, and improve patient care!
Invite your friends, neighbors, colleagues, co-workers and family. Join us for a few minutes or a few hours! The more support we have the better.
Everyone who takes part must wear a mask and follow appropriate social distancing guidelines.
Location: Unity Center for Behavioral Health, 1225 NE 2nd Ave.