Our Mary Bridge Union Bargaining Team: Jodi McWhirter, RN; Angela Zicaro, Resource RN; Holly Gindhart, RN; Emily Lyro, Diabetes Educator RN

On Monday, December 16, our Mary Bridge Registered Nurses (RNs) again joined forces with the Diabetes Educator nurses to continue negotiations with MultiCare over our 2024 Collective Bargaining Agreement, and continue negotiations about integrating the Diabetes Educators into our union contract.

Today, we achieved a number of significant victories in our union negotiations with MultiCare- namely, reaching a full tentative agreement on the Diabetes Educator RNs section of our negotiations! This marks a major milestone, as their portion of bargaining is now complete. We will be announcing vote meetings soon, where our newly organized members can review the agreement, ask questions, and cast their ballots. Stay tuned for more details on the vote schedule!

And our success continued into negotiations for the 2024 RN Contract, including some key achievements:

• Secured an increase to the Charge Nurse premium

• Continuing Education Funds: Won an increase in funds for continuing education, reinforcing a commitment to professional growth and development!

• Overtime & Premium Pay Clarifications: We also reached an important agreement regarding "pyramiding" of premium-eligible shifts and overtime, which aims to provide more clarity in pay calculations.

• Lastly, we feel that our concerns about being strung along with Low Census Standby days were heard, and the employer have now engaged with our proposals to limit how frequently we can be placed on Low Census Standby during each shift.

These accomplishments demonstrate our collective strength and determination to improve working conditions- but as we celebrate our wins in these areas of our contract, it is important to keep in mind that we are narrowing down to our highest priorities in this negotiation; WAGES.

Wage Negotiations Update: On the morning of the 16th, MultiCare responded to our wage proposal by increasing their previous offer by 2%- bringing their total Year 1 proposal to 9%. While this is a step forward and more significant movement than we've seen from them in past sessions, 9% still leaves our wages falling behind those of other MultiCare facilities—many of which were bargained years ago!

As we move closer to the new year, it is essential that we continue to show our strength and unity in demanding a strong contract that reflects the work we do and the value we bring to Mary Bridge. We cannot afford to settle for wages that simply mirror those from 2022; we need a competitive contract that ensures fair compensation through 2027 and beyond.

Stay Engaged! We’ll continue to update you as negotiations progress. Support and solidarity are crucial in securing the best possible outcome. Let’s stay united and continue to fight for a fair contract!

“I was on our bargaining team in previous years- so it’s so exciting to be able to join now and see all of the hard work that’s been done already and to see the determination that is sure to win us a strong contract!” -Holly E Gindhart, RN