Nurse leaders at St. Charles Hospital in Bend have given the hospital a 10-day notice its nearly 1,000 nurses are going on strike, the hospital confirmed Thursday night. The nurses voted last month to authorize the strike, citing pay, staffing shortages and patient safety.
ONA previously said that the 10-day warning will give St. Charles time to bring in traveling nurses. The strike will begin on June 12 if a deal is not reached.
Both sides are expected to hold press conferences about the new development on Friday.
St. Charles says negotiations are scheduled for June 6 and 7.
The nurses have been working without a contract since Dec. 31. They have been calling for increased pay and have claimed that the hospital has more than 300 vacant positions as of March 21.
St. Charles recently provided a pay bump of $5, bringing the minimum wage for nurses to more than $95,000. The hospital says the average wage for nurses is at $108,000 — claiming that makes St. Charles wages the second highest in the state.
The hospital also stated in April that it reduced that number of vacancies to 80.
The ONA also claims union nurses were spied upon while on their own time. St. Charles has denied this.
