MultiCare - Bargaining Update - February 18, 2021
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“United we bargain, divided we beg!”
Your Bargaining Team: Alexis Dotts, Glen Steele, Gregg Barney, Heidi Strub, Jamie Fenton, Julianna Van Enk, Kelly Gusman, Kurtis Chaffin, Patricia Brown, Rochelle Brummer, Ryan Boyd, Sammy Bainivalu, Teri Kruse, Wanda Rodriguez-Ramos, Yvette Broeckel
Your Bargaining Team met with Management again on February 16.
Unfortunately, we were very disappointed with the extreme lack of movement from the employer. While the Bargaining Team took the time to thoughtfully respond to Management’s last proposal, the Employer responded by rejecting many of our proposals… status quo was almost always their response.
“Status quo, won’t go.”
— Kelly Gusman
We were also frustrated by an “emergency” proposal by Management regarding Medical Assistants covered under the clinical collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Management made a very divisive proposal to raise the wages of Medical Assistants at one clinic while leaving the other clinics out of a raise. They cited the desperate staffing situation at the singled-out clinic as the emergent need, which we know to be true across MultiCare, not at just one clinic. We made a counter proposal to accept the wage increase provided, however, that ALL Medical Assistants covered by the CBA would be included.
Before Management even responded to our proposal they implemented the change before we came to an agreement, which they labeled as a mistake and subsequently retracted. We must stand firm on the principle that our final contract must include fair wages for ALL members. We must stand united against Management’s attempts to divide us and fight to ensure that every single member win’s a strong contract, without exception.
Your Bargaining Team will meet with Management next on Monday February 22, then again on February 26 and March 9, 16, 23, and 30. We are currently working on a contract extension to continue negotiations past contract expiration.
Tell the Bargaining Team about the staffing issues in your department, please spend 5-10 minutes to complete the MultiCare Staffing Survey.
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