belonging to a union in 2022, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Oregon tends to have a higher rate of union membership than the nation as a whole, with 15.7% of Oregon’s workers belonging to a union, per the same dataset. But the absolute number of Americans in unions has grown in recent years, and the number of union petitions filed with the National Labor Relations Board was 53% higher in 2022 than it was in 2021. The number of strikes rose by 52% in 2022 versus 2021, according to Cornell University’s Labor Action Tracker report. The absolute number of work stoppages — 417 strikes and seven lockouts — is far lower than it was in past decades, though support for unions is at an all-time high, per Gallup polls. Much of that increase in activity was driven by the pandemic, which inspired frontline workers — including retail and warehouse workers — to raise awareness about their compensation and benefits, but also about safety amid the pandemic, access to personal protective equipment and paid time off. Health care workers, of course, were in the thick of that. And while public health officials have declared an end to the COVID-19 public health emergency, nurses say they’re still struggling. Recent labor activity has focused less on compensation and more on working conditions, though during actions like the Providence strike, nurses have asked for more compensation in the form of more paid time off and increased access to mental health services. “The pandemic for the past two years has only highlighted what has been in existence for decades,” says Anne Tan Piazza, executive director of the Oregon Nurses Association. “The fracture the inequities, the structural barriers in our health care system, our nurses. It’s more than nurses, it’s caregivers and other health care workers who are absolutely at a breaking point. We are frustrated, we’re angry, we’re exhausted, we’re burnt out.” Picketers supporting a new contract for nurses at Riverbend PeaceHealth in Springfield Registered nurse Jonathan Mears pickets at University District PeaceHealth in Eugene. 27
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