On November 11, we had our first bargaining session with Providence Radiant Care. The parties agreed to ground rules for the bargaining process, which includes introducing all proposals, e.g. wages/compensation, by December 7.  Providence proposed in our first session a package proposal which included sixteen articles covering workplace conditions and benefits, but did not include compensation. Providence told us that they are interested in reaching a deal quickly and wanted to avoid bargaining for more than a year like we did for the newly organized units at Providence Centralia Hospital (PCH) and Providence St. Peter’s Hospital (PSPH). 

Providence said that they were proposing language from the new PCH and PSPH contracts, but when the bargaining team reviewed the proposal, we found that they only proposed subsections of articles or proposed weaker language. For example, under the health benefits article Providence proposed, they would offer the same plans that the majority of Providence employees receive to Radiant Care employees. Under the PCH and PSPH contracts, we have detailed information about the health plans, Providence must notify us of any plan changes, and Providence cannot increase premiums by more than 10%. All of this was missing from their proposal. 

This is just one example of how their package proposal fell short. With a package proposal, you must accept the entire proposal. Given that, we rejected Providence’s package proposal and responded with our own package proposal which covers recognition, union membership, management rights, union access, grievance procedure, successorship, labor management committee, and strikes/lockout. 

We agree that reaching a deal sooner rather than later is beneficial, but we cannot agree to a subpar deal. We deserve competitive wage increases and quality contract language like PSPH and PCH. We hope that Providence will take this into consideration and will accept our package proposal in our next session. 

Our next bargaining session is on November 17. We will be holding a contract action team meeting to go over bargaining details on November 30 from 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM via Zoom. If you have any workplace issues or questions, please reach out to Erin McCoy (union representative) 206-436-6598.

Bargaining Dates: 

November 17, December 7, December 8  

In solidarity, your bargaining team: Branden Raftery (Lacey - Dosimetrist), Paul Lofing (Aberdeen - RT), Kelly Covington (Lacey - RN) Winter Everson (Lacey - RT)