On December 2, we met with Providence and discussed in depth EIB/PTO. Providence told us that they have been retiring EIB at other hospitals, but amongst hospitals that are represented by UFCW 21 only one in Eastern Washington has agreed to a similar plan.

The Hospital’s proposed EIB/PTO plan would decrease the overall hours of PTO and freeze EIB indefinitely. In addition, the Hospital would supplement Washington State’s Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) to ensure all workers receive 100% wage replacement for 8 weeks while on a medical leave. WA State PFML is a state run program which provides wage replacement to workers while on medical leave. Funds for this program come from workers and employers. Currently all techs are being deducted a couple of dollars from each paycheck for this program. UFCW 21 helped draft and advocated to pass this law in order to provide wage replacement to workers who did not have a short-term disability plan or extended illness bank. This program was not supposed to replace EIB, but nonetheless employers like Providence have taken the position that they no longer want to provide EIB since WA PFML provides a similar benefit.

As so, we are comparing the current EIB/PTO plan to Providence’s proposal in order to see the differences between both plans. We asked several questions about the proposed plan, but it is clear that Providence still is figuring out the framework and procedures of the new plan. Given this, we need to ensure we understand this plan before we even consider retiring EIB.

We will be holding a Contract Action Team meeting via Zoom on December 16 at 6:30 PM to discuss Providence’s EIB/PTO proposal. In addition, we will be launching our financial transparency petition in December which mirrors the legislation we are advocating for in Olympia. Also we will be launching a social media campaign to inform the public about our contract negotiations and we will have a banner action on December 11. If you have any questions about bargaining or want to participate actions please contact the Bargaining Team or Erin McCoy emccoy@ufcw21.org.

Your Bargaining Team: Josh Wood (CT), Shapel Morgan (X-ray), Rae Lynn Korpi (RT), Colleen Castaneda (Cath Lab)