Another set of health care workers at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver wants to join the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP).
The unit would include about 300 audiologists, behavioral health workers, bereavement counselors, chaplains, physiologists, pharmacists, counselors, dieticians, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, and psychologists. A supermajority of those workers signed union authorization cards with OFNHP, and on April 4, the union asked the National Labor Relations Board to hold a union election.
OFNHP already represents about 1,400 hospital techs and service and maintenance workers at PeaceHealth Southwest. And 1,500 nurses there are represented by the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA).
PeaceHealth is a Vancouver-headquartered non-profit Catholic health care system with facilities in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. Last year, hospital techs and service employees at PeaceHealth Southwest walked out on a five-day strike. WSNA nurses are currently in contract negotiations and were scheduled to hold an informational picket April 18 outside the hospital, after this issue went to press.
An election date for the health professionals has not been set yet, and PeaceHealth has hired the anti-union law firm Ogletree Deakins.
