Hear from our Bargaining Team about negotiations!
Thursday, February 3 @ 11 AM
>> RSVP HERE >> to get Zoom meeting details emailed to you.

“The nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the status of our staffing. In some departments, the turnover is higher than 25%. A lot of employees are going on a traveling job because they’re underpaid and a lot more are needing to leave. We proposed competitive pay at SCH to fix this problem.”
-Tesfaldet Kidanemaria, Respiratory Therapist

Yesterday, January 25, our team met with Management for our fifth bargaining session. Management provided us with some counters to our non-economic proposals and we gave them the first half of our economics, which contained our initial wage and premium increase proposals.

It’s no secret that the hospital is currently experiencing a massive staffing crisis—a direct result from the criminally pitiful wages they pay us for the lifesaving work that we do. Day in and day out, each of us give our all to our patients, each other, and the hospital, going above and beyond by working longer hours, picking up extra shifts, and taking on duties outside of the roles we are paid for. We are specialized medical professionals, putting our lives on the line every day during this pandemic and giving up crucial time outside of work with our own families, all to keep the hospital functioning and make sure our patients get the care they need. But we are at a crossroads. We cannot continue to do this work unless there’s a significant change in how we are treated. We’ve heard our coworkers’ concerns over the last week and we know that Management’s wage proposals are nowhere near enough. The hospital needs to value us in the way that we value the kids we care for. We deserve better.

Getting out of this crisis will take bold action, so yesterday, we proposed historic, industry-leading wages for every single job classification. Unlike Management’s proposal (which would only bring us a little closer to the wages of other local hospitals), our wage proposal would skyrocket us to the top of the market immediately. We also proposed to get rid of the “ghost steps” in our current contract, to make sure we all see significant wage increases every year. In addition, since we strongly disagree with Management’s argument that our below market premiums and differentials don’t need to be increased, we also proposed industry-leading increases to all premiums and differentials. In particular, we proposed robust increases to the on-call/standby premium and raised the amount we receive when we are called into work. With top of the market wages and premiums, Seattle Children’s Hospital could recruit and retain new hires to fill the open positions as well as make it possible for those of us already here to stay long term.

Management’s stunned reaction at the table to our proposal shows us that we still have a long way to go. Our team is fighting hard at the table to convince them that these big changes are necessary, but we can’t win these much-needed wage and premium increases alone. We must stand together and demand that Management swiftly end the staffing crisis and provide the relief we desperately need.

Call Union Rep Christie Harris @ (206) 436-6606* today to ask how you can become more involved in what’s happening at the table and learn how you can join our upcoming Contract Action Team virtual meeting on February 3 @ 11 AM, where we can discuss the details of our economic proposal.

At our next bargaining session on Tuesday, February 1, we plan to offer the rest of our economic proposals on topics ranging from Time Away to overtime. Keep an eye out for the update afterward!

*Note: This is an office land line phone number and cannot receive text messages.

Bargaining Team: Matt Brabant - Respiratory Educator; Madison Derksema - Pharm Tech; Angela Ballard – Surgical Tech; Kellie Koenig - Ultrasound Tech; Ashley Strickland - Respiratory Transport; Tyler Schaffer - Anesthesia Tech; Tesfaldet Kidanemariam - Respiratory Therapist