Northern Light EMMC nurses announce strike for safe patient care and RN retention

Bangor nurses delivered 10-day strike notice to hospital administration yesterday

Registered nurses at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) in Bangor, Maine yesterday delivered a 10-day notice to their employer announcing a one-day strike on Monday, March 23. This is the first strike notice issued by EMMC nurses since 2015. The RNs are protesting management's refusal to address their concerns about safe staffing and nurse retention.

EMMC nurses, who are represented by Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC), have been bargaining for a new contract since July 2025, with little to no movement on key issues. Their contract expired last September. Yesterday's 10-day strike notice, which lets the hospital make alternative plans for patient care, follows the nurses' strike authorization vote earlier this week.

"Everything we do is to make sure our patients are safe and well taken care of," said Erin Oberson, RN and EMMC negotiating team member. "Everything we are asking for will improve the care of our patients. We have given management several months and every opportunity to come to a reasonable agreement with us. There is still time for them to make a deal."

Who: Registered nurses at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center
What: One-day strike for patient safety and a fair contract
When: Monday, March 23, 7 a.m. to Tuesday, March 24, 6:59 a.m.
Where: Northern Light EMMC, 489 State St., Bangor, Maine

Nurses say that unresolved bargaining issues include ensuring safe nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, protecting nurses' health insurance benefits from potentially exorbitant increases, ensuring all nurses receive same benefits (new nurses are slated to receive fewer benefits), and ending EMMC's pay discrimination against women's health care nurses so their pay scale is on par with all other union nurses. The women's health nurses joined the union in 2024.

"Something has changed at EMMC," said Jessie Lambert, RN and negotiating team member. "For most of the last decade, the administration of EMMC has worked with us every contract cycle to reach a fair and equitable union contract. But this time, they have taken an aggressive posture against us. They have refused to consider even our most common-sense proposals. Nurses' patience is at an end and we're ready to strike. Hopefully, EMMC will get serious at the table about safe staffing and maintaining our health benefits."

On Jan. 16, EMMC nurses held a rally outside the hospital to highlight their contract demands. MSNA/NNOC represents 900 nurses at Northern Light EMMC.

Maine State Nurses Association is part of National Nurses Organizing Committee, representing 4,000 nurses and other caregivers from Portland to Fort Kent. NNOC is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing labor union of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide.