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Days after threatening a strike, and about two years since they voted to unionize, hundreds of nurses established a tentative first contract last week with Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham.
The development comes amid a broader unionization wave across Portland-area health care—particularly at its second-largest system, Legacy Health. Myrna Jensen of the Oregon Nurses Association tells WW that 10 ONA-represented unions alone are currently negotiating first contracts with that system.
The preliminary agreement, established on behalf of some 440 nurses at Legacy Mount Hood, established competitive wages with nurses at other institutions like Providence, though wages would remain below those at Oregon Health & Science University, the union bargaining committee said in a letter to members recommending they approve the deal.
The letter to members listed several other items it says the union won, from a new grievance procedure to a rule that security, not nurses, would be responsible for screening patients and their belongings.
“The closure of the Family Birth Center was what pushed us to form our union,” said Christie Mikrut, a nurse at Legacy Mount Hood and member of the bargaining team, in a statement put out by the union. According to ONA, a mobilization against the closure prompted Legacy Mount Hood to reverse its decision. Around that time, nurses at the hospital voted to unionize.
