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

Saint Michael Medical Center RN - Bargaining Update

Bargaining Team: Kim Fraser, Pre-Op; Janice Brown, FBC; Meredith Francisco, Med Surg; Lindsey Gearllach, Obs; Tammy Olson, ICU

On Tuesday, August 19, our bargaining team met with management for our 17th joint bargaining session since April. In the morning, we were presented with a package proposal from the employer that unfortunately ties our efforts to establish break relief RNs for all shifts to dropping our proposed robust staffing ratios. We have not yet responded to this but feel we need to establish some solution to our staffing issues that goes beyond the basics of what the law requires.

In our previous bargaining session a few weeks ago, we made a large move and chose to move away from our proposal to get our bargaining unit on the Sound Variable Annuity Pension Trust and instead codify the employer match to our 401K in our contract. This also means accepting management's suggestion that RNs also have access to the alternative retirement plan provided by Common Spirit. We were frustrated this week that the counterproposal drafted by management to resolve this issue was vague and did not spell out the matching percentages they say they are willing to commit to.

Additionally, we continue to experience resistance from the employer on aspects of our proposals around workplace violence. Considering the rise in violence experienced in hospitals, and in particular the recent murder at Allenmore Hospital in Tacoma, we strongly believe that robust safety protocols are for the benefit of all of our coworkers, our patients, and the public in general. Yet this management responsibility continues to be viewed by the employer primarily through the lens of the cost of certain proposals. This raises the question for us: How much is our safety worth to Saint Michael Medical Center?

Please continue to share our community support letter on social media and sign it yourself if you haven't already: 

Community Letter of Support >>

We will return to the bargaining table on August 25 and have two more sessions scheduled in September.

St. Michael Medical Center RN Bargaining Update

On Monday, July 28, our Bargaining Team met with Management for our fourteenth joint bargaining session. We were given an economic proposal that would put our wages below those of St. Joseph Medical Center, an idea we were underwhelmed by. Other pieces they responded to were:

• Retirement: they continue to offer a continuation of the existing 401K match and the potential addition of their cash balance option pension proposal as an alternative to the 401K, but have rejected our proposal to add Saint Michael to the Sound Variable Annuity Pension Trust.

• Holidays: Management continues to reject adding Juneteenth to our existing holidays.

• Contract Ratification Bonus: While they put a ratification bonus on the table this week, it was $500 for .9 FTEs and above, with this amount pro-rated for lower FTEs (per diems would be classified as .2 under their proposal).

Other items we traded continued proposals on were:

• Mandatory call.

• A workplace violence memorandum to address safety in the workplace. 

Contract Action Team Meeting

Our next Contract Action Team Meeting will be on July 31 at 6pm. Please join us to discuss how we can keep the pressure on Management to get a fair contract soon!

Join the CAT meeting July 31 at 6pm >>

Meeting ID: 893 9273 5171 Passcode: 798196

Community letter of support  >>

If you haven’t already, please sign our community support letter and share with friends and family.

St. Michael Medical Center RN - Focusing on Key Issues!

On Tuesday, July 16, your bargaining team met once again with the hospital for another joint negotiation session. As we move deeper into bargaining, we've begun identifying our top priorities—but we can't win the contract we deserve without nurses stepping up. We'll be discussing these priorities at our next Contract Action Team (CAT) meeting (date will be announced next week), and we need more nurses to get involved and show the hospital that we're united, organized, and ready to fight.

• Incremental increases to charge/resource nurse premium pay over the life of the contract

• New language confirming the intent that charge nurses should not carry patient loads—with a commitment from leadership to exhaust all other RN options first. This is a direct result of nurses demanding safe, manageable assignments.

• Preserving our current PTO and EIB accrual rates—a win in the face of the hospital's push to move RNs onto a PTO/Sick bank with less accruals.

We also pushed the hospital hard on issues they continue to sidestep:

• Establishing a break relief system that complies with the law and guarantees nurses real, uninterrupted breaks.

• Basic safety measures to protect RNs on the job. Nurses deserve a workplace where their safety isn't up for debate.

• Real incentives for mandatory call shifts that establish a more equitable system for call and incentives to cover vacant call shifts.

Our next bargaining session is Wednesday, July 24. Show your support by wearing your UFCW 3000 gear that day to send a clear message: nurses are united and demand a contract that reflects our value!

We're also preparing to launch a community action campaign—and we need your help spreading the word. Share our message with your friends, family, and neighbors. The more voices we have behind us, the louder we'll be.

Hospital Proposals	UFCW 3000 Proposals
Wages: 5.25% two pay periods after ratification, 3.25% in 2025, 3.50% in 2026	Wages: 13.75% in 2025, 5% in 2026, 5% in 2027
Hospital Base rate: $44.45 (2025), $46.56 (2026), $47.84 (2027) $44.66 2025, $46.11 2026, $47.73 2027	St. Joe's Base Rate: $46.02 (2025), $47.86 (2026), $49.77 (2027)
Rejected longevity and retention bonuses	Proposed longevity and retention bonuses
Rejected pension proposal and did not propose improvements to the 401k plan	Proposed that RNs maintain current CHI's 401k plan and Employer make contributions to a variable annuity pension plan, like the one St. Joe's Pharmacy and Jefferson Healthcare RNs currently have
Rejected understaffing premium	Proposed $5/hour understaffing premium
Rejected float premium for non-float pool nurses	Proposed float premium for non-float nurses floating within the hospital
Rejected staffing ratios	Proposed safe staffing ratios aligned with national nursing standards
Rejected incentive for picking up vacant shifts; offered 1.5x pay only for .9 FTEs+ picking up a shift on their day off	Proposed incentive for all vacant shifts that fall below 80% of the staffing plan
Rejected premiums for covering surgical tech or CV tech roles; proposed only $1 certification pay for RCIS or RCES. NEW Will be paid the higher wage rate if performing work of a higher paid classification.	Proposed $2–$5 premium for RNs covering surgical or CV tech shifts
Proposed security systems installed by May 2026 in new tower units	Proposed security systems by December 2025, aligned with the tower's expected opening
Rejected weapon detection systems in the Emergency Department	Proposed installing weapon detection in the Emergency Department
NEW Proposed mandatory navy blue scrubs $100 stipend	Rejected mandatory navy blue scrubs
Proposed mandatory call shifts and a $15–$20/hour bonus only after the final schedule is posted	Proposed $15/hour for picking up before the schedule posts, $20/hour after, and limits on mandatory call
Proposed 1.5x pay for .9 FTEs+ picking up shifts on days off	Proposed incentive 1.5x or 2x for all vacant shifts that fall below 80% of the staffing plan
NEW Proposed a 1-year pilot break relief assignment (not a position) for inpatient units only, including OR and ED	Proposed four dedicated break relief RN positions for all units within 21 days of ratification
Tentative Agreements: Charge RN premium $3.50/hour, 2026 $3.75, 2027 $4.00 Standby pay $6/hour Preceptor pay for anyone who is assigned preceptor duties Weekend Premium $4/hour Shift differential $3/hour evening and $5.50/hour night Access to New hire orientation Per diems can move into FTE positions after working 16 hours on average over three months Equal Opportunity language that is inclusive Payroll errors must be resolved in 45 days Travel to mandatory classes will qualify for IRS mileage rate Parking shall be free Will not be subject to discipline if they need more than 8 minutes to don and doff Other language clean-up