Providence St. Peter Hospital Professionals Bargaining Update

On October 23 and 24 our Professionals Bargaining Team joined Management at the table again for our fifth and sixth sessions of contract negotiations.
 
Over the course of our two sessions, we continued to make significant progress on our first Collective Bargaining Agreement; in fact, the majority of contract articles outlining general definitions of terms throughout the CBA, union administration, employer administration, work schedules, & many more, are wrapped up- totaling nearly seventy (70) individual Articles we have reached mutual agreement on.
 
Regarding economics; while we made some progress here & there on a few premiums- discussions on wage rates throughout the duration of our contract- and how we will all be initially placed on those respective wage scales- are ongoing. In management’s most recent proposal, they raised their 2026 & 2027 across the board wage increases proposal from 2.00% to 2.25% in both years, and reflected that same number in their proposal for the minimum percent increase employees would receive when placed on the wage scales following ratification of our contract; unfortunately, Management did not make any changes to their proposal in terms of how our working experience will be considered towards calculating our step placement/rate of pay- a component of our contract that we consider to be extremely important.
 
*On an additional note for the Case Management Social Workers department & the recent notice of schedule changes- we flagged this concern to the Employer & requested additional details to work through this at the bargaining table; at the time we mentioned it management appeared surprised, and further stated that they will look into it between now and our next session, & plan to come with more details so we can continue working on this issue.
 
Considering the progress made across our six bargaining days so far, we are nearing the point in negotiations where these highest priorities- wages & recognition for past experience- will be the primary topics of discussion throughout our next few sessions, and as such, it will be more important now than ever that our bargaining team feel the solidarity & support from all Professionals at PSPH. Stay tuned for more details and join our next union contract meeting on November 5 (which is also just after our next day of negotiations with Providence on November 4!)

CAT Meeting: Wednesday, November 5 at 5:30PM – 6:30PM >>

Meeting ID: 837 7378 5786 Passcode: 3000
 
“Overall, we had two positive back-to-back days- and now we’re starting the weekend with more than sixty-five tentative agreements!” -Brenda Arend, Speech Language Pathologist
 
Our union Bargaining Team: Rita Palmquist, Case Manager MSW; Elise Steinmetz, Physical Therapist; Sydney Lobdell, Dietitian; Kristine Pepper, Clinical Pharmacist; Brenda Arend, Speech Language Pathologist; Diana Herr, Senior Medical Laboratory Scientist.