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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 1981)
jgjpsfe Photo by Mark Pynas Striking nurses at McKenzie-Willamette Memorial Hospital can put down their picket signs since hospital administrators approved a settlement contract Hospital’s OK ends long nurses strike By MARIAN GREEN Of m» EnwiM Except tor the fine print, the longest hospital strike in Oregon's history is over The 86-day-old nurses strike at the McKenzie-Willamette Memorial Hospital in Springfield ended Thursday afternoon when hospital administrators approved a settlement contract On Tuesday striking nurses voted to allow their bargaining unit, the Oregon Nurses As sociation, to ratify the contract, said Jan Dial, the nurses' chief negotiator Representatives for the nurses and administrators were working Thursday on final wording of the document, the last formality before the bar gaining units can give final ra tification. said Joe Johansen, chief negotiator and an assis tant hospital administrator, at a press conference Thursday Dial said the labor dispute has resulted in a "tremendous loss of trust " "We will be looking at every thing extremely carefully, checking for accuracy," he said of the contract The tentative two-year con tract, which replaces a contract that expired June 30, includes a 9 percent salary increase in the contract's second year; a section banning work interup tions, including sympathy strikes; an ONA membership option for replacement nurses; and a recall procedure for strik ing nurses, Johansen said The nurses, on strike since July 14, will begin returning to work informally over the week end and formally on Monday, Johansen said "By late next week or early the following week, we should be back to normal " "We re glad to see it settled," Dial said "It's been very long and very exhausting " Nurses involved in the strike will be recalled strictly by sen iority, providing they're qualified for the available job, Johansen said Nurses who were "mili tant" during the strike won't be discriminated against for job placement, he said "All of the nurses were qualified and were working on at least a satisfactory basis," he said of the striking nurses "If they weren't, they wouldn't have been working there." Of the 157 nurses who origin ally went on strike, 15 have re signed and 25 returned to work, Johansen said At present, the hospital has 67 positions available for recalled strikers Johansen said he anticipates that 25 strikers will be placed on a recall waiting list and even tually. through natural attrition, will be returning to work "If we can find ways to bring the nurses back, certainly we will," Johansen says Dial says the waiting list number will be smaller "There are lots of resigna tions that the hospital is not aware of,” he said Under the contract, 25 nurses hired as replacements during the strike and 23 nurses who crossed the picket lines will be free to continue working for at least six months, Johansen said "We gave the new hires' a firm commitment of continuity of employment Although Johansen predicted "some tension, some animosi ty,” between nurses who walked off their jobs and those who remained, he said any problems would be "short lived " Although the hospital was losing revenue at the beginning of the strike, workforce reductions and policy changes enabled McKenzie — Willamette to climb back past the "break even" point later in the strike, Johansen said Dial said, however, that the labor dispute lost the hospital some patients who may not re turn FALL TERM REGISTRATION GOING ON NOW!! FREE! NO BOOKS! NO FEES! Sign up now at B.J. Kelly’s and use your card whenever special benefits and privileges are announced! B J. KELLY’S ( 1475 Franklin Blvd. “DINNER “IT UP! AT WENDY’S FOR AFTER 4 RM., A WENDY’S SINGLE HAMBURGER, FRIES AND MEDIUM 1SONIY 1 $1.79 •CHEESE EXTRA NOW! WENDY’S OF FRANKLIN BLVD. IS OPEN 10:30 am - MIDNIGHT SUN.-THURS. 10:30 am - 2:00 am FRI. AND SAT. THIS IS SUCH A GREAT DEAL YOU DON’T EVEN NEED A COUPON. OFPER ENDS: Oct. 251981 AIN'T NO REASON TO GO ANYPLACE ELSE.. Mrnd\ \ inlniwlioivil Ick All Ritiltls Kr\ri\r«I READ THE EMERALD Page 3
