MultiCare Capital Medical Center RN Still No Agreement!

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After nearly 11 hours at the bargaining table, we walked away without a deal. Capital Medical Center management continues to oppose some of our proposals on critical issues: safe staffing, fair wages, incentive and extra shift pay, meal and rest breaks, continuing education, PTO, FMLA, and health insurance.

We spent hours in conversation on these issues, but at the end of the night management proposed a “package proposal” with a wage scale that leaves about a quarter of RNs below the new Providence St. Peter scale. The package proposal means that we must take everything within the proposal and cannot cherry-pick the parts that we like best. Part of their proposal included increases to premiums, but none of those premiums can be agreed to individually since they were part of a package proposal.

We’ve been crystal clear: our wages must stay competitive to recruit and retain nurses. Their package proposal shows they are willing to divide the unit by leaving a quarter of us behind.

Their wage proposal, combined with their opposition to real staffing improvements and incentive pay, is not enough. Nurses know this is not a singular issue — we face multiple problems that must be addressed together. Without better staffing, we cannot safely care for our patients, and management’s current offer does nothing to fix that.

We return to the table September 25, and we will make it clear: a wage scale that undervalues nurses and a proposal that ignores staffing is unacceptable. Every nurse deserves to be recognized, and every patient deserves safe care.
Tentative Agreements Won So Far:

  • .75 FTEs will be considered full-time

  • Bereavement leave expanded to include loss of pregnancy

  • EIT available on day one for inpatient hospitalization, on-the-job injury, and chemotherapy

  • 30 days’ notice in case of layoff

  • 14 days’ notice and a rebid process for unit mergers/restructures

  • Payroll errors corrected within one pay period (if reported before end of pay period)

  • Discipline older than 12 months can be removed from personnel files

  • Union leave available up to 6 months

  • Union access to meeting spaces

  • Updated union membership lists

But wages, premiums, and other economics remain unsettled.
If we cannot reach a deal on September 25, our next step is to launch a strike pledge so management knows that nurses are united and cannot be divided. When we stand together, we show management that every RN at Capital matters and that we will not settle for less than what it takes to recruit and retain the staff our patients need.

If management continues to push proposals that fail to recognize every nurse, we will be ready to act!
Questions or workplace concerns? Contact Kimberly Starkweather 206-436-6515.