“Our team is working meticulously to build a contract that represents everyone’s interests. We are finishing up our non-economic proposals while looking forward to getting to work on the economic side of the contract!”
-Thomas Kean, Exercise Physiologist
On Wednesday April 27, our Bargaining Team met with Management for our fourth joint negotiations session. We made another set of proposals on topics ranging from EIB cash out to extra shift procedures. We heard loud and clear from our coworkers that the Reallocation Process needed to be overhauled, as many feel they have no say in the process. This is why we proposed to make the process much more collaborative in a number of ways, including holding a staff forum before bidding takes place. At this forum workers can ask questions about and make suggestions on how a Reallocation will be handled. Management also provided us with another set of proposals which we are reviewing.
In our next session on May 5, we plan to propose the last of our “non-economic” language changes. Once that is done, we hope to quickly reach agreements on what we have proposed and start getting into more economic issues.
Our team is very aware that the economic issues we face, such as our low wages, PTO accruals, and differentials/premiums, are at the heart of the current staffing crisis and are deeply important to our coworkers. At the same time, we want to make sure the strong non-economic improvements we are seeking are not swept under the rug when our economic negotiations begin. We want to clear the way, so that when our full economic proposals hit the table, we are able to give them our full undivided attention and make sure we receive the economic increases we desperately need.
We hope that Management will work with us to quickly address the issues we have already proposed on. This will allow us to fully dive into economics and get to a strong contract as quickly as possible. In order to ensure that happens, we need to show Management we are serious.
Please join us at one of our upcoming Virtual Contract Action Team meetings on Tuesday, May 17 @ 1PM and 6PM. We will go into more detail about our negotiations so far and talk about what our coworkers can do in the field to support our team at the bargaining table. Contact a Bargaining Team member or your Union Rep for the meeting details.
If you have any questions about the bargaining process, please contact Union Rep Celia Ponce Sanchez @ (360) 419-4678 or chat in person:
Wednesday, May 4 @ 11AM - 2PM
Monday, May 23 @ 11AM - 2PM
Skagit Valley Hospital
San Juan Conference Room
Bargaining Team: Aaron St. John - CS Tech, Alina Delano - Ultrasound Tech, Ashley Price - Medical Assistant-Certified, Jill Douglass - Data entry Clerk, Maria Muñoz - Environmental, Megan Osborn - Med Tech, Mike Koenig - Engineer, Rindi Atkins - Radiology Tech, Thomas Kean - Exercise Physiologist, Katie Davis - Social Worker
