On November 10, we bargained with Providence. We discussed several articles: leave of absence, union representation/access to the Hospital, union membership, retirement, health insurance, and EIB/PTO. The Hospital continues to reject our proposals, which are similar to the current contract language of the RN unit at St Peter’s. Although we are a newly organized unit, we believe that our unit deserves the same benefits as the RNs.

The only way we will win those benefits is by showing the Hospital that we are united and willing to fight for our benefits, like EIB. In our last session, the Hospital stated they are going to move forward with the new EIB program as of January 1, 2021. We believe that they cannot move forward with that plan and they must maintain current policies until we have reached an agreement, according to the National Labor Relations Act. As so, we will be pursing every avenue to prevent this change from taking effect.

In our next bargaining session, we will be discussing EIB/PTO at length and expect this article to be contentious. In addition, we will be distributing a petition to request the Hospital be transparent about their finances, especially since Providence received COVID-19 relief money from the government.

If you need more car signs or stickers, please contact Erin McCoy—Union Rep, 206-436-6598—or your Bargaining Team. Our next contract action team meeting to discuss updates and next steps will be on November 17 @ 6:30 PM on Zoom.

In solidarity,

Josh Wood (CT), Shapel Morgan (X-ray), Colleen Castenada (Cath Lab), Rae Lynn Korpi (RT)