More than 3,000 nurses at six Providence hospitals across Oregon went on strike on Tuesday. The walkout comes after months of contract negotiations between the hospital system and the Oregon Nurses Association.
Outside the Willamette Falls Medical Center in Oregon City, scores of nurses lined the street cheering and soliciting honks of support. Their signs read “Heroes treated like zeros,” and “Fair Contract Now.”
Emergency room nurse Nicole Hudson, who is on the bargaining committee, said that Providence has offered raises of about 10% in the first year, “which is significant. But after that it was about 3% a year, and that doesn’t even keep up with cost-of-living increases,” Hudson said.