A unit of 114 laboratory scientists and technicians working at Providence Portland hospital voted Feb. 19 to unionize. The tally was 79-23 in favor of joining Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP).
They were formerly Providence employees, and they work at the Providence facility on 4400 NE Halsey St. But in 2023, the Catholic health chain outsourced diagnostic lab operations and leased their workplace to a giant for-profit company, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, known as LabCorp.
Union supporter Allister Brister-Smith, a team lead in toxicology, remembers the impact the announcement had on morale.
“Lab, typically, is a fairly profitable section for a healthcare system,” Brister-Smith told the Labor Press. “So when they pulled us into a big meeting and our lab director who had been with us since that lab was created announced to us that Providence had elected to sell off some of the assets, we were all really taken by surprise. Most people who’d been working there and stuck around through COVID were pretty committed to the mission of Providence. It was quite a shock, honestly, to be told that our jobs would be outsourced to a for-profit company.”
The newly unionized unit consists of career lab workers. They have two- or four-year degrees and a certification from the American Society for Clinical Pathology.
“Since the transition with LabCorp, we’ve noticed an increase in workload, an increase in expectations, and more of a focus on volume and throughput,” Brister-Smith said. “Providence was more focused on quality.”
Meanwhile, pay stayed about the same, but benefits weren’t as good: Workers pay more for their health benefits. Brister-Smith said it’s been difficult for the lab to attract experienced talent because of the relatively low pay compared to Kaiser and OHSU.
With the 77% vote, workers are putting their faith in each other to collectively bargain better conditions.
“We believe that our voice and our input on workflow and the amount of work and staffing can have a positive impact on the long term future of patient care,” Brister-Smith said. “It’s very inspiring to see people be on the same page, wanting to have some degree of control in their lives.”
AT LABCORP, IT’S UNION TIME
Providence is the second local hospital system where workers voted to unionize after their workplace was outsourced to LabCorp. In May 2024, 435 former Legacy lab workers at 12 locations also joined OFNHP. They’re currently in bargaining for their first contract.
