Members of the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) and the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) at St. Charles Health System facilities in Central Oregon have launched a petition drive indicating they "no longer have confidence in their employer's accounting and payroll practices." The petition is in response to an ongoing cascade of errors and failures on the part of St. Charles that has resulted in more than $2 million in alleged overpayments, alleged underpayments, and ongoing demands for reimbursement. Union members are pledging they will not agree to any repayment plan proposed by St. Charles until an independent third-party audit has been conducted providing specific detail on when, or if, overpayments occurred. The full text of the petition reads: "We, the employees of the St. Charles Health System, no longer have confidence in our employer's accounting and payroll practices due to the litany of errors claimed to have been made within
St Charles workers launch petition, refuse to repay overpayments without outside audit; union files BOLI complaint ktvz.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ktvz.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
(Update: Adding video, comments from workers)
Union claims big advances; hospital claims they missed out on raises, are getting same salaries as others
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) Medical techs, technologists and therapists at St. Charles Bend voted Wednesday to ratify their first union contract, a 3-year pact that the union says raises pay an average 25% and marks a new stage of labor peace and partnership with the hospital.
But St. Charles issued a statement of its own that painted a very different picture of the contract, saying the workers missed out on raises they would have gotten since unionizing in late 2019 and are not getting larger raises or higher salaries than the non-union workers in similar positions at their other three hospitals are getting.
St. Charles Workers Agree On Contract
Union workers at St. Charles Medical Center ratified their first contract Wednesday. The medical techs, technologists, and therapists first voted to unionize in 2019 and voted to strike for nine days in March.
“We have won a groundbreaking new contract, which raises our wages an average of 25% and ensures that we have a strong voice at work.” says Frank Dewolf, a technologist in the Cardiac Cath Lab.
“This contract proves, once again, that when you come together as a union you can accomplish what isn’t possible alone,” says Randi Weingarten, the president of the 1.7 million member American Federation of Teachers, of which OFNHP is an affiliate. “I am so proud of the newest members of the OFNHP and AFT family who organized for years and fought fiercely at the bargaining table and on the picket line to win a fair first contract. This historic agreement delivers on their faith with immediate boosts to pay and conditions and a perman
Union ends health care strike in Bend, Oregon wsws.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wsws.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.