On Monday morning, over 1,300 unionized health care workers employed by PeaceHealth Southwest and PeaceHealth St. John in Washington State walked out of their workplace to commence a five-day unfair labor practice strike in protest of low wages, chronic understaffing and management’s canceling of bargaining sessions. They are represented by the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals and consist of workers in the tech, service and maintenance, and lab professional units.
And yet, workers at PeaceHealth express that their working conditions severely undermine their ability to care for patients. Some workers — especially those in maintenance, service and custodial positions — make less than $20 an hour.
A truck with a screen raises consciousness about the strike by health care workers employed by PeaceHealth.If the strike had lasted long enough for the workers’ health insurance to lapse, per PeaceHealth’s directive, Cook, who has a young daughter, would have been forced to pay over $3,000 per month for her cancer treatments; out-of-pocket coverage for her daughter is also $3,000. “It’s heartbreaking that we’re being treated like this.