BEND, OR -- Federal mediation has been scheduled in the contract talks between union nurses and St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. When both sides agreed to federal mediation, talks that began at the end of March, ended.
John Nangle is a registered nurse and the ONA Bend Facility Bargaining Unit Chair. “What that means is that a third party federal mediator comes in, trying to resolve the issue and sort of keep, you know, peace between the whole process. The mediator can’t force decisions. They’re just there to facilitate resolution," Nangle tells KBND.
Staffing enough nurses for adequate patient care is the main issue for the 720 nurses represented by the Oregon Nurses Association. St. Charles reports that federal mediation has been scheduled for September first and second.
Nangle says, “Both sides did try to get a contract but that was getting increasingly obvious to ONA that that wasn’t going to be happening. So we initiated the conversation with St. Charles to have a mediator and they agreed to that.”
The ONA contract that expired at the end of June is being honored during the contract negotiations. The labor issue affects only ONA nurses at the St. Charles Bend facility.
