Your Bargaining Team met with Management again on September 1. While we were able to make additional progress on wages, the Employer has displayed little interest in our other proposals that address issues such as pandemic safety, certification pay, and more.
The outbreak at St. Michael (Harrison) Medical Center in Bremerton was an outrageous affirmation of our warnings that CHI Franciscan isn’t doing enough to protect workers and community. We understand that the same issues that led to the outbreak in Bremerton are not unique and, if nothing is done to fix the problems here, another outbreak could easily happen at St. Anne Hospital. We have demanded enhanced safety language in our contract that would ensure workers voices are heard throughout this crisis, unfortunately, Management has rejected the proposed safety changes. We are severely disappointed, but not surprised, that CHI Franciscan cares more about economics than the health and safety of their community.
Furthermore, we have made a certification pay proposal that would create a clearly defined list of certifications that would qualify for the premium. We’ve heard from members that it has been difficult to qualify for certification pay because our contract gives Management too much authority to decide who deserves the premium. This proposal, which the Employer has rejected, would take that power away from Management and finally establish clarity and equality around certification pay.
Your Bargaining Team will resume negotiations with the Employer on September 16 & 25.
