On Thursday, September 5, our RN Bargaining Team- consisting of both representatives from the main RN contract, and representatives from our newly-unionized Case Manager RNs- met with management for our second day of negotiations. As we shared in our previous update on July 30, we worked hard to present management with both our language proposals and our economics on our first day of bargaining, along with presenting management with our first proposals on the terms of welcoming the Case Managers into the Registered Nurse Collective Bargaining Agreement.

We had aimed to present our proposals up front hoping that it may inspire Management to do the same; the sooner we get to a final tentative agreement, the sooner we get the union protections, premiums, and wages we negotiate! Not to mention this expedites the Case Manager RNs transition from being non-union, to being official union members!

Unfortunately, we were disappointed to find that Management arrived at our first session this morning without responses to our proposals on wages, premiums, or PTO; later indicating that while a proposal on economics is forthcoming, it would not be available today. Similarly, the initial proposal we made on the Case Manager RN transition into our contract was also nowhere to be found on the employer’s counter, and it wasn’t until we asked about it that we were told this too would not be available today either.

Considering that MultiCare has had our proposals for just over five weeks now, our hope is that the lack of a response today just means they’re taking the extra time to ensure that our wages are competitive, premiums meet the market, and that they’re as dedicated to safe staffing as we are!

While we await MultiCare’s economic responses, we ended the day on a positive note with agreements on several other contract articles. Notably, we established a New Employee Orientation process that allows our union representatives to meet with new hires to explain our union contract and benefits. Additionally, we secured language ensuring that wages earned from picking up Incentive Shifts (Spot Pay) will be paid in the same payroll period as the shift worked- meaning no more delays! We’re all looking forward to our next bargaining day with MultiCare, and we’re eager to get responses to the proposals we didn’t get today!

“We’re really excited to be at the table- but, Management did not have a response for us at all, and we had to ask about it to even know where it was… we just want to be recognized, and recognized as nurses!” —Sandra Hegg, RN Case Manager

“I’m curious what other hospitals they’re comparing to for our pay… we want King County wages for King County work!” —Nicholas White, RN