Following our union contract vote meetings on Monday, June 22, we are proud to announce that our new successor Collective Bargaining Agreement was overwhelmingly ratified.
Read MoreOn Thursday, June 11, nearly our entire bargaining unit turned out to our union vote meetings to review the Employer’s most recent contract proposal and cast ballots on their offer.
Read MoreThe Employer returned in the afternoon with only a partial response to our comprehensive proposal and did not yet provide a full economic response. Our Bargaining Team spent the rest of the day reviewing their proposals, pushing back where needed, and continuing to focus the conversation on the issues that matter most to members: staffing, safety, recruitment and retention, and fair wages and benefits.
Read MoreThursday, June 4 marked our fourth bargaining session with CommonSpirit management, and also marked the Employer’s initial economic responses. Considering we brought our initial economic proposals all the way back on March 4, we were eager to see what their proposal entailed.
Read MoreOn Monday, August 25, our RN Bargaining Team met with Hospital management to continue negotiations. We secured a tentative agreement that locks in the Hospital’s 401(k) contributions for the life of the contract—management cannot cut them. We also won new language granting RNs access to the Hospital’s cash balance retirement plan beginning January 2027.
Read MoreOn November 26, after just seven productive negotiation sessions, our bargaining team at Virtual Health is thrilled to announce that we have reached a fully recommended Tentative Agreement on our 2024 successor contract!
Read MoreOur Virtual Health bargaining team met with management on November 7, 2024 for our sixth negotiation session to continue work towards a 2024 Collective Bargaining Agreement. While there are still a number of outstanding contract articles we are negotiating, we are also finalizing many tentative agreements with the Employer, meaning we are now primarily negotiating over some of our highest priorities we had for this round of bargaining.
On the 7th we exchanged proposals regarding:
The training, onboarding, and mentoring process of new hires
Expansion of our rights to bereavement leave
An extended equal opportunity article, which aims to provide a supportive process for our coworkers should they face discrimination or harassment in the workplace
And of course: premiums, differentials, and the wages we are paid for the hard work we do
We are continuing to review regional market wages and working hard to ensure that our pay at Virtual Health doesn't just reach the competitive rates in the first year of our contract, but that it stays competitive throughout the next few years. Furthermore, we are also working on some of the "formatting" of our wage scales - such as efforts to uniform the scales to the same number of total steps, and removing "ghost" steps (years where you do not receive a wage increase for another year of employment).
"We're making progress to ensure a fair contract is reached. We're dedicated to making sure we're compensated fairly, and that our union contract provides the support we all need to continue the hard work we do every day."
—Rayann La Madeleine, Monitor Tech
Your bargaining team: Faith Couch, Central Monitoring Telemetry; Chelan Henley, Virtual Companion; Rayann La Madeleine, Central Monitoring Telemetry; Francine Toves (guest), Virtual Companion
After just three days of bargaining so far- our team are feeling good about how much progress we have already made. While we have not yet started discussions on our wages, premiums, or much else in terms of financials- we did get confirmation from the Employer that they anticipate they’ll have an economic response ready for us as early as our next session.
Read MoreOn Thursday, August 29, our Virtual Health Bargaining Team met with Management to continue exchanging proposals and working towards our next collective bargaining agreement. Given Management’s limited availability in the afternoon, we opted to meet with the Employer virtually in order to maximize our time at the table.
Read More
Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, Janice Jones.
On Thursday June 9, Nurses at St. Michael Medical Center overwhelmingly voted YES to authorize a strike and NO on the Employer’s latest contract offer.
Our Bargaining Team will return to bargain with the Employer next week, now with the authority to call a strike.
We hope the results of the vote will force the Employer to improve their offer in a meaningful way and, therefore, avert a strike. However, if the Employer continues to drag their feet then our Bargaining Team will initiate the 10-day strike countdown. Nurses have sent a strong message to the Employer; NOW IT’S TIME FOR MANAGEMENT TO LISTEN!
Next Steps:
Monday, June 13
Bargaining with Employer
Wednesday, June 15
Contract Action Team Meetings
9AM // 6PM // 8:30PM
Thursday June 16
Bargaining with Employer
Wednesday Jun 22
Contract Action Team Meetings
9AM // 8:30PM
Wednesday Jun 22
Telephone Townhall
6PM
For questions and meeting details please contact a Bargaining Team member or Union Rep Aimee Oien @ (360) 662-1981.
Your Bargaining Team met with Management on May 31 to continue negotiations for the St. Michael Medical Center RN contract. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach an agreement.
We focused our proposals on addressing the staffing crisis at St. Michael Medical Center, demanding that the Employer implement safe staffing standards on every unit and raise wages to help retain and recruit nurses. Management has failed to seriously address these issues, refusing to be held accountable for our chronic staffing issues.
The Employer has made matters worse by committing several unfair labor practices (ULPs) in an attempt to intimidate nurses from engaging in union activity. We have filed unfair labor practice charges against the Employer when Management (1) threatened discipline to nurses wearing union stickers, (2) prevented nurses from distributing strike pledge cards, and (3) threatened discipline to nurses leafleting to patients during the picket.
Given the Employer’s serious ongoing unfair labor practices that are negatively impacting the bargaining process, our Bargaining Team has announced a ULP strike authorization vote. To go out on strike, two-thirds of voters must approve the strike. Going out on strike is always our last resort, but it is clear to our Bargaining Team that Management will not listen unless we take serious action. Authorizing a strike will empower our Bargaining Team to call a ULP strike if the Employer continues to drag their feet at the bargaining table.
It's imperative that everyone participate in the vote to show management that we stand in solidarity for a fair contract and against their unfair labor practice charges.
Voting Process:
DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE
Links to the vote documents are now available and and will be emailed out to nurses who have an accurate email on file with the Union.
www.ufcw21.org/s/SMMC-RN-Strike-Vote-Highlight.pdf
www.ufcw21.org/s/SMMC-RN-22-25-Proposed-Contract-Redline.pdf
ONLINE MEETINGS
Wednesday June 8
9AM // 6PM // 8:30PM
Contact a Bargaining Team member or your Union Rep for details. Details will also be emailed.
The Bargaining Team will run through the vote documents, provide details about the progress of negotiations, talk about what it means to go on strike, and answer any questions. Voting will NOT occur during these meetings.
VOTE DAY
Thursday June 9
6AM-9AM // 12PM-2PM // 4PM-9PM
Best Western Plus Silverdale Beach Hotel 3073 NW Bucklin Hill Rd
Silverdale, WA 98383
The vote will be in-person and nurses will have the opportunity to speak to Bargaining Team members and Union staff before casting their ballot. Please arrive during the posted vote times as we cannot allow members to enter the vote room outside of the advertised times.
“The Employer made very little movement and has requested federal mediation. RSVP to our May 26 Informational Picket to show management that we stand in solidarity for a fair contract!”
Your Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones.
Our Bargaining Team met with management again on May 3 to continue negotiations for the St. Michael Medical Center RN contract.
Your Bargaining Team worked hours on crafting a comprehensive proposal for the employer on wages, staffing, and other important issues. However, the Employer only responded with a small package proposal regarding charge nurses and holiday call but nothing else. They failed to even provide an economic counteroffer!
Then at the end of our bargaining session the employer surprised the Bargaining Team by requesting that the parties bring in a federal mediator to help work through the remaining issues on the table.
We are very disappointed with the progress of negotiations and the lack of proposals from the employer at this session only furthered the Bargaining Team’s frustration. Therefore, we have agreed to begin the process of federal mediation.
Unfortunately, we must also report that we believe the employer has violated nurses’ rights on at least two occasions, forcing the Union to file Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges against the employer with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
These incidents occurred when management asked for members to remove their “Hello Staffing Crisis” stickers in early April, then again when nurses handing out strike pledge cards at an employee entrance were told they were in violation of company policy and must leave. In addition to filing charges, we are reviewing other actions that we can take to ensure the employer will cease violating the rights of bargaining unit nurses.
We are scheduled to meet with the Employer again on May 6, which will be our first session with the federal mediator. We’ve also signed a contract extension agreement through the end of the month, meaning that all protections of your contract remain fully intact.
What is mediation?
When the Union and Employer have reached a point when little progress is being made, the parties have the option to bring in a neutral third-party mediator to help move things along. The federal government provides a free mediation service (Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service) that works exclusively on union-employer disputes and has assigned a mediator to help us reach a deal with management. The role of the mediator is to help the parties better understand the other’s point of view and to push both sides towards an agreement. However, the mediator has no power to force either side to make any changes to their proposals.
RSVP to the Info Picket!
After months of bargaining, our Bargaining Team has announced that nurses at St. Michael Medical Center will be holding an informational picket on Thursday May 26 from 3:00PM to 5:00PM. We invite bargaining unit nurses who are off-the-clock, their families, and any member of the community to RSVP for the event. RSVP through the code or link below!
Thursday, May 26 • 3PM - 5PM
1800 NW Myhre Road, Silverdale, WA 98383
“We’re severely disappointed that management did not come to the table with a serious proposal to address our concerns.”
Your Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones.
Our Bargaining Team met with management again on April 27 to continue negotiations for the St. Michael Medical Center RN contract. After working late into the afternoon, we were unable to reach an agreement with management because of serious differences of opinion on what St. Michael Medical Center needs to address the current staffing crisis.
Management sent over two economic proposals during this meeting, which only included minor changes such as increasing their wage proposal by just 2.5% over the life of the contract when compared to their April 5 proposal. We are extremely frustrated that management continues to make wage proposals that would keep our wages below what nurses at St. Joseph Medical Center are paid and then somehow expect that nurses at St. Michael Medical Center would be happy to accept their offer.
Management also continued to reject our proposal to create safe staffing standards in every department, claiming that staffing ratios wouldn’t help address our staffing crisis. They took particular issue with our proposal’s hourly premium that would be paid to nurses as a penalty when staffed outside of safe staffing standards, which was included as an enforcement measure to encourage compliance.
Management instead countered with a new staffing proposal that outlined “staffing and scheduling principles” that they promised to adhere to. They claimed their proposal outlined a collaborative effort that would create space to talk more about possible solutions to the crisis, which they believe is better than the Union’s well defined and enforceable staffing ratios.
Our Bargaining Team pointed out that their proposal does not include any firm deadlines, no substantive guarantees, and no efficient enforcement mechanism if they fail to follow through on their promises. And quite frankly, we don’t trust management to follow through. We will continue to review their proposal and determine if we could counter with changes that would appease our concerns, but the bottom line is that we need staffing language that commits to more than “the employer will make every reasonable effort” to address the staffing crisis.
Our Bargaining Team presented the results of the strike pledge card as evidence that nurses are not satisfied with the progress of negotiations and management was clearly surprised that a majority of nurses signed the card. With over 435 nurses signing the strike pledge card, members have made clear that what’s on the table is unacceptable and we’re ready to do whatever is necessary to win a fair contract.
Now is the time to put our words into action! After months of bargaining, our Bargaining Team has announced that nurses at St. Michael Medical Center will be holding an informational picket on Thursday, May 26 from 3:00PM to 5:00PM. We invite bargaining unit nurses, their families, and any member of the community to RSVP for the event.
We are scheduled to meet with the Employer again on May 3 and 6 with our contract scheduled to expire after April 30. We are working with the employer on a possible one-month extension of our contract that would cover nurses as we continue negotiations.
Contract Action Team (CAT) Meeting
You don’t want to miss our next meeting as our Bargaining Team is hosting picket captain training to prepare for our upcoming informational picket! We’ll also spend time talking about what to expect as we move closer to announcing a strike vote.
Wednesday, May 4
9:00AM & 6:00PM
https://zoom.us/join
Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.
“Management’s initial economic offer misses the mark, failing to come close to St. Joseph Medical Center’s recent wage increase.”
-Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones.
Our Bargaining Team met with Management again on April 5 to continue negotiations for the St. Michael Medical Center RN contract.
Before sending over their economic offer, Management gave our Bargaining Team a speech about the financial health of the medical center. Management outlined that the medical center is $45 million behind budget this year because of issues with patient length of stay, non-emergent procedure moratoriums, and the high number of travelers.
We countered by pointing out that if they agree to competitive wage increases for bargaining unit nurses, then they could retain and attract staff nurses and significantly cut down on the number of expensive travelers. We also noticed that they never mentioned that they are going into debt just not making as much money as they anticipated, which does not really concern our Bargaining Team. Management even admitted that they’ve noticed positive financial trends in March as the pandemic continues to abate.
Management’s Economic Proposal
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
8.00% 3.50% 3.50%
While we would have likely been excited about their initial offer in previous contract cycles, we are now in different times with historic inflation and a hyper-competitive labor market. In fact, their proposal is far behind the 11% wage increase that nurses at St. Joseph Medical Center recently won, even worse when you consider that they will receive an additional 4% increase later this year.
We also reminded Management that St. Michael Medical Center is in a unique geographic location, meaning that we need to pay a higher wage to attract nurses into Silverdale or, more importantly, stop nurses from commuting into Seattle.
Management also continued to REJECT our enhanced charge nurse language, guarantees that nurses won’t be responsible for EVS or billing work, permanent pandemic language that ensures nurses will be protected during the next public health emergency, and our addition of staffing ratios into the contract.
We are scheduled to meet with the employer on Monday, April 11 and then again on Wednesday, April 27.
Next Steps:
Our Bargaining Team invites you to join our official Facebook page to get the latest news regarding contract negotiations at: facebook.com/SMMCNURSES
Contract Action Team Meeting: Attend regular Contract Action Team (CAT) meetings to hear the latest updates regarding negotiations, plan actions to pressure Management, and learn how to get our co-workers involved. We’ve also started holding a separate Emergency Department meeting focused on discussing the serious issues faced by nurses working in the department.
Sticker Action! Reach out to our workplace leader or Union Rep Aimee Oien to get a stack of our “Hello Staffing Crisis” or “Hello Missed Breaks” stickers to wear in the workplace. The stickers are launching on April 7, so make sure to get yours soon!
QUESTIONS? Join your coworkers and hear from the Bargaining Team! Zoom links are in the text below.
Wednesday, April 6 @ 6 PM
Contract Action Team (CAT) Meeting
Tuesday, April 12 @ 6 PM
Emergency Department Meeting
“We are focusing on improvements to our safety and staffing language while preparing to present our first economic proposal. Be sure to attend our next Contract Action Team meeting to learn more!”
- Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones
Our Bargaining Team met with Management again on March 3, continuing contract negotiations for nurses at St. Michael Medical Center.
We are pleased to report that some progress was made as we successfully convinced the Employer to withdraw their proposals to increase both the required resignation notice as well as the minimum work requirements of per diems. The Employer also showed a willingness to still agree with our demand that the per diem differential revert back to 15%, even without the increased work requirements.
However, we are still far apart on our safety and staffing proposals. Management has continued to reject our minimum staffing ratios, language regarding the refusal of hazardous assignments, and our new public health emergency language that would help better prepare the medical center for the next pandemic.
Despite the outstanding issues, our Bargaining Team feels that enough progress has been made for us to finally make our initial economic proposal at our next meeting with the Employer. After months of market research, we have crafted an economic proposal that would raise our wages and differentials to rates that would be hyper-competitive with our neighbors in both Tacoma and Seattle.
We are scheduled to meet with the Employer again on Wednesday, March 9 with dates scheduled through April.
Our Bargaining Team invites you to join our official Facebook page to get the latest news regarding contract negotiations at: facebook.com/SMMCNURSES
You’re Invited! Contact a Bargaining Team member or your Union Rep for Zoom meeting details!
Contract Action Team (CAT) Meeting
Wednesday, March 9 @ 6 PM
Attend regular Contract Action Team (CAT) meetings to hear the latest updates regarding negotiations, plan actions to pressure Management, and learn how to get your co-workers involved
Emergency Dept. Meeting
Tuesday, March 15 @ 6 PM
Meeting is focused on discussing the serious issues faced by nurses working in the Emergency Department and working on solutions that can be achieved through contract negotiations.
What is a Contract Action Team?
It’s a group of bargaining unit members who regularly gather (usually monthly) to hear the latest updates regarding negotiations, plan actions to pressure management into a fair contract, and learn how to get their co-workers involved. Commonly referred to as CAT meetings, they are a great opportunity to stay involved and provide feedback to your bargaining team as they work to negotiate your contract.
Who is invited to CAT meetings?
Any St. Michael Medical Center nurse who is part of the UFCW Local 21 bargaining unit is welcome to join CAT meetings! Having high involvement within your Contract Action Team is crucial in winning a strong contract, so we encourage everyone to attend if your schedule permits. Because of the sensitive nature about what we discuss, non-union management is not permitted to join our meetings.
See you there!
Your bargaining team: Anne Burns, Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson
St. Michael’s Medical Center (RN) February CAT Meeting
Monday, February 7
6:00PM
https://zoom.us/join
St. Michael’s Medical Center (RN) March CAT Meeting
Wednesday, March 9
6:00PM
https://zoom.us/join
Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.
We are pleased to announce that members across CHI overwhelmingly voted to approve the proposed amendments to their contracts, which included earlier raises for all members along with a number of additional market increases! The approved wage increases will become effective on February 6, 2022.
These changes will affect the following units:
St. Anne Hospital (Pro-Tech)
St. Joseph Medical Center (Pro-Tech)
St. Michael Medical Center (Pro-Tech)
St. Michael Medical Center (Service & Dietary)
Keep in mind that these changes are considered a mid-cycle amendment, meaning that we are still scheduled to start contract negotiations early next year. Stay tuned for more information as your contract nears its expiration.
We are pleased to announce that, given today’s hyper-competitive labor market, we’ve come to an agreement with your employer to implement our 2022 wage increase months ahead of schedule along with some additional wage adjustments for select classifications that have fallen behind market.
These changes will affect the following units:
St. Anne Hospital (Pro-Tech)
St. Joseph Medical Center (Pro-Tech)
St. Michael Medical Center (Pro-Tech)
St. Michael Medical Center (Service & Dietary)
While we are not scheduled to begin contract negotiations for these units until next year, immediate action on wages was deemed necessary in order to retain and recruit staff.
However, the proposed wage increases must first be approved by a vote of membership before they can be implemented. We will be voting online via “SimplyVoting” on Thursday, January 20 from 6:00AM to 8:00PM. You will be receiving an email from UFCW 21 via “SimplyVoting” with your unique login information, along with all the details about the proposed changes to your contract.
In order to vote, everyone needs to make sure their personal email is up to date in our records. If you did not receive this announcement via email, please visit ufcw21.org/update-your-information and update your information. If you do not receive an email to vote on Thursday, January 20, then please reach out to your Union Representative no later than 5PM on the day of the vote to provide an updated email address.
Have Questions?
There will be virtual meetings the day prior to the vote to explain the proposed changes and answer questions. You can also reach out to your Union Representative to learn more about the proposed wage increases.
St. Joseph Medical Center
Wednesday, January 19
5PM – 6PM
St. Michael Medical Center
Wednesday, January 19
6PM – 7PM
St. Anne Hospital
Wednesday, January 19
7PM – 8PM
Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.
We excited to announce that members at CHI Virtual Health Services voted to ratify their new contract on Friday October 1! This historic contract includes a new wage scale that is competitive with neighboring employers, including MultiCare, which will help attract and retain staff.
We’ve informed the Employer of this news and they’ve said the new wages should go into effect no later than two pay periods after ratification. If you have any questions about your contract, please contact Union Representative Kent Tse at (206) 436-6512.
Your Bargaining Team has reached a tentative agreement with Management on a new three-year collective bargaining agreement for Virtual Health Services. This agreement includes:
>> Historic wage increases that are competitive with MultiCare,
>> Significant changes in the wage scale, increasing the raises you’ll get as you advance on the wage scale,
>> Shortened wage scale, meaning that you’ll reach the top wage years earlier,
>> Improved staffing language with a pathway to report your concerns to administration,
>> Stronger seniority/layoff language,
>> And much more!
The full details of the offer will be made available during our online vote meeting on Thursday, September 30. It’s extremely important that members attend the zoom meeting to get a full understanding of the employer’s offer and have your questions answered. However, voting will not take place at this meeting.
We will be voting online via “SimplyVoting” on Friday, October 1. You will be receiving an email from UFCW 21 via “SimplyVoting” with your unique login information.
In order to vote, everyone needs to make sure their personal email is up to date in our records. If you did not receive this announcement via email, please update your information HERE.
If you do not receive an email to vote on Friday, October 1, then please reach out to Union Representative Kent Tse at (206) 436-6512 no later than 5PM on the day of the vote to provide an updated email address.
Join your coworkers on these important dates!
Online Vote Meeting via Zoom
Thursday, September 30
5:30 PM
Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for details. Direct link to join will also be emailed.
Contract Vote via SimplyVoting
Friday, October 1
6 AM - 8 PM
We are the Union. The members of UFCW 3000 are over 50,000 members working in grocery, retail, health care, meat packing, cannabis, & other industries across Washington state, north-east Oregon, and northern Idaho. UFCW 3000 is a chartered member of UFCW International with over 1.4 million workers in North America.
To build a powerful Union that fights for economic, political and social justice in our workplaces and in our communities.
