US healthcare workers walk off the job: 14 strikes in 2021

Kelly Gooch -

Healthcare workers have participated in labor strikes across the U.S., citing concerns about staffing, patient care, working conditions and employee retention.

Fourteen strikes reported by Becker's Hospital Review this year:

Note: This story was updated on Dec. 7. 

1. Workers at McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in Springfield, Ore., began a five-day strike Dec. 6.

2. A group of UPMC hospital workers in Pittsburgh walked off the job Nov. 18 over demands for fair pay, safer staffing, better working conditions and unionization rights, according to a news release from organizers. 

3. Service and maintenance workers at Cabell Huntington (W.Va.) Hospital went on strike starting Nov. 3. The workers reached a new contract about a month later, effectively ending the strike.

4. Minneapolis-based Allina Health temporarily suspended emergency and urgent care services at its Abbott Northwestern WestHealth location in Plymouth, Minn., as nurses went on strike. The services were suspended from 5 a.m. Oct. 17 until 7 a.m. Oct. 20. 

5. Workers at McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in Springfield, Ore., began a two-day strike Oct. 5.

6. More than 350 healthcare workers at Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch, Calif., began a five-day strike Oct. 4.

7. Hospital workers at Catholic Health's Mercy Hospital of Buffalo (N.Y.), went on strike Oct. 1. The strike was ongoing as of Oct. 6.

8. Cook County healthcare workers in Chicago reached an agreement with the county in July 13, ending an 18-day strike.

9. Members of the union representing 650 nurses at Kalispell, Mont.-based Logan Health went on a three-day strike in June.

10. Registered nurses at Chinese Hospital in San Francisco went on a one-day strike in May. 

11. About 80 workers at Tyler Memorial Hospital in Tunkhannock, Pa., began a three-day strike April 21. 

12.  About 155 union-represented nurses at Barton Memorial Hospital in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., began a two-day strike April 16.

13. Nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Mass., began an open-ended strike March 8, and the strike was ongoing as of Dec. 7. 

14. About 150 technical employees at St. Charles Health System's hospital campus in Bend, Ore., ended their strike after an agreement was reached March 12. The strike began March 4. 

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