PeaceHealth home care nurses strike: Picketers demand equal pay, better staffing

Between the intermittent honking from passing cars and the blasting of music from loudspeakers, the picket lines of the nurses on strike from PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services nurses were lively on Monday.

About 30 home care and hospice nurses and supporters were spread out at the entrances to the PeaceHealth offices in Springfield. The strike, which started Saturday, is scheduled to last until 7 a.m. on Feb. 24.

"I really care about my community. I care about them being able to receive good care," said Heather Herbert, an ONA member and hospice nurse who was among those picketing on Monday. "We would not be striking if we felt that there was any other way to get what our community deserves."

About 90 nurses at Sacred Heart Home Care Services are members of the Oregon Nurses Association union.

Home care nurses have a separate contract from in-hospital nurses. 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 in a service area that covers a 60-mile radius.

Contract negotiations have lasted for a full year. The last contract expired in April of 2023.

The union group is asking for pay that is equal to what in-hospital nurses receive and for better staffing levels. The nurses also want a contract that addresses short-staffing, improves safety standards and increases recruitment and retention of skilled nurses.

The ONA has claimed that home care nurses have historically received equal pay to hospital nurses, but PeaceHealth is now offering lower pay by comparison.

The last unsuccessful bargaining meeting with PeaceHealth was in mid-January. There was another bargaining meeting scheduled for Jan. 23, but PeaceHealth canceled it.

"We really do feel unseen, as far as nurses," Herbert said. "We would love to meet with them (PeaceHealth) at any place, any time. We are very eager to do so, and they are not showing up."

Herbert said there is no upcoming bargaining meeting scheduled.

PeaceHealth has filled in temp positions

While the nurses remain on strike, PeaceHealth has contracted with an outside agency to hire temporary replacement caregivers to fill the home care nurses' roles.

PeaceHealth stated that the strike would not impact operations at any PeaceHealth hospitals or clinics in Lane County.

PeaceHealth officials argue that home care nurses can currently earn up to 2.9% above market average pay. Under a proposed new contract, that would increase immediately to 8% above market.

“We look forward to returning to the bargaining table once ONA’s strike is complete so we can come to an agreement that will make our home care nurses proud," PeaceHealth stated. "We have successfully negotiated four other long-term union contracts over the last 12 months — including one with ONA — providing wage increases and stability for nearly 3,000 caregivers in Lane County."

Nurses looking to leave

Paulette Farrell, an ONA member and hospice nurse at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart, said she has been with PeaceHealth for 23 years and has been a hospice nurse for eight. After the first day of the strike on Saturday, Farrell said she went home and cried.

"It just broke my heart that after 23 years, this is what I have to do," Farrell said. "My patients need me, they need us to be there with them."

Farrell said her goal when she joined PeaceHealth as an in-hospital nurse was to stay with the company until she retired, but she's not sure if that's what she wants anymore.

"I feel like PeaceHealth has made me make a different decision, and that just makes me so angry," Farrell said. "Somebody asked me 'If this all works out, would I stay?' I don't know. It's gonna depend on how PeaceHealth treats us. This has been horrible. I have never seen PeaceHealth treat their workers, their nurses and their staff the way that they've been treating us since this negotiation started."

Farrell said that PeaceHealth's negotiators have repeatedly arrived hours late to bargaining sessions and have made comments degrading the home nursing and hospice nursing professions.

Farrell has applied for healthcare positions outside of PeaceHealth. She said every one of the nurses on strike has considered leaving.

Since the former union contract expired in April, almost a quarter of home care nurses have left the agency, according to ONA. Some home care nurses are leaving the healthcare profession altogether, while others are transitioning into the hospital system for better pay. ONA stated that 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.

First nurse strike in 40 years

According to ONA, this is the first nurses strike in the Eugene/Springfield area in more than 40 years.

"We deserve equal pay for equal work. That's all we're asking. We're not asking for more," Farrell said. "I hope that they see that we're all good employees, we did not want to do this. We avoided doing this for a very long time. All of us would much rather be at work. We would much rather be with our patients and their families."

Nurses and allies plan to picket from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, until the end of the strike.

Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Home care nurses rally for equal treatment in PeaceHealth strike