St. Charles Bend nurses allege unfair labor practices

(Update: Adding nurse’s comment, video)

Registered nurses at St. Charles Bend have filed three federal unfair labor practice complaints, accusing the hospital of intimidating and inappropriately disciplining several nurses who raised concerns about patient safety and inadequate staffing or engaged in legally protected union activities, the nurses’ union said Monday.

The hospital issued a statement in which it denied engaging in any unfair labor practices.

“St. Charles should be working with us, not against us,” said local nurse leader Megan Hanson, RN, in a news release issued by the Oregon Nurses Association.

“Nurses chose our career because we’re called to take care of others,” Hanson said. “It’s our professional responsibility to stand up for our patients and make sure they get the care they deserve. We are not going to be silenced and we’re not going to let St. Charles intimidate us.”

The ONA said Bend nurses filed three separate unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board last week.

The filings claim St.Charles targeted nurses to discourage them from raising questions about nurse staffing and patient safety issues and retaliated against a nurse for participating in legally-protected union activity during their personal time. The NLRB will open an investigation into the hospital’s actions.

“St. Charles is trying to bully nurses. There is a clear pattern of St. Charles’ managers threatening and intimidating nurses to try to prevent them from discussing patient safety issues,” said ONA spokesperson Kevin Mealy.

“Nurses aren’t going to be silenced. Local nurses were the first to speak up about St. Charles’ safety issues last year. when an independent state investigation found hundreds of staffing law violations at the hospital. Nurses are more committed than ever to keep fighting for their patients and advocating for safe staffing and safe patient care.”

Joel Hernandez, one of the nurses involved in the lawsuit, told NewsChannel 21 on Monday, “What concerns me is that other staff, other nurses see this is happening to other people, and they don’t speak up. Then something does happen, which could have been mitigated long before. But (because of) the fear of being retaliated against, they don’t.”

Hernandez claimed St. Charles has prioritized money over the safety of its patients and staff.

Nurses in Bend have been working without a contract for nearly six months, since the previous contract expired July 1. Local nurses and the hospital are currently in federal mediation.

“Safe staffing and safe patient care are nurses’ top priorities in contract negotiations and in these charges,” said local nurse leader Joel Hernandez, RN. “People’s lives are on the line. We need to change St. Charles’ culture to make sure every health care provider is free to speak up when they see a safety concern so we can fix the problem and make sure it never happens again.”

St. Charles Bend responded to the filings with a statement Public Information Officer Lisa Goodman sent to NewsChannel 21:

“The safety of St. Charles Health System patients and staff is and always has been our highest priority.

“St. Charles and the Oregon Nurses Association have been meeting to negotiate a new labor agreement since June. It is important to note that filing unfair labor practice charges is a common union strategy during complicated negotiations.

“St. Charles leadership learned of the union’s charges this morning and we have not had time to thoroughly review them. However, we can assure you that St. Charles has not engaged in any unfair labor practices and we will work with the NLRB to address this matter immediately.

“The union and St. Charles bargaining teams meet again with a federal mediator on Thursday and we will continue to work toward crafting a fair and equitable contract,” the statement concluded.

Upon hearing the hospital’s statement, Hernandez said, “This feels like damage control, right now. What’s concerning is that, it feels like they’re trying to hide this from the community. Our community is not stupid. And they need to be aware of what’s going on.”

The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency which investigates labor practices and protects workers’ rights. Learn more unfair labor practices and the unfair labor practice charge process here: https://www.nlrb.gov/resources/nlrb-process/unfair-labor-practice-process-chart.

The nearly 900 registered nurses at St. Charles Bend are represented by the Oregon Nurses Association.

The ONA is the state’s largest nursing organization. It is a professional association and labor union which represents nearly 15,000 nurses across the state. ONA’s mission is to advocate for nursing, quality health care and healthy communities. For more information visit www.OregonRN.org .