St. Joseph Medical Center Pharmacists Bargaining Update

On Monday, February 2, our Union Bargaining Team representing the pharmacists at St. Joseph Medical Center met with CommonSpirit Management for our eighth session of contract negotiations.
 
This bargaining session followed closely behind our previous session (January 26), and was scheduled in the hopes that we may be able to reach a final tentative agreement with CommonSpirit. To recap, we had reached the point in negotiations where the remaining Articles open for continued negotiations are some of our highest priorities this contract cycle; namely, the cost-sharing of our health insurance benefits, our retirement benefits, & wages.
 
Our session began with the Employer returning their responses on the above-referenced sections of our contract, and their proposals showed very positive movement in terms of health/welfare and retirement benefits- so much so that we reached an agreement on health insurance costs; which will significantly reduce the amount pharmacists pay at all coverage tiers, as well as an agreement on strengthening retirement benefits by rewarding wage growth and longevity.  
 
However, the progress slowed down significantly in terms of CommonSpirit’s compensation proposal. The Employer increased their previous offer by one percent (1.00%)- bringing their total “year 1” wage scale package to 3.75%... an increase that would leave pharmacist wages at St. Joe’s behind nearly all of our closest competitor hospitals, as far south as Olympia and as far north as Seattle (with the exception of St. Michael Medical Center- who will be entering contract negotiations within the next few months anyway!)
 
Our team began working on our counterproposals right away, but not before directly expressing to CommonSpirit that their wage proposals were deeply concerning to us. Considering the competitive nature of pharmacist positions within the Puget Sound region’s acute care hospitals, and our pre-existing difficulty recruiting and retaining staff, it is essential that our wages serve alongside our benefits as a tool for recruiting new staff, and retaining the experienced and skilled coworkers already working alongside us.
 
Unfortunately, given the gap between our wage proposal as compared to Management, we were unable to reach an agreement on a full final contract at Monday’s session. We are working now to schedule dates to continue negotiations and will continue to send out updates as we continue to make progress!
 
Our Union Bargaining Team: Tony Casanova, Clinical Pharmacist Specialist; Amanda Carter, Ambulatory Services Clinical Pharmacist; Becky Mountjoy, Clinical Pharmacist