Nurses at Providence hospitals in Oregon approve new contracts, ending over 6 weeks of strike

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Nurses at Providence’s eight Oregon hospitals approved new contracts on Monday after over six weeks of strike, ending what the state nurses union has described as the largest health care strike in state history.

Providence and hospital nurses represented by the Oregon Nurses Association union reached the tentative agreement last week, after the nurses rejected a previous proposal. The changes under the second, approved deal include more retroactive pay for nurses whose contracts expired before December 2024.

Most of the 5,000 on strike were nurses, but dozens of doctors at a Portland hospital and at six women’s health clinics also participated. The strike, which began Jan. 10, came after more than a year of negotiations failed to produce an agreement over wages, benefits and staffing levels.

The hospital doctors at Providence St. Vincent in Portland and providers at the women’s health clinics ratified their new contracts earlier this month.

Hospital nurses will see immediate pay raises of up to 22% following ratification, with additional wage increases over the life of the contract, according to the union. Nurses will also receive automatic penalty pay equal to one hour of wages for every missed break of meal, and patient acuity will now be factored into staffing plans to help improve nurse workloads, the union said.

Providence and the union both welcomed the new agreement in Monday statements.

Hospital nurses will return to work starting the night shift of Wednesday, the union said.