St. Michael Medical Center Professional-Technical-Clinical Support - Long Day—Disappointing Ending

Tuesday, August 25

We came into bargaining on Tuesday, August 25, hopeful that we could make real progress toward a deal. The Employer had indicated that it was ready to get serious and work toward an agreement. Unfortunately, by the end of the day, we were disappointed by how little movement we saw on the issues that matter most to us.

Because we are currently in FMCS mediation, the discussions at the table are confidential since neither side passed a formal proposal. Instead, we exchanged “supposals”—nonbinding, hypothetical ideas used to test possible paths toward an agreement. Because of the confidentiality rules of mediation, we cannot share the specific details of those discussions.

What we can say is that the Employer’s wage position continues to fall short of what is needed. We did not see the movement we were hoping for on wages, premium pay, and important concerns around safety in the Family Birth Center. We entered the day expecting the Employer’s actions at the table to reflect its stated desire to reach a deal. Unfortunately, we ended the day still waiting to see that level of movement.

Our Bargaining Team continued working throughout the day, reviewing wage proposals classification by classification and reassessing our priorities to make sure we remain focused on the improvements that matter most to us.

We were also grateful to have one of our Union siblings from the St. Joseph Medical Center technical Bargaining Team join us at the table, share perspective from their own negotiations, and show management that we are united in our fight for a fair contract.

We started the day hopeful that we could make significant progress. We ended it disappointed, but still committed to doing everything we can to win the fair contract we deserve.

Sign the Strike Pledge Card Today! >>

We meet with management again next week on September 3, which we anticipate will be an important bargaining session as we work to determine whether the Employer is prepared to make the movement necessary to reach a fair agreement.

“Started with high hopes, ended totally disappointed.”

— Merry Brandt-MacFann, CT Technologist

Bargaining Team: Robel Haile, Clinical Pharmacist; Bryson Andrews, ED Tech; Olivia Almeida, Respiratory Therapist; Merry Brandt-MacFann, CT Technologist; Lara Williams-Graham, Certified Surgical Technologist; Angela Roberson, EP Technologist; Rob Shauger, CNA.

St. Michael Medical Center Service and Dietary - We Proposed Historic Health Care Improvements

Bargaining Team: Susan Mayer, Cook; Pamela Reese, EVS.

On July 21, our Union Bargaining Team met with the Employer and received its response to our latest economic proposal. While the Employer’s offer was disappointing, the session still resulted in meaningful progress.

After reviewing the Employer’s proposal, our team returned to work and finalized a major health care proposal that we have been developing behind the scenes for weeks. If accepted by the Employer, this proposal would significantly reduce what workers pay for health insurance while also substantially lowering deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs.

The proposal would provide Service and Dietary workers with the same health insurance plan currently available to the Pro-Tech unit, the Sound Health & Wellness Trust, creating long-overdue parity between the two bargaining units.

The comparison below shows the potential savings under the proposed Sound Health & Wellness Trust.

Healthcare Cost Comparison		Biweekly Employee Premiums (each paycheck)				Deductible		Out-of-Pocket Maximums
		Employee Only	Employee + Child(ren)	Employee + Spouse	Family Plan	Individual	Family	Individual	Family
Sound Health & Wellness Trust	Kaiser HMO	$18.00	$26.00	$38.00	$46.00	$750	$1,500	$2,750	$5,500
	Premera PPO	$22.00	$34.00	$46.00	$50.00	$750	$1,500	$2,750	$5,500
Employer's Current Medical Plan Options	Integrated Core	$68.02	$192.26	$161.32	$277.59	$1,500	$3,000	$6,000	$12,000
	Integrated Basic	$20.00	$139.39	$114.84	$196.77	$2,500	$5,000	$6,600	$13,200
	Integrated HDHP	$0.00	$85.53	$72.40	$126.62	$3,400	$6,800	$6,450	$12,900
Sound Health & Wellness Trust premiums include medical, dental, and vision coverage and are the same for all eligible workers, regardless of hours worked. The Employer rates shown are full-time medical premiums only; dental and vision coverage cost extra. Part-time employees pay higher premiums under the Employer’s plans than the rates listed above.

Sound Health & Wellness Trust premiums include medical, dental, and vision coverage and are the same for all eligible workers, regardless of hours worked. The Employer rates shown are full-time medical premiums only; dental and vision coverage cost extra. Part-time employees pay higher premiums under the Employer’s plans than the rates listed above.

Furthermore, the Sound Health & Wellness Trust only requires 60 hours in a month to qualify for employee-only coverage or 80 hours in a month to qualify for dependent coverage. The plan costs the same for all workers, regardless of whether they are full-time or part-time.

Combined with market-based wage increases and improvements to shift, weekend, and other premiums, these health care changes would go a long way toward addressing the hospital’s ongoing recruitment and retention problems.

We left the meeting encouraged by management’s initial response to the proposal. While the Employer has not yet agreed to these changes, management expressed a willingness to continue the conversation. Our Bargaining Team is excited to keep pushing toward what could be a truly historic improvement for workers covered by this contract.

Next Bargaining Session

August 5

We look forward to receiving the Employer’s response to our proposed health care changes.

“I feel that this day is going to go down in history.”

— Susan Mayer

St. Michael Medical Center Bargaining Update - Sign The Strike Pledge Card Today!

St. Michael Medical Center

Bargaining Update - Sign The Strike Pledge Card Today!

Tuesday, July 7

Our Union Bargaining Team met with the Employer again on Tuesday, July 7, to continue negotiations for our next Union contract.

After more than a month of waiting for a response to our health care proposal, the Employer finally came back with a counterproposal. While we appreciate finally receiving a response, the numbers they proposed are not sufficient to keep up with projected increases in health insurance costs and would likely result in higher costs for workers.

Our Bargaining Team’s health care proposal was based on data provided by professional health care actuaries and is designed to ensure that the Employer bears the burden of projected cost increases instead of pushing those costs onto workers. Anything less increases the possibility that workers will pay more for their health care and our bargaining team believes any increases to workers is unacceptable, especially given the employer low offer on wage increases.

Frustrated but determined, our Bargaining Team got back to work and presented another comprehensive proposal for the Employer to review. Our proposal addresses many of the real needs workers are facing, including competitive market-based wages, affordable health insurance, and meaningful premium improvements. Our wage proposals did not make much movement, but they are in line with what the market is offering at other health care facilities and would help keep St. Michael competitive.

We stand by our proposals. They are realistic, data-driven, and necessary. The Employer, meanwhile, continues to act as if it can ignore the economic realities facing health care workers.

That became even more clear when the Employer sent back a second counterproposal later in the day. While they slightly increased their offer on health care, their movement on wages was minimal and insulting.

The Employer’s latest wage proposal is:

Year 1 (2026): 2.75%

Year 2 (2027): 2.50%

Year 3 (2028): 3.00%

Nothing will change until we take action. Many of your coworkers have already signed the Strike Pledge Card and are wearing Union stickers in the workplace. If you have not signed yet, now is the time!

Sign The Strike Pledge Card Today >>

Our next bargaining date with the Employer is July 16, and we have proposed additional dates for the Employer’s consideration.

"A hospital’s greatest asset is its people. A contract that fails to value them fails everyone."

— Lara Williams-Graham

"A big waste of time."

— Bryson Andrews

Bargaining Team: Robel Haile, Clinical Pharmacist; Bryson Andrews, ED Tech; Olivia Almeida, Respiratory Therapist; Merry Brandt-MacFann, CT Technologist; Lara Williams-Graham, Certified Surgical Technologist; Angela Roberson, EP Technologist; Rob Shauger, CNA.

St. Michael Medical Center Service & Dietary - Bargaining Update

St. Michael Medical Center Service & Dietary
Bargaining Update

Friday, June 26

We met with the Employer again on Friday, June 26, to continue negotiations toward a new contract. This came one day after our Pro-Tech Union siblings had an unproductive bargaining session of their own, which they described as a “big waste of time.”

Unfortunately, our bargaining session was not much different.

While the parties exchanged several proposals throughout the day, very little progress was made, especially on economics. The Employer’s current wage proposal for all workers is:

• 2.25% in year one

• 2.25% in year two

• 2.00% in year three

What makes this especially frustrating is that the Employer has continued to ignore many of our key economic proposals, including proposals to improve premiums such as shift differential, lead pay, and weekend premium. Our Union Bargaining Team took the time to carefully develop these proposals because they directly impact members’ lives and reflect the real challenges workers are facing. Having those priorities dismissed or left unanswered is unacceptable.

The day ended early because several members of management’s team needed to leave early. This has now happened during the last two bargaining sessions. Our Bargaining Team continues to come prepared and ready to bargain, but it is frustrating when management does not show the same urgency to reach a fair agreement.

Our technical UFCW 3000 Union siblings both here and at St. Joseph Medical Center, who have the same contract expiration date, also bargained this last week and experienced a similar lack of progress. Our Bargaining Team is working to coordinate with their team to discuss how we can work together to win fair contracts for all units, keep Virginia Mason Franciscan Health facilities competitive with the market, and set standards that will recruit and retain high-quality staff.

We encourage everyone to join our next virtual Contract Action Team (CAT) Meeting on July 9 at 4pm, where we will announce the next steps in this campaign.

CAT Meeting

July 9, 2026
4pm

St. Michael Medical Center Professional-Technical-Clinical Support - Bargaining Update - A Big Waste of Time

We met with the Employer again on Thursday, June 25. All proposals were in the Employer’s court for response. Our Bargaining Team came prepared and hopeful that real progress could be made.

Unfortunately, the Employer was not ready to present proposals until 1:30pm. When they finally did meet with us, we were disappointed and frustrated to learn that they only had non-economic responses. They cited a lack of approval from higher management as the reason they could not respond to key economic proposals.

On economics, the Employer specifically pointed to a lack of approval to provide a meaningful response on health care, an issue we have still not received any counterproposal on. At this point, even if the Employer provided a counterproposal on all other economic issues, it would be extremely difficult for our Bargaining Team to respond without first receiving answers about the future of our health care costs.

Therefore, the Employer’s proposal on wages from our last session still stands:

• 2.50% in year one

• 2.50% in year two

• 2.25% in year three

What little the Employer did counter made almost no meaningful progress and did not address the issues that matter most to workers. The Employer continues to hold firm to its proposal to force workers to wear specific scrub colors by job classification, at workers’ own expense. They also proposed lopsided language that would treat members of our bargaining unit inequitably when it comes to recognizing experience, depending on job classification. And they continue to reject our reasonable safety proposal to increase security presence in the Family Birth Center.

Our Bargaining Team was able to quickly respond to the limited proposals the Employer did pass. But after only a few hours of actual bargaining, the Employer stated that they still did not have the approvals needed to provide further responses. As a result, we ended the day early, even though bargaining had already started late.

Our technical UFCW 3000 Union siblings at St. Joseph Medical Center, who have the same contract expiration date, also bargained this week and experienced a similar lack of progress. Our Bargaining Team is working to coordinate with their team to discuss how we can work together to win fair contracts for both units, keep Virginia Mason Franciscan Health facilities competitive with the market, and set standards that will recruit and retain high-quality staff.

We encourage everyone to join our next virtual Contract Action Team (“CAT”) Meeting on July 1 at 4pm, where we will announce the next steps in this campaign.

“The Employer came totally unprepared to be productive in bargaining.”

— Merry Brandt-MacFann

“They wasted our time and came back unprepared. So let’s be prepared and have everybody join our CAT Meeting at 4pm on July 1!”

— Rob Shauger

“When we bargain with the Employer, we are pulling resources from the hospital because our shifts need to be covered. So when management isn’t ready to bargain, it is just a waste of those resources.”

— Angela Roberson

• CAT Meeting

• July 1

• 4pm

• Zoom

Bargaining Team: Robel Haile, Clinical Pharmacist; Bryson Andrews, ED Tech; Olivia Almeida, Respiratory Therapist; Merry Brandt-MacFann, CT Technologist; Lara Williams-Graham, Certified Surgical Technologist; Angela Roberson, EP Technologist; Rob Shauger, CNA

St. Michael Medical Center Professional-Technical-Clinical Support - Bargaining Update - Wednesday, May 20

St. Michael Medical Center Professional-Technical-Clinical Support
Bargaining Update - Wednesday, May 20

Going into our fifth bargaining day with CommonSpirit for the Pro-Tech-Support contract, we knew it was time to bring a bold proposal forward to management. Recapping our session on May 11, when we received management’s initial economic responses (which would continue to sink our wages at SMMC far below market rates throughout 2029), we reflected on the progress we have made so far on the non-economic sections of our contract. We wrapped up all but a handful of articles in just our first few days and decided that now might be a good time to strategize around our key priorities:

• A contract that rises to current health care union contract standards

• A contract that values the lifesaving work we perform

• A contract that guarantees strong competitive wages for all job classes throughout the next several years

And lastly—doing all of this as quickly and productively as we can because we know our union siblings at the Medical Center are relying on our work at the table to secure the raises desperately needed to recruit and retain talented workers, and of course, to keep up with the increasing cost of living in our region.

To this end, our team gathered all the open items we had on the table, including non-economics, pay premiums and differentials, health insurance benefits, and wages, and built a comprehensive package proposal. This proposal must be accepted or rejected by the Employer in its entirety; otherwise, we have the ability to revert to our previous iteration of each proposal. We feel confident that this package will (a) illustrate to the Employer our dedication to reach an Agreement sooner rather than later, and (b) meet the expectations and needs of our coworkers stated above.

Because this package proposal took several hours to compose, it was only ready to bring to management in the late afternoon, and therefore we did not get a formal response before concluding negotiations for the day. That said, we are eager to return to the bargaining table on June 9 and look forward to continuing the fight for all Professional, Technical, and Clinical Support health care workers at St. Michael Medical Center!

To learn more about ongoing negotiations and discuss strategies to stand together for a fair contract, join our next Contract Action Team meeting.

Contract Action Team Meeting

Tuesday, May 26
4pm - 5pm
Zoom
Meeting ID: 863 0290 8542
Join Zoom Meeting >>

Bargaining Team: Robel Haile, Clinical Pharmacist; Bryson Andrews, ED Tech; Olivia Almeida, Respiratory Therapist; Merry Brandt-MacFann, CT Technologist; Lara Williams-Graham, Certified Surgical Technologist; Angela Roberson, EP Technologist; Rob Shauger, CNA