
Our union creates a win-win situation
By Melissa Pfleiger
Nursing is challenging but rewarding work. As a 15-year nurse, I have seen a lot. The last two years, I have worked for Legacy Silverton Medical Center in Silverton, Ore. We are a tight-knit community located a short distance from Oregon’s capital, Salem. As the chair of my bargaining unit, I believe in standing up for what is right for me and my colleagues. We are in contract negotiations; and as union-represented employees, we meet face to face with our employer and bargain for improvements to working conditions and equality for every nurse.
Our union is how we hold our employer accountable.
Change is hard and uncertain. My hospital was purchased by Legacy Health in 2015 and will soon be acquired by the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) hospital system in a historic deal. As our hospital changes hands again, we know as union members we will be protected during the transition. The employer is legally obligated to bargain with us over the impacts of that process, and possibly over the process itself.
Our union is how we hold our employer accountable.
More exciting, our union, the Oregon Nurses Association along with our labor partners signed a labor agreement with OHSU as part of the acquisition. The agreement provides major protections for us, an investment in workforce development, a continued focus on high-quality patient care, and a commitment to racial equity.
This is a huge victory.
Nurses at our small community hospital will receive base pay parity with OHSU RNs and maintain our health benefits. We will be protected from layoffs for 12 months after the transaction is complete; and if we are laid off after the 12-month window, we will receive six months’ severance. Our patients will have the stability they deserve, and we can continue to care for them as we have always done.
Our patients will have the stability they deserve, and we can continue to care for them as we have always done.
When this agreement was announced, Legacy Health began ratcheting up the anti-union rhetoric, claiming some workers would be left behind. That’s not surprising.
But let’s be clear: This agreement goes far beyond current union employees. Legacy healthcare workers who haven’t organized a union now have a chance to do so and can receive the same benefits and protections. The regulatory process takes time, which will allow for non-represented employees to organize and file for a union election. Once their union is formed, they too will be protected from unilateral changes to working conditions. In my mind, it’s a win-win situation.
If you are not a member of a union, it means that you are at the whim of your employer and have very few protections. Your employer has significant discretion to determine compensation and working conditions and could even close your unit without your input.
Now more than ever, it’s critical that frontline nurses and healthcare professionals stay united. At the end of the day, we know our patients best, so now is the time to organize to ensure a better workplace for all! The labor agreement that our union won makes this historic acquisition a promising prospect for healthcare employees, patients and communities across Oregon.

Melissa Pfleiger is a registered nurse and the ONA bargaining unit chair at Legacy Silverton Medical Center in Silverton, Ore.