St. Michael Medical Center RN - Bargaining Begins!

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Your bargaining team met with management for the first time on January 19, kicking-off negotiations at St. Michael Medical Center! While our contract isn’t scheduled to expire until May, getting an early start on negotiations will increase the chances of reaching an agreement before expiration. 

Our initial proposal, which primarily focused on non-economic items, included:   

  • Improved language regarding Charge Nurses, 

  • Broader application of preceptor pay,

  • Modifications to CEDO, including fixes to low census standby,

  • Stronger protections for Per Diem nurses,

  • And much more!

Your Bargaining Team was also working to support House Bill 1868, which would implement new safe staffing standards across the state. A member of your team briefly stepped away from negotiations to testify in support of the proposed legislation, sharing with legislators the dangerous conditions that persist at St. Michael Medical Center. 

In addition to implementing safe staffing standards that protect you from dangerously high patient loads, the law would close loopholes to the existing overtime and rest break law and add additional enforcement mechanisms to ensure hospitals comply with the laws.

We are excited about the opportunities to improve our contract through negotiations; however, it is imperative that we simultaneously fight to improve the laws that will hold the hospital accountable for their failure to provide a safe working environment. You can help support HB 1868 by sending a letter of support to your legislator though this link: 

We are scheduled to meet with the employer again on February 3 with additional dates scheduled through March.

“As negotiations begin it is imperative that we support House Bill 1868, which would implement new safe staffing standards across the state.”

Your bargaining team: Anne Burns, Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson


CHI General Update - WAGES OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVED

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We are pleased to announce that members across CHI overwhelmingly voted to approve the proposed amendments to their contracts, which included earlier raises for all members along with a number of additional market increases! The approved wage increases will become effective on February 6, 2022.

These changes will affect the following units:

St. Anne Hospital (Pro-Tech)

St. Joseph Medical Center (Pro-Tech)

St. Michael Medical Center (Pro-Tech)

St. Michael Medical Center (Service & Dietary)

 Keep in mind that these changes are considered a mid-cycle amendment, meaning that we are still scheduled to start contract negotiations early next year. Stay tuned for more information as your contract nears its expiration.  

CHI General Update - Vote Scheduled on Wages

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We are pleased to announce that, given today’s hyper-competitive labor market, we’ve come to an agreement with your employer to implement our 2022 wage increase months ahead of schedule along with some additional wage adjustments for select classifications that have fallen behind market. 

These changes will affect the following units:

  • St. Anne Hospital (Pro-Tech)

  • St. Joseph Medical Center (Pro-Tech)

  • St. Michael Medical Center (Pro-Tech)

  • St. Michael Medical Center (Service & Dietary)

While we are not scheduled to begin contract negotiations for these units until next year, immediate action on wages was deemed necessary in order to retain and recruit staff.

However, the proposed wage increases must first be approved by a vote of membership before they can be implemented. We will be voting online via “SimplyVoting” on Thursday, January 20 from 6:00AM to 8:00PM. You will be receiving an email from UFCW 21 via “SimplyVoting” with your unique login information, along with all the details about the proposed changes to your contract.

In order to vote, everyone needs to make sure their personal email is up to date in our records. If you did not receive this announcement via email, please visit ufcw21.org/update-your-information and update your information. If you do not receive an email to vote on Thursday, January 20, then please reach out to your Union Representative no later than 5PM on the day of the vote to provide an updated email address.  

Have Questions? 

There will be virtual meetings the day prior to the vote to explain the proposed changes and answer questions. You can also reach out to your Union Representative to learn more about the proposed wage increases.

St. Joseph Medical Center

Wednesday, January 19

5PM – 6PM

St. Michael Medical Center

Wednesday, January 19

6PM – 7PM

St. Anne Hospital

Wednesday, January 19

7PM – 8PM

Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.

Conifer St. Michael Medical Center - Contract Ratified

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We are excited to announce that members at Conifer St. Michael overwhelmingly voted to ratify the new contract on January 5!

Your first 10.00% wage increase should become effective in about one pay period with another 2.50% increase in early April. We are very excited about the new contract, which we believe will help recruit and retain staff with significantly higher pay and improved working conditions.

If you have any questions, please reach out to your workplace Steward or call Union Representative Ryan Degouveia at (360) 662-1989.

Sign Up for A Steward training! Every department needs strong Stewards - both right now and between negotiations. In Steward training, you will learn your rights and protections and how to push back against unfair practices by Management. You will also learn how to represent a coworker in a disciplinary meeting and uphold the contract.

To sign up for a training, go to:
ufcw21.org/steward-training

Conifer St. Michael Medical Center - Tentative Agreement Reached – Vote Scheduled

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Your Bargaining Team has reached a tentative agreement with management on new collective bargaining agreement for Conifer employees at St. Michael Medical Center. Your Bargaining Team unanimously recommends a “YES” vote! 

The proposed changes to the agreement include:

  • Historic wage increases for every bargaining unit employee!

  • Increased Paid Time Off (PTO) accrual rates for many employees,

  • New reporting structure for safety and staffing concerns, requiring a written response from management,

  • Posting of work schedules at least 14 days before the start of the schedule,

  • Guaranteed four hours of pay when reporting to work but sent home due to an emergency, 

  • And much more!

We are very excited about this tentative agreement, which we believe will help recruit and retain staff with significantly higher pay and improved working conditions.

The full details of the offer will be made available during our online vote meeting on Tuesday, January 4: 

It’s extremely important that members attend the zoom meeting to get a full understanding of the employer’s offer and have your questions answered. However, voting will not take place at this meeting.

We will be voting online via “SimplyVoting” on Wednesday, January 5 from 6:00AM to 8:00PM. You will be receiving an email from UFCW 21 via “SimplyVoting” with your unique login information. 

In order to vote, everyone needs to make sure their personal email is up to date in our records. If you did not receive this announcement via email, please visit ufcw21.org/update-your-information and update your information. If you do not receive an email to vote on Wednesday January 5, then please reach out to Union Representative Ryan Degouveia 360-662-1989 no later than 5PM on the day of the vote to provide an updated email address. 


St. Michael Medical Center (Pro-Tech) - CONTACT RATIFIED

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We are excited to announce that members at St. Michael Medical Center overwhelmingly voted today to approve the new Pro-Tech contract! Our new contract includes historic wage increases, significant money into our 401k retirement plans, no healthcare takeaways, and so much more. Members should expect to notice the wage increase and ratification bonus within the next two pay periods.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Union Rep Aimee Oien @ (360) 662-1981

St. Michael Medical Center: Service & Dietary

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Dietary Unit Host MOU Ratified

Today members at St. Michael Medical Center ratified the proposed addition of a 12-hour schedule agreement for the new Dietary Unit Host position. This new memorandum of understanding (MOU) will only affect members classified as Dietary Unit Hosts and DOES NOT enable the medical center to utilize the 12-hour schedule with any other positions. Thank you to everyone who participated in the vote and made your voice heard!
 
If you have any questions please reach out to your Union Representative Ryan Degouveia at (360) 662-1989

St. Michael Medical Center Pro-Tech - Tentative Agreement Reached, Bargaining Team Recommends a YES Vote!

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Your Bargaining Team has finally reached an agreement with St. Michael Medical Center. It’s been a long and difficult fight, however, a safety focused campaign successfully pressured managament into a historic contract that we cannot wait to share with everyone! The tentative agreement includes:  

  • Historic wage increases and ratification bonus for ALL members,

  • Significant injection of cash into our 401k retirement plans,

  • Emergency committee meetings to address pandemic safety issues,

  • NO HEALTHCARE TAKEAWAYS 

  • Improved language regarding schedule posting, recognition of past-experience, benefit accruals, and so much more!

Now it’s time to vote to approve your new contract! 

Due to the current health crisis we will be conducting the ratification vote through mail-in ballots. We will be sending out a vote packet with your ballot and details about the proposed changes to the mailing address we have on file. Please reach out to your Union Representative if you do not receive your vote packet by October 1, 2020. 

We will be holding a contract vote meeting to explain the tentative agreement via Zoom on Tuesday, October 6 from 8AM – 10AM, 12PM – 2PM, and 5PM – 7PM. 

Instructions to join will be included in your vote packet.

St. Michael Medical Center: Service & Dietary

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SPECIAL VOTE NOTICE: Memorandum of Understanding
Dietary Unit Host

As you may remember, we have already ratified the St. Michael Medical Center (Harrison) Service & Dietary Contract. However, the Employer has since approached the Union requesting that we add a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the new “Dietary Unit Host” position.

The Employer would like Dietary Unit Hosts to work under a 12-hour shift schedule, currently prohibited under our contract, so they have proposed this new MOU to create an exception for this new position. If approved, this MOU would only affect members classified as a Dietary Unit Host and would not authorize the Medical Center to schedule other job classifications under a 12-hour shift schedule.

The proposed addition must be approved through a full membership vote, the decision is up to you! We will be sending out a vote packet with your ballot and a summary of the proposed changes to the mailing address we have on file.

We will be holding a contract vote meeting to explain the tentative agreement via Zoom on Friday, October 2 @ 8-9AM and 4-5PM. Instructions to join will be included in your vote packet.
 

Updates on August COVID-19 Outbreak for CHI Harrison / St Michael Members

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UFCW 21 has been tracking the COVID-19 outbreak at CHI Harrison/St Michael very closely. The hospital says they learned of the first case and notified Kitsap County Health Department on August 4. The outbreak was not made public until August 21.

This week we had an emergency online meeting with hospital workers to discuss the outbreak, our demands from CHI, and our next steps. We talked in the meeting about a way for workers to report our experiences before and during this outbreak, and there was a lot of interest in a meeting with state officials to report issues directly to relevant agencies.

LISTENING SESSION WITH STATE HEALTH & LABOR OFFICIALS & GOVERNORS OFFICE

MONDAY AUGUST 31

7:30 PM

ONLINE MEETING

We immediately scheduled a listening session meeting with top officials at all relevant state agencies. This is an online meeting over Zoom and all Harrison/St Michael workers are invited. We will be joined by officials from:

  • WA State Dept. of Health

  • Kitsap County Public Health

  • Labor & Industries

  • Office of the Governor

You will have a chance in this meeting to ask questions, report safety concerns, and let them know what is really happening on the ground. These agencies want to hear from you about your experiences and what you need. Please register as soon as possible, and share this important opportunity with your coworkers.

We also created a COVID outbreak safety survey and reporting tool. Members said they would appreciate a place to share experience with testing, exposure, notification, safety protocols, PPE, and other issues surrounding this outbreak. That survey is here:

We encourage all Harrison/St Michael workers to spend 5 - 10 minutes this week to go through these questions and help us track as much information as possible about this outbreak and your safety. There is an option to upload pictures or documents in that survey as well, and a place you can request support if you are in quarantine and would like to be connected to any union or community support. Other members and our community across Kitsap is reaching out to ask how they can help support you at this time.

NOTES FROM OUR EMERGENCY MEETING

Our current demands for CHI:

  • Rapid testing for all workers

  • Complying with our existing agreement for 8-hour notification of any exposure

  • Paid administrative leave during the full length of any quarantine and while waiting for test results

  • Adequate PPE for all workers

  • Maintaining safe staffing levels even during this outbreak

  • Hazard pay

Existing right to paid leave: The first piece of our existing agreement with CHI says:

“A nurse or healthcare worker who the Employer does not permit to work due to exposure to Covid-19 disease while at work shall be placed in paid leave status during any required quarantine period. Paid leave status may be a combination of L&I Workers Compensation and employer paid administrative leave. The combination of which will ensure the employee will experience no loss of pay or accrued time off until such time as the Employer permits the employee to return to work. An employer representative will be available to assist employee with coordination of federal, state and employer benefits as may be applicable.”

The state has ruled that there is an automatic presumption that if a health care worker acquires COVID, it was acquired at work and you are eligible for workers comp. If you have any questions or issues with paid leave during this time, please contact your Union Rep as soon as possible.

Community support: Fellow UFCW 21 members and the larger Kitsap community are springing into action and asking what they can do to help, especially for workers who are in quarantine. We will be organizing whatever support workers need, be it meals, wellness checks, financial support, or anything else, and encourage all Harrison/St Michael workers to contact your Union Rep for whatever you or coworkers need so we can connect you with your community support.

​Union actions: We are planning for public actions that are safe but can put pressure on Harrison/St Michael management to meet our demands, keep workers and patients safe, and prevent the next outbreak crisis. We will be updating everyone as these plans solidify, but if you are interested in participating or have ideas for safe actions that make a point, please connect with your Shop Steward or Union Rep.

Ongoing safety issues: We received many helpful and specific reports of safety issues and workplace concerns during the emergency meeting. We will be addressing these individually and collectively in the coming days. Examples of issues discussed include: the safety of floating right now; worries about the upcoming flu season; inadequate PPE supplies, training, and fit-testing; short staffing in many departments including EVS; nurses being asked to clean COVID rooms; special issues facing procedural care staff, cath lab, and high-risk workers; problems with testing and notification; concern around new CDC guidelines; and much more.

As always, we encourage you to report safety concerns to your Union Rep, or to use our COVID safety report email:

safetyreport@ufcw21.org

PRESS COVERAGE OF HARRISON/ST MICHAEL WORKERS SPEAKING OUT

On Tuesday August 25, we held a press conference responding to CHI’s public statements that they are handling this outbreak as well as possible, that they notified everyone involved in a timely way, and that their PPE supplies now and throughout the COVID pandemic have been totally adequate.

You can watch the full press conference at this link

And find some of the press coverage below:

Press Advisory: St Michael's Medical Center Workers and Their Union to Speak Out

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Press Advisory

Contact: Tom Geiger, 206-604-3421
For Immediate Release: Monday, August 24

Press Conference Tuesday at Noon Regarding St Michael’s Outbreak

After announced outbreak of COVID cases among staff and patients, St Michael’s Medical Center workers and their union (UFCW 21) are outraged, but no longer surprised by ongoing problems at the Hospital. St Michael’s Medical Center is formerly known as Harrison Hospital and is located in Bremerton, WA.

WHAT: Staff and members of UFCW 21 plan to hold a Zoom Press Conference to communicate the magnitude of the problems at St Michael’s – both how widespread the concerns are and how long the workers have been raising the alarm. Workers and their union will present a list of demands to the WA Department of Health and Kitsap County Public Health.

ZOOM MEETING:

Direct join link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86353217505
Webinar ID: 863 5321 7505
Dial-in #: (253) 215 8782

WHEN: Tuesday, August 25, 2020 at 12 PM, NOON

WHO:   UFCW 21 President and staff will be joined by hospital workers who will share their experiences regarding the problems that have been going on at the hospital for months. These individuals will make brief prepared statements including information about their efforts over each and every month since March to raise concerns and the hospital’s failed response. We will be available to answer questions live during the ZOOM call.

St. Michael Medical Center - Bargaining Continues

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“We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

OUR PRO-TECH BARGAINING TEAM: Judy Shoesmith, Kain Mcleod, Connie Baker, Rob Shauger, Don Szabo, Ona Burkett, Sonja Hammes

Your Bargaining Team met with Management again on August 12 and, thanks to further community support during last week’s action, we were able to once again make significant progress towards an agreement.

The most notable movement was Management’s willingness to withdraw their new healthcare proposal, which would allow new hires onto the terrible CHI Franciscan plan. While the employer hasn’t officially withdrawn the proposal, they have agreed to withdraw it when we finalize updated language regarding the Sound Health & Wellness Trust. We’re pleased with this development as the Employer’s plan to force new hires onto the CHI Franciscan plan was a serious threat to our affordable healthcare, as it would give the Management leverage to take away our healthcare when we renegotiate in 2023.

Additionally, we have made progress on a new member lead pandemic safety committee, we continue to fight against an attack to the per diem premium and are much closer to an agreement on wage increases. We are still working against some equity issues with the Employer latest wage proposal but are hopeful those issue can be resolved soon. 

Your Bargaining Team is looking forward to resuming negotiations on August 19 and 28.

 

St. Michael Medical Center - Join Our Action Plan!

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“Significant progress was made today, however, Management is still trying to divide us on healthcare and wages.”

OUR PRO-TECH BARGAINING TEAM: Judy Shoesmith, Kain Mcleod, Connie Baker, Rob Shauger, Don Szabo, Ona Burkett, Sonja Hammes

Your Bargaining Team met with Management again on July 28 and significant progress was made towards a new contract. At this session we were able to win an improvement on annual leave accruals, received movement from the Employer on pandemic safety language, are closer to an agreement on wages, and fended off management’s attempt to create a new probationary period when moving to a new position.

However, significant issues remain before we can reach an agreement. While the Bargaining Team is agreeable to some of the proposed wage increases, Management continues to propose an unacceptable “lump-sum” bonus for some members in leu of hard wage increases. We strongly believe that ALL members deserve a fair wage increase and will continue to fight until we get an equitable economic offer from the employer that benefits everyone. 

The other major issue is the employer’s new healthcare proposal that would enable management to coerce new hires to sign up for the CHI Healthcare Plan instead of our current Sound Health & Wellness plan. We are concerned about this proposal because (1) Management tried to sell the plan to the Bargaining Team by leaving out key information, which they would undoubtably do to mislead new hires and, (2) this proposal would significantly weaken our ability to keep our affordable healthcare in future negotiations. 

Management understands they cannot win the healthcare fight this round so, as an alternative, they are strategically working to create weakness in our unit to be exploited in future negotiations.

We will take to the streets and unmask the employer’s behavior to a community that has always stood in solidarity with workers under attack. Please bring your friends and family to our “CHI Unmasked Banner Action,” where we will have banners and signs that ask the community to support our fight for a fair contract. This will be a joint action with our fellow members at The Doctors Clinic who are dealing with similar issues in their own contract negotiations. 

The action will be held on Thursday August 6 at three roadside locations:

12:00PM – 1:30PM: HWY 305 NE & 7th Ave NE (Poulsbo)
(Near Poulsbo Central Market) 

2:00PM – 3:30PM: Greaves Way & NE Waaga Way (Silverdale)
(Near “The Trails at Silverdale”)

4:00PM – 6:00PM: South End of Warren Ave Bridge (Bremerton)
(Near Lower Roto Vista Park)

St. Michael Medical Center - Bargaining Update

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Your Bargaining Team met with Management again on July 15. Thanks to the overwhelming support from the Kitsap Community at last week’s action, we were able to make significant progress at the bargaining table.

During this session the Employer WITHDREW their proposal to force everyone off the Sound Health & Wellness Trust and transition to the unaffordable CHI Healthcare Plans. Under their original proposal some members would pay a premium that was five times higher, upwards of $200 every paycheck! The community made clear that such an attack on healthcare workers, particularly during a pandemic, was indefensible and would not be tolerated.

However, the fight over healthcare continues as the Employer’s new proposal would give Managament the authority to have new hires sign-up for the CHI Healthcare Plan. This proposal would significant weaken our ability to maintain our affordable healthcare in subsequent bargains.

The Employer knows they cannot win the healthcare fight now, so they are trying to establish weaknesses in our unit to be exploited in the future. Your Bargaining Team will continue to fight against these attacks and ensure we shall ALWAYS have affordable healthcare.

We return to the table on July 28 as we continue to push for equitable wage increases, a safer workplace, and fight against cuts to the Per Diem premium.

Please join our upcoming Contract Action Team (CAT) meeting to get the latest updates and learn how we can win a fair contact. These meetings will be held virtually through Zoom.

Tuesday, July 28 • zoom.us/join
8AM • 6PM
Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details.

St. Michael Medical Center Pro-Tech - Important Upcoming Dates

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During this round of negotiations we were able to win fair double time language for members working 10-hour shifts and, in addition, new “donning and doffing” language that provides eight minutes of paid time at the start and end of each shift to change in and out of hospital-required attire. However, the employer continues to make unacceptable wage proposals and has maintained their attacks on our affordable healthcare. We made clear to managament that if this behavior continues then we will have no choice but to bring our fight to the community.

Please join our upcoming Contract Action Team (CAT) meetings to get the latest updates and learn how we can win a fair contact. These meetings will be held virtually through Zoom.

CAT Meetings

Wednesday, July 1

  • 8AM

  • 6PM

Wednesday, July 15

  • 8AM

  • 6PM

*Contact your Union Rep or a Bargaining Team member for call-in details

St. Michael Medical Center Service & Dietary - Formerly Harrison Medical Center - Contract Ratified

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We are happy to announce that the Harrison Medical Center Service & Dietary contract was ratified this afternoon by an overwhelming majority! We won substantial wage increases, new short-term personal leave, improved schedule posting language, as well as many other improvements. 

St. Michael Medical Center Pro-Tech - Fair Wages for All!

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Your Bargaining Team met with Managament again on June 18 and we were able to win an increase to our weekend premium pay, an agreement from the Medical Center to track CEDO hours, and cleaned up language regarding the medical center’s name change.

However, Management made an insulting economic counter-offer that fails to provide fair wage increases to ALL members with some receiving ZERO increases in the first year. Management has also continued their attacks on our affordable Union healthcare plan by demanding that we accept the Medical Center’s expensive healthcare. We feel that it’s indefensible for Management to demand healthcare concessions at a time when we are risking our health and safety everyday to protect our community through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Your Bargaining Team has made clear to Managament that we will fight to ensure that all members, regardless of classification or years of service, will receive a fair wage increase and shall maintain our affordable healthcare. We must prepare ourselves to take action against these unacceptable proposals and fight for the fair contract that we deserve! 

“We demand fair wages for ALL members and are fighting to keep our affordable Union healthcare, which is more important now than ever!”

OUR PRO-TECH BARGAINING TEAM: Judy Shoesmith, Kain Mcleod, Connie Baker, Rob Shauger, Don Szabo, Ona Burkett, Sonja Hammes

St. Michael Medical Center Pro-Tech - Bargaining Continues

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“Our name might have changed but our Union still stands strong for a fair contract!”

OUR PRO-TECH BARGAINING TEAM: Judy Shoesmith, Kain Mcleod, Connie Baker, Rob Shauger, Don Szabo, Ona Burkett, Sonja Hammes

Your Bargaining Team met with Management again on June 9 and made additional progress towards a fair contract. We were able to maintain successorship language, which protects our contract from future mergers or acquisitions, and reached an agreement to discuss the placement of Union bulletin boards at the new Silverdale Hospital.

However, we still have significant obstacles to overcome before we reach an agreement with the Medical Center. Management continues to demand that we forfeit our Union healthcare, has rejected our requests for fair double-time language, and we remain far apart on wage increases that ensure ALL positions at St. Michael Medical Center remain market competitive.  

If you have any questions, please attend next week’s Contract Action Team meeting or contact your Union Rep Aimee Oien @ 360-662-1981.

CAT ZOOM MEETING
 June 17th @ 6:00PM

*Contact a Bargaining Team member or your Union Representative for more call-in details