Providence United Update 

Over 15,000 nurses and health care workers at Providence hospitals and clinics across Washington have voted to authorize a strike to protect patient care and safety. These workers are members of our three different unions: UFCW 21, SEIU Healthcare 1199NW and WSNA. Our workplaces cover the state, Spokane to Seattle, from Centralia to Snohomish County, and we are all standing united as we negotiate new contracts that will allow for us to care for our patients, our families and ourselves. The strike votes that took place in late October were the very first time union health care workers from all our workplaces have voted to strike at the same time.
 
It has taken many, many months to get to this point in negotiations. While so-called nonprofit Providence cleared $24 billion in revenue and over $7 billion in profit in Washington, and has paid top executives millions, their lackluster proposals for our new contracts fail to adequately address safety, staffing and other workplace concerns raised by employees. At the same time, they continue to push to take away our hard-earned benefits, benefits that some workers have been earning for decades.
 
Problems in the Seattle area showcase how widespread the problems are: “I didn’t become a nurse to provide minimal care,” says Carol Lightle, a charge nurse in a Medical Oncology unit at Swedish Issaquah and member of SEIU Healthcare 1199 NW. “Every healthcare worker could tell you that, and all of us face the same issues. The short staffing is the same in Environmental Services, our coworkers who disinfect patient’s rooms; it’s the same in Materials Services where our coworkers resupply our units; it’s the same in nutrition services. We work together as a team to deliver patient care. And when a part of our team is short-staffed our patients feel it.”
 
Drive four hours east and you find the same problems. “As an Emergency Room Assistant at Sacred Heart, I see patients and their families in times of greatest need,” says Jose Hernandez of UFCW 21. “They are counting on Providence to provide the highest quality care, but too often Providence is putting profits first. I am ready to strike for my patients and ensure their health is always our top priority.”

Taking Action Together

We took our concerns to donors of a Providence supported charity on December 4. We raised our concerns about the way Providence is treating us. Members of UFCW 21, SEIU Healthcare 1199NW and WSNA all presented our wishes for the new year. “Sacred Heart has always been Spokane’s hospital. Our hospital. But we have been fighting for more than a year for safe staffing levels and benefits we have already earned,” says KT Raley-Jones, a cardiac intensive care nurse at Sacred Heart and nurse with WSNA. “While we have been at the table working to protect our patients and our community, Providence pocketed nearly $1 billion in profits in the first half of this year alone.”