PeaceHealth nurses picket Vancouver hospital, demanding safe staffing and fair wages

Picketing nurses decked out in blue crowded the sidewalks along Mill Plain Boulevard in front of PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center before dawn Thursday.

PeaceHealth employees represented by the Washington State Nurses Association and their supporters carried signs demanding safe staffing levels and competitive wages in a new contract. Employees planned to picket a second time Thursday afternoon.

“This is the last straw, safe staffing!” they chanted in unison. Hundreds of nurses filtered in over the three-hour informational picket outside the Vancouver hospital.

Cheers rose from the crowd when morning commuters honked in support of the health care workers.