Nearly 5,000 nurses represented by the Oregon Nurses Association have “overwhelmingly” voted to ratify their contracts and to end the state’s longest health care strike, a press release from the association said Monday.

Nurses at Providence’s Oregon hospitals, including in Seaside, will return to work starting on Wednesday’s night shift.

The agreements come after 46 days on the strike line and more than a year of bargaining.

In the news release, the nurses association said the agreements at each bargaining unit “will set a new standard for wages, staffing, and patient safety” at Providence.

Terms of the contract include:

• Wage increases ranging from 20% to 42% over the life of the contract, with an immediate 16% to 22% raise upon ratification.

• Patient “acuity” — a measure of a patient’s severity of illness or medical conditions — will be figured into staffing plans. 

• For nurses at bargaining units with contracts that expired before December 2024, retroactive pay will cover 75% of all hours worked in 2024 (including education, meetings, PTO, and vacation used for low census). Nurses at Providence Seaside and Providence Portland Medical Center will receive a $2,500 bonus.

• Establishment of a new statewide health benefits workgroup  to evaluate current plans and explore the creation of a statewide health benefits trust, ensuring comprehensive coverage for nurses.

• Nurses will now automatically receive penalty pay — equal to one hour of wages — for every missed break or meal, with payment included in the next paycheck.

Providence and the union announced the new agreement, which comes after union members rejected another deal earlier this month, in separate news releases Friday. Providence said it reached the deal after three days of intensive bargaining.

“Providence is hopeful that ONA-represented nurses will ratify the tentative agreements that pave a solid path forward for us all,” said Jennifer Burrows, chief executive of Providence Oregon.

The strike began Jan. 10 as nearly 5,000 nurses walked off the job at Providence’s eight hospitals in Oregon in Seaside, Hood River, Medford, Milwaukie, Newberg and Oregon City and two in Portland. The strike also included nurses, physicians and other staff at Providence’s six women’s clinics in the Portland area and hospital physicians at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in southwest Portland.

The contracts have a range of expiration dates, from Dec. 31, 2026 for St. Vincent, Newberg, Oregon City and Milwaukie and March 31, 2027 for Medford and Hood River. The contract for Providence Portland and Seaside nurses would expire Dec. 31, 2027.