On Tuesday, December 21, our team met with management for our second session of joint negotiations. We were disappointed to receive a meek response to what we proposed last week. Management denied most of our strong lanaguage which included expanding access to union resources, an accessible new employee union orientation led by coworkers, limiting managements unilateral power over us, and fully integrating per diems into our union. Even worse, what could have been promising movement towards meeting some of our proposals was completely negated by the fact that their response was in “package” form, meaning that they will only accept these proposals altogether. Essentially, they are trying to force us to accept their bad proposals in exchange for some of our priorities.
We are sad but not surprised to see that they do not want to fully incorporate the per diems into the union. Currently per diems do not have the same level of protection as other workers. They also cannot become stewards, bargaining team members, or even vote on our contract. This is a strategic move from management to divide us and weaken our union power.
We also did not hear back from many of our strong proposals that would improve the working conditions within the hospital including one would increase the equity that they claim to prioritize along and another that would decrease the cost of commuting to work. We need management to respond on all our non-economic proposals so we can move on to negotiate our economics, however, they have made it clear that is not their intention.
At the table we pushed back and told management that we won’t allow them to bully us into a bad agreement with this take it or leave it approach. We told them they need to meet us at the table as equals to negotiate a fair contract that addresses the real issues we face daily.
Still, we know it will take more than our words at the table alone to change their minds. Management needs to see that we are ready to fight for a strong contract and that we don’t have time to waste playing hardball. We need to continue to talk with our coworkers and encourage them to join our Slack and Instagram(@schworkers) so everyone can be informed about upcoming actions we will take to show management we are serious!
Our next bargaining session will be on January 4. Keep an eye out for more updates, including a summary of all the proposals we have put across the table so far!
If you want to find out how to get more involved by joining the Contact Action Team or Slack, or you have any questions about bargaining, please call your Union Rep Christie Harris at 206-436-6606
“Today we saw that management is hoping to give us the bare minimum. It is more essential now than ever to be visibly united in front of management through actions and involvement of all departments so that we can garner power and demand the strong contract we deserve.”
— Kellie Koenig, Sonographer
Our SCH Tech bargaining team: Matt Brabant - Respiratory Educator, Madison Derksema - Pharmacy Tech, Angela Ballard – Surgical Tech, Kellie Koenig – Ultrasound Tech, Ashley Strickland – Respiratory Transport, Tyler Schaffer – Anesthesia Tech, Tesfaldet Kidanemariam – Respiratory Therapist
