MEDFORD (AP) - Nurses at Providence Medford Medical Center have voted 121-79 in favor of joining a union.

They'll be represented by the Oregon Nurses Association, which already represents about 11,500 registered nurses statewide.

About 80 percent of those eligible cast votes.

Minh Nguyen, a Portland-based labor organizer for the association, said the nurses wanted a better relationship with hospital managers.

Tom Hanenburg, chief executive for Providence Health System in Southern Oregon, said the National Labor Relations Board will first certify the election results, and then the nurses will put together a bargaining team.

Collective bargaining can take a few months or as long as a year, he said.

Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/