Congratulations Oregon Nurses Association! You won a great victory.

WSNA sends huge congratulations to the nurses at Providence’s eight Oregon hospitals who went on strike and won. Providence nurses ratified new contracts Feb. 24, ending more than six weeks of strikes.

The 5,000 nurses represented by the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) reached a tentative agreement Feb. 21 after the nurses rejected a previous proposal.

ONA said this was the largest healthcare strike in the state’s history.

The strike, which began Jan. 10, came after more than a year of negotiations failed to produce an agreement over wages, benefits and staffing levels.

Most of the healthcare workers striking were nurses, but dozens of doctors at a Portland hospital and at six women’s health clinics also participated.

The hospital doctors at Providence St. Vincent in Portland and providers at the women's health clinics ratified their new contracts earlier this month.

For more details on the new contracts, see the ONA press release.