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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 1980)
Emerald Vol. 82, No.-37 1? Eugene, Oregon 97403 Monday, October 27, 1980 RN walkout finally ends By RICHARD WAGONER Olttw Emerald The 10-week-old Sacred Heart General Hospital nurses strike is over. Nurses were back at work this morning after ap proving a contract during a four-hour meeting Sunday. The contract was hammered out early Saturday morning in Portland by negotiators from the Oregon Nurses Association and hospital administration. The agreement was approved by the Sacred Heart govern ing board in Eugene later that day. The two groups had been meeting with federal mediator Tom Drew since Thursday before the sett lement was reached. “The mediator succeeded in coming up with a compromise that met concerns of both groups,” says ONA negotiator Connie Weimer. “In the long run, the settlement indicates the hospital did indeed change position,” Weimer says. According to Weimer, the new contract protects nurses' permanent working shifts and provides for “fair share” payments by newly hired nurses who don’t decide whether they will join the ONA. Establishing permanent shifts and providing for some kind of “fair share" union dues payments were key demands of the striking nurses. Weimer says the new contract will give newly-hired nurses 30 days to decide whether they will join ONA. If a nurse doesn’t join ONA and doesn't inform ONA of his or her decision, then the nurse will have to pay a “monetary obligation" to help fund future contract negotiations. Many elements of the previous contract are in cluded in the new package, indicating nurses also compromised on some issues. Insurance benefits offered by the hospital are virtually unchanged, Weimer says. "This is a satisfactory means of ending the strike," Weimer says. “It benefits both the hospital and nurses.” Weimer says the nurses’ solidarity throughout the walkout will benefit nurses statewide. m i Photo by Erich Boekelheide Sacred Heart nurses take a break from celebrating the strike settlement to decide who will work Sunday night. “The nurses are pleased that their determination and unity paid off,” she says. ‘‘They’ve made a sacrifice, not just for nurses at Sacred Heart but for nurses throughout Oregon. This indicates that if regis tered nurses take a strike vote, they are serious." The relief and elation over the strike settlement was probably most obvious at the strike headquarters, three blocks from Sacred Heart. Nurses and ONA officials cheered and doused each other with champagne during a jubilant celebration Sunday night. ONA officials quieted the party briefly while nurses holding clipboards full of names tried to decide who would go back to work that night. The nurses strike — one of the longest in Oregon’s history — began Aug. 15 after contract negotiations broke down Despite several efforts by community leaders and citizens groups, little or no progress was made in the settlement until Thursday. Salazar wins New York City Marathon Alberto Salazar is looking ahead to a promising marathon career after winning Sunday's New York City Marathon. INtw runr\ — aanuwiunes anu soft drinks were served as the winners mingled with the news media — but crow might have been more appropriate for some of the folks who hadn’t listened to University student Alberto Salazar. "A lot of people were saying I couldn’t do as well as I said I would. I’ve been under a lot of pressure, and they would have said I told you so’ if I hadn’t won. "I was confident, but I wasn’t brag ging," Salazar said Sunday after winning the New York City Marathon in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 41 seconds to fulfill his predic tion that he would finish the 26 miles, 385 yards in at least 2:10. Salazar, 22, made the U S. Olympic team in 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) by placing third in the Trials — but he never had run a marathon before Sunday. ‘‘All along I thought the marathon would be my best distance because of the type of training I do,” he said. “I don’t think it's any different than running 10 kilometers." A combination of physical and mental strength got him through the course, he said. "The last half-mile or so I really started to hurt. My stomach started knotting up. But I always thought to myself, ‘Ever ybody else feels worse.’ ” Although he thinks his “future is in the marathon," the senior will forego next spring’s Boston Marathon so he can compete with the University track team
