On December 11, the Bargaining Team met with Seattle Children’s Hospital. At the start of bargaining we reiterated to the Hospital that the Urgent Care MA’s wish to be added to the UFCW 21 Technical contract. We expressed to them that there are only 18 UC MA’s and the unit feels like we will be bullied into a weaker contract. Also we told them that we want the 3% merit increase like the rest of the non-union MAs and double time should also be extended to us. The team expressed the frustration of the unit and the low morale. The Hospital said they would look into extending double time for the UC MAs and would respond to us next week. But they said, they cannot agree to accreting the UC MAs to the Technical contract because our filing petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) identified the UC MAs as it’s own individual unit.

The reason we filed as a separate unit was because the Hospital was going to argue that we had to organize all the MAs at Seattle Children’s and not just Urgent Care MAs. We asked at the bargaining table if the Hospital would have argued that point if we filed an “accretion petition” instead of an “individual petition” and they refused to answer the question. Their silence is loud and clear! Yes they would have contested the “accreted petition,” which means that all MAs would have to organize. Instead of going down that path, we decided the most expeditious thing would be to file as an individual unit with the hope that they would add the UC MAs voluntarily to the Technical contract.

It is clear that they are refusing to add our unit to Technical contract, so our next option is to bargain a separate contract for our unit. Although this is not the most efficient option, it still gives us the opportunity to fight for good working conditions and wage increases! We will be looking at the Technical contract and WSNA’s contract to create a contract that meets our needs! This process can take anywhere from 10 to 12 months. In the meantime, the entire unit is considered union members, which means you have workplace rights under the NLRB. You can take part in concerted union activity, like wearing stickers, and can ask for union representation if you are disciplined or part of an investigation.

In this past session, we discussed two articles: union access/union business and union membership. We had a lot of conversation around these articles and had agreements around some items, but the Hospital proposed anti-union language which would weaken the strength of the unit.

Given these proposals from the Hospital, we need to start reaching out to other unions and community groups. We need to inform the public about the unfair treatment we are receiving from the Hospital since we unionized. SCH is hiding behind their good public image, so it is important we inform the public about their treatment towards their unionized caregivers!

We will be attending the Sno-Isle and King County Community Labor Council meetings to talk to union, community, and political groups. These meetings will be held over Zoom so you can join from home. In addition, we will reach out to religious organizations that are UFCW 21’s allies. If you are interested in participating, please contact the union negotiator, Evelyn Orantes-Fogel: eorantesfogel@ufcw21.org. Also if you have any other ideas or ties to worker friendly groups, please reach out to Evelyn or the Bargaining Team. Our next session will be on January 4. We will send an update out after our session.

In Solidarity, Your SCH Urgent Care Medical Assistant Bargaining Team: Wendy Rivas, Melissa Schultz, Angie Acevedo, and Laura Hollenbeck