Nurses declare intent to strike
PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services nurses have declared their intent to strike after a continued standstill in negotiations.
The Eugene/Springfield home care and hospice nurses intend to launch a two-week strike starting at 7 a.m. on Feb. 1 and ending at 7 a.m. on Feb. 14. The home care nurses gave PeaceHealth notice of the strike date on Jan. 19.
There are about 90 nurses at Sacred Heart Home Care Services who are members of the Oregon Nurses Association union. These nurses do home visits, serving some of the most vulnerable patients in Lane County, many of whom are in the final days, weeks or months of their lives, in the comfort of their own homes. Between the 90 nurses, they treat more than 500 patients. Home care nurses have a separate contract from in-hospital nurses.
This intent to strike follows a strike authorization that passed in late December. ONA home care nurses have held 40 bargaining sessions with PeaceHealth since negotiations began in February 2023.
The nurses have been working under their old contract since it expired in April 2023, but since then, almost a quarter of home care nurses have left the agency, according to ONA. Some home care nurses are leaving the healthcare profession, while others are transitioning into the hospital system for better pay. ONA stated an additional third of current home care nurses plan to leave in the next year if they do not reach what they consider to be a fair contract.
“Nurses are ready to do what it takes to reach a fair agreement with PeaceHealth,” said Jo Turner, an ONA member and hospice nurse at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services. “All we’re asking for is dignity, respect, and equal pay for the essential care we provide to vulnerable, homebound patients and their families every day. Our patients and our
community suffer when their caregivers are ignored, exploited, and underpaid by PeaceHealth's millionaire executives. We are ready to bargain and ready to strike to win justice for our coworkers, our patients and our community.”
According to ONA, the home nurses' contract priorities include addressing PeaceHealth's nurse staffing crisis, raising safety standards, increasing recruitment and retention of skilled caregivers, protecting pay equity and ensuring all Oregonians have access to safe, affordable and accessible home health care.
“We are not asking for more or special treatment, just what we have always had and the standard that all other PeaceHealth hospitals have had in Washington and Oregon,” said Heather Herbert, an ONA member and hospice nurse at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services.