“We cannot have a deal unless the employer compensates us for the time worked without a raise since our contract was scheduled to expire in October.”
Bargaining Team: Adam Swigart, Julie Hinchcliff, and Maureen Ciglia
Your bargaining team met with management again on January 21 and 24 to continue negotiations for your successor contract.
We are disappointed to report that negotiations collapsed late into Monday night. While the union had made significant movement towards an agreement, the employer refused to make any meaningful changes to their proposal that would indicate that they were ready for a deal.
In fact, your bargaining team began our Monday bargaining session by informing the employer that we were ready to work into the night to reach an agreement. By mid-afternoon the employer stated that they didn’t feel that working into the night would be worth the effort, signaling that they did not care to reach a deal. Despite the management’s lack of enthusiasm, we continued discussions late into the evening.
The major problem remains their proposed reduction of our Extended Illness Bank accruals and the removal of the day after Thanksgiving as a holiday. The union made proposals to mitigate the effects of such changes, however, we made clear that retro-pay back to scheduled expiration is the key to reaching a settlement on these issues. The employer responded with an insulting $275 ratification bonus instead of retro. MultiCare made explicitly clear to your bargaining team that they have no interest in paying employees at Capital Medical Center retro pay, even though they offered it to UFCW members at Tacoma General and Auburn Medical Center last year.
We did have informal talks about a higher ratification bonus, but it was nothing close to what we are owed for all the hours we’ve worked since our contract was originally scheduled to expire in October.
To make matters worse, the employer surprised your Bargaining Team by LOWERING their proposed across the board increase in the first year. Management’s excuse was that they needed to make such an adjustment to pay for other “improvements” they were offering since they had already exceeded their authority on the cost of our contract.
Your bargaining team felt strongly that we cannot accept an offer that cut our EIB accruals, removed a paid holiday, included a first year across the board increase that was lower than our last session, and included an insulting ratification bonus.
We made clear to the employer that the Union’s movement towards the employer’s demands were not only contingent on retro-pay, but would also expire on Monday at 11:59PM. Since we failed to reach a deal, the union’s offer is now off the table and not available to the employer.
We are working to enlist the assistance of a federal mediator, at which point we will schedule additional bargaining dates with management.
Next Steps:
Stand up against MultiCare by reaching out to a Bargaining Team member or Union Representative to get “Keep your Hands off our PTO & EIB” stickers that you can wear in your workplace.
Attend regular Contract Action Team (CAT) meetings to hear the latest updates regarding negotiations, plan actions to pressure management, and learn how to get your co-workers involved. Our next meeting is being held virtually February 2 @ 6:00PM
Capital Medical Center CAT Meeting
Wednesday, February 2 • 6:00PM
https://zoom.us/join
Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.
