Deal Reached Between Union And Management At McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center

KLCC | By Brian Bull

Published September 9, 2019 at 4:41 PM PDT

A labor strike has been averted, following 400 hospital workers in Springfield approving a new union contract.

An SEIU Local 49 spokesperson says had the McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center workers voted against the contract, a three-day strike would’ve begun tomorrow. They add the agreement means the largest annual wage increases in more than a decade.

Furthermore, the two-year contract creates market rate adjustments for jobs that paid less than those at the nearby PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center.

The vote was held Friday night, September 6th. Union members also negotiated credit for related hospital and military experience, which backers say will help recruit and retain talented workers.

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Brian Bull

Brian Bull is a part-time reporter for the KLCC News department, and first began working with the station in 2016. He's been a senior reporter with the Native American media organization Buffalo's Fire, and a journalism professor at the University of Oregon.

In his 30 years working as a public media journalist, Bull has worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (25 regional), the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from the Indigenous Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.

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