Logan Health Nurses Plan Strike Over Wages And Benefits
Logan Health nurses bargaining for their first union contract announced Friday they will go on strike for three days in early June. Union leaders claim that hospital administrators have not bargained in good faith over higher wages and better benefits.
The union representing roughly 650 nurses at Logan Health, formerly known as Kalispell Regional Healthcare, says they will strike June first through the third. The union warned about the strike ahead of negotiations Tuesday.
Registered Nurse Susan Sweigart claims over the past 19 month hospital administrators have repeatedly shot down contract proposals for increased staffing, wages and better health care benefits.
“They have a lot of unfair labor practices along the way and that is why we are calling for this strike.”
Sweigart says multiple unfair labor practice charges have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming retaliation against nurses participating in union organizing and “illegal limits on permitted speech.”
The nurses union wouldn’t disclose how many nurses are participating in the strike, but Sweigart says a supermajority voted to authorize it.
In a written statement, a spokesperson for Logan Health said the hospital will have enough staff to continue operations, adding , “Abandonment of patients is against our core values and we want to assure the community that we are here to care for them.”
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