Caregivers at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Ore., voted June 25 to join SEIU Local 49.
The vote covers about 1,100 employees — including certified nursing assistants, cooks, lab assistants, pharmacy technicians, environmental service workers and patient access representatives — according to a union news release shared with Becker’s. The National Labor Relations Board reported 588 votes in favor of unionization and 171 against.
“I’ve worked as a switchboard operator at Providence St. Vincent for 11 years and come from a long line of Providence employees — three generations of my family have worked here,” Stephanie Whitworth said in the SEIU release. “Now that we’ve voted to form our union with SEIU Local 49, we can have a voice in staffing and pay. At the end of the day, what we want is simple — to retain our staff to best serve our patients and our community.”
The hospital’s parent organization, Renton, Wash.-based Providence, shared the following statement with Becker’s:
“We are grateful for our valued caregivers, no matter how they voted or feel about the election. Now that the decision has been made, we look forward to moving forward together as a team in service to our patients, each other and the Providence mission.”
Providence St. Vincent hospital workers began efforts to unionize earlier this year and filed a representation petition with the NLRB in May. SEIU Local 49 reports 15,000 members in Oregon and Southwest Washington.
