Providence Medford Medical Center is seen Monday through a security fence erected along Crater Lake Avenue ahead of a nursing strike that is continuing into the weekend.

The Oregon Nurses Association says a planned Monday bargaining session with Providence Medford Medical Center has been canceled.

According to a Saturday ONA news release, the bargaining session next week was intended to include a federal mediator, but when no mediator was available, union nurses offered to meet with Providence Medford executives for talks on contract negotiations. An email sent to ONA representatives on Friday said Providence decided not to participate in the bargaining session without the mediator and instead wants to reschedule for mid to late July, the release said.

Providence Medford officials said in an email Saturday morning they have offered four dates to union representatives for mediated sessions, starting on July 10.

“As we have learned in previous negotiations, the presence of a federal mediator helps both sides get to agreements,” the statement said. “In a post-strike scenario, bargaining with the help of mediators is standard practice. Providence hopes union representatives will accept these dates and focus on getting a tentative contract agreement for our nurses to ratify.”

ONA, for its part, said in the Saturday news release it “remains committed to seeking a fair contract and we will respond to Providence’s request to push bargaining back to July once we have determined our bargaining team’s availability.”

ONA represents nurses on strike at Providence Medford Medical Center and at five other Providence hospitals in Oregon, covering some 3,000 union members. A three-day strike at Providence Medford, Providence Hood River, Providence Milwaukie, Providence Newberg, Providence St. Vincent in Portland and Providence Willamette Falls in Oregon City officially ended at 8 p.m. Thursday, but most striking nurses — who planned to continue picketing into the weekend — will not be allowed to return to work until 7 a.m. Sunday.

ONA plans to file an unfair labor practice complaint against the Providence health system statewide for not allowing the bulk of nurses to return to work on Friday.

Hospital officials in Medford replaced the majority of striking nurses this past week with temporary nurses hired on five-day contracts. Providence leadership in Southern Oregon and across the state have said in interviews and in emails this week that union leaders knew there would be a five-day replacement period for nurses.

This story has been updated with comment from Providence Medford Medical Center.