About Unrepresented Employees

We began as a group of 30+ Legacy Health employees who sent a letter to the Legacy Health Board of Directors to share our concerns about the labor agreement included in the Health Care Market Oversight (HCMO) filing. Since then, the Unrepresented Employees has grown to include leaders, physicians, advanced practice providers, and staff/members/learners, both unionized and not, from Legacy Health and OHSU. We are concerned about OHSU’s pending acquisition of Legacy and its impact on our people and communities. 

Why did we unite?

On September 26, 2024, OHSU filed a Notice of Material Change Transaction with the Oregon Health Authority. Prior to filing the HCMO application, OHSU secured an agreement with some unions to offer additional job benefits to only those employees who are represented. 

The agreement creates two tiers of employees within Legacy and OHSU: 

  1. those represented by the five unions and 

  2. everyone else, which includes employees represented by other unions. 

Tier 1 employees will be guaranteed 12 months of employment after the transaction closes, while the Tier 2 employees are only guaranteed six months. And if a Tier 1 employee is laid off 12 to 24 months post-closing, they will receive 6 months of severance pay and benefits. Again, this does not include all represented employees, just certain ones. 

We understand these unions are trying to protect their members. We are trying to protect all employees, including those in other unions and those who cannot or choose not to be represented by a union.

Because we believe in…

Equity for All Employees

OHSU speaks to having an equitable organization, but this two-tiered approach creates disparities among employees. In the HCMO filing, OHSU lays out their aspiration to “build a workforce for today and tomorrow, and advance racial justice and culturally competent care,” which is in direct contradiction to this action. 

Doing the Right Thing for our Communities

We care about delivering on our promises to the communities we collectively serve. OHSU’s decision to offer greater benefits to a select few was in violation of the System Combination Agreement, OHSU and Legacy Health, which describes the future commitment to all employees/members regardless of representation (Section 3.10.3, page 19). If there are no consequences for not following a binding agreement, what can be counted on moving forward?

Their actions to gain political approval at the expense of others should call into question the commitments to all Oregonians outlined in the HCMO application. It is unclear why an acquisition is necessary to better improve quality outcomes, access to care, and health equity. 

OHSU and Legacy Health already collaborate in many ways to benefit our communities. These health systems should take a stepwise approach to do better together without this transaction.

Within the Full OHSU Health Care Market Oversight program notice, OHSU implies that the total cost of care of the combined entity would not be higher than if the two entities continued to operate independently. 

OHSU just eliminated nearly 500 jobs. How will they be able to avoid future layoffs with a more expensive workforce? The HCMO filing notes that collective bargaining agreement requirements, like the agreement secured with some unions, will be one of the factors that affect decisions about workforce reductions in the combined health system (Question 13.d, page 33).

We appreciate your interest in the Unrepresented Employees.

We are just beginning our engagement. We plan to regularly update this site and encourage you to connect with us here. Thank you!