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A group of striking medical workers rejected a tentative labor agreement with Legacy Health, their union announced Saturday. <\/p>\n
The vote signaled the workers\u2019 dissatisfaction with a deal union leaders proposed to them in recent days, which in core ways resembled the offer their employer had been making weeks ago. Legacy itself described the proposal as \u201cmaterially consistent\u201d with the offer it had put on the table before the strike began. <\/p>\n
The bargaining unit of about 135 advanced practice providers, or APPs\u2014including nurse practitioners, physician associates, and others\u2014had been striking since Dec. 2. <\/p>\n
That the strike would soon end emerged as a real possibility on Dec. 23, when their union, the Oregon Nurses Association, announced the tentative agreement. <\/p>\n
The union at the time had said the deal included pay raises and new pay scales, and \u201crepresents meaningful progress toward more competitive compensation.\u201d But it also acknowledged that the agreement did not fully close the wage gap with the clinicians\u2019 counterparts at other area institutions like Oregon Health & Science University. <\/p>\n
And before the strike could end, members of the APP bargaining unit had to approve the deal. <\/p>\n
A review of the agreement shows it mirrored Legacy\u2019s pre-strike offer in core ways. For example, before the strike began, the union was pushing for a 4.5% wage increase year over year, while Legacy offered what the union at the time called \u201ca meager 2.75% raise.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tentative agreement included a 2.75% annual raise.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Legacy\u2019s proposed wages remained the same as before. Under the new pay schedule, for example, a certain type of clinician with eight years of experience would in the first year of the contract make about $84 per hour. ONA wanted $91 per hour, pointing out that the same category of worker at OHSU made even more.<\/p>\n
In the end, the tentative agreement wage scale would have given that worker an $84 hourly wage. <\/p>\n
Legacy says it has for 20 months sought to support APPs \u201cwhile maintaining the long-term financial sustainability of the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
But in its statement Saturday, the union indicated the workers wanted more. \u201cAPPs rejected the agreement because of Legacy\u2019s bad-faith bargaining, disrespect for their profession, uncompetitive wages, and bloated executive pay,\u201d the union says. \u201cThe vote delivers a clear rebuke of Legacy\u2019s offer, and the strike will continue with daily picketing.\u201d<\/p>\n