WhidbeyHealth - WhidbeyHealth Responds to Our Proposal!

Prior to June, we requested bargaining dates from Management to start wage reopener negotiations. Finally in July, Management provided us with a bargaining date and a wage proposal which Management sent to all employees. The wage scale that Management released was a proposal and needs to be approved and voted on by YOU, UFCW 3000 members! Management has said this proposal is a “done deal,” but that is NOT THE CASE!

Management has the right under the contract (Article 18) to give everyone a wage increase, but they cannot implement a new wage scale. For example, they can implement a percentage wage increase for all current employees in all classifications while we are in negotiations and keep the wage scale as is.

On July 28 the Pro/Tech/LPN and Support Services bargaining team met with the WhidbeyHealth management bargaining team. We reviewed Management’s wage proposal and there are several classifications whose pay rates are below area hospitals. Management proposed higher wage increases for some classifications anything between .5% to 2.5% for other classifications. Given this, we proposed a 25% wage scale increase for both Pro/Tech/LPN and Support Services, along with the removal of all ghost/zero steps and replacing those steps with a 2.5% step increment. Management did not meaningfully respond to our proposal and gave us a second bargaining date for late August.

We are disappointed with Management’s lack of response and delay to the bargaining process! We have request sooner bargaining dates. It is important that we show Management that we need higher pay and they should not delay implementing wage increases!

We will be holding a contract action team meeting on Thursday, August 4, 1:00pm and 6:00pm over Zoom and Tuesday, August 9 at 6:00pm (tentatively in the Education conference room at WhidbeyHealth) where we will be talking about actions and discussing bargaining.

If you have questions, please contact your union representative Celia Ponce-Sanchez cponcesanchez@ufcw3000.org 360-419-4678 or your bargaining committee.

Your bargaining committee,

Jennifer MacNeill, Rosalie Nguyen, Qiana Johnson, Marty Riley, Gwendolyn Cole, Lisa Olds, Marilyn Faber, Elke Rogers

Join the Contract Action Team Meeting!

Thursday, August 4

1:00 PM • 6:00 PM

WhidbeyHealth - Management Proposes Wage Increases

On Friday, July 1, WhidbeyHealth Management made a wage proposal via email. The proposal includes a .05% wage increase for all Pro-Tech-LPN members, some market adjustments, a 2.5% step increment between Base to Step 10, adding three steps to the wage scale (new final step will be Step 28), and a 5% step increment between Step 10 and Step 28. 

As for Support Services members, Management is proposing market adjustments on some classifications, a 2.5% step increment between Base to Step 10, and a 5% step increment between Step 10 and Step 28. While some of the new pay rates bring classifications close to market standards, other classifications are still below area hospitals, like Skagit Regional Health. 

Additionally Management has told us that since they are proposing a “sizable” wage proposal, they are holding to their position to no longer cover the Washington State Paid Family Medical Leave premium, which is .06% of your gross wages per year. 

We need members’ input prior to making a counter proposal, so we have asked Management to bargain with us prior to July 31. Please join us on July 12 to further discuss Management’s proposal. If you have questions please contact your union representative, Celia Ponce-Sanchez. 

Join Us to Discuss the Proposal via Zoom!

Tuesday, July 12

RSVP 11:00 AM

RSVP 5:00 PM

WhidbeyHealth - Let's hold WhidbeyHealth accountable!

On June 28, we met with WhidbeyHealth Management regarding the elimination of Employer-paid WA Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) premiums. As of June 5, the Employer stopped paying the entirety of the 0.06% annual premium of gross wages. After three years of paying for the entirety of the WA PFML premium, WhidbeyHealth has decided to stop covering the 0.06% premium! They claim workers will not feel the affect of the premium deductions. But in 2021, the Pro/Tech/LPN and Support Service units only received a 1.0% wage increase. By having employees pay for the WA PFML premium, they are taking away from our wages and essentially our families.

When we asked Management if they could afford the premiums, they told us they could. Management believes that stopping coverage of the premiums will help rectify the mismanagement of hospital finances. It is unfair to take away this benefit from workers. Workers should not bear the costs of their mismanagement of funds.

We expect Management to do the right thing and continue covering WA PFML premiums through the life of the contract!

We also asked Management for bargaining dates for the Pro/Tech/LPN wage reopener. With the increase cost of housing, food, and gas and high turnover, we need to fight for competitive wage increases.

Join our virtual meetings where we will discuss wage proposal ideas and plan workplace actions
Tuesday, July 12 @ 11PM
Register in advance

Tuesday, July 12 @ 5PM
Register in advance

Contact a Bargaining Team member or your Union Rep for the registration details. Details will also be emailed to you

WhidbeyHealth - All Workers Deserve a Wage Increase and Retention Bonus

A few weeks ago WhidbeyHealth proposed increasing current employees below $18/hour to $18/hour and changing the base rate for all classifications to $18/hour. Your bargaining committee reviewed the proposal and identified that this would result in wage compression. For example, a Housekeeper II at Step 8 would be earning the same as a Housekeeper II at Step 0-7.

As a committee, we decided that we could agree to increasing current employees to $18/hour, but we must begin to bargain over wages for the rest of the bargaining unit immediately to address the wage compression. Per the CBAs, we are supposed to go back to the bargaining table in June 2022 for the Pro/Tech/LPN unit and October 2022 for the Service/Support unit. Our request to Whidbey is that we go to the bargaining table in January 2022 for both units.

Additionally, we believe it is divisive and unfair that they are offering non-union employees a retention bonus and not union employees. Given that, we are proposing that all bargaining unit employees receive a retention bonus! We are also asking WhidbeyHealth to provide sign-on bonuses to new hires in order to recruit new staff and reject that the base rates for new hires increase to $18/hour. Increasing the base rates will create a greater wage compression for current employees. We believe the better approach is for WhidbeyHealth to provide sign-on bonuses. Until this date, WhidbeyHealth has not approached us with any sign-on bonuses for any union classifications.

WhidbeyHealth needs to acknowledge the work that current employees have done in the past year and a half during a pandemic and must respect us as workers! We need wage increases for ALL and bonuses which will retain and recruit staff!

WhidbeyHealth - Review Your September 17 Paycheck! Wage Increases Dispersed!

On September 16, UFCW 21 and WhidbeyHealth were finally able to come to an agreement around language and wage scale discrepancies. Throughout this entire process, our position has been that WhidbeyHealth should have implemented the wage increases per our tentative agreement which the Support Service unit and Pro/Tech/LPN unit ratified on June 23. We are disappointed with WhidbeyHealth’s delay tactics and will continue holding them accountable to timelines in future negotiations!

Please review your September 17 paycheck which should show retroactive pay and wage increases of:

• 1% hourly wage increase for Pro/Tech/LPN from February 7, 2020 until June 30, 2021 and 1.5% hourly wage increase effective July 1, 2021

• 1% hourly wage increase for Support Services from June 7, 2020 until June 30, 2021 and 1.5% hourly wage increase effective July 1, 2021

We are now working on posting the contracts online and will have hard copies available. If you wish to have a hard copy and can distribute copies to your department, please reach out to your union rep Celia Ponce-Sanchez. 

If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to your union rep or the Member Resource Center 206-436-6570.

WhidbeyHealth - Shame on WhidbeyHealth!

We have been corresponding with WhidbeyHealth regarding the July 1, 2021 1.5% wage increase and 2020 retroactive pay. Our position is that the wage increases need to be implemented per the ratified contract agreement, but WhidbeyHealth’s position is that they will not provide wage increases until all language and wage scale discrepancies are resolved. For this reason, we filed a grievance and unfair labor practice with PERC. We are extremely disappointed with WhidbeyHealth’s position and believe that members need their wage increases and retroactive pay now! Members have been working understaffed through an entire pandemic and they deserve WhidbeyHealth to respect the ratified contract agreement! 

We are following up daily with management and expect to have a payout date by Monday, September 6.

Additionally, we are bargaining with WhidbeyHealth on a COVID-19 vaccine mandate letter of understanding. While we cannot change the Governor’s COVID-19 mandate, we can negotiate over the changes to workplace conditions. An example of a term we are negotiating: members who decline the vaccine will keep their seniority until the mandate is lifted or the caregiver receives the COVID-19 vaccine.

Whidbey Health - We finally reached a deal! Electronic Vote on June 25m

In 2019, WhidbeyHealth and the Pro-Tech/LPN and Support Services bargaining units reached a one-year contract agreement. At that time, the Hospital asked for a “longer runway” so that they could sort out their finances and plan for annual wage increases for 2020 and 2021. We granted them more time and decided we would fight for fair wage increases in 2020. 

We have been at the bargaining table since January 2021 and were able to finally obtain an agreement in May 2021! The delays in bargaining were in part due to the Hospital’s financial situation. At the table, we heard WhidbeyHealth mention that they had negative days of “cash at hand.” The Employer made proposals to take-away benefits and offered no wage increases. 

We were able to push back on these proposals and finally won yearly increases, retroactive pay from 2020 until present, improvements to contract language, and no takeaways! 

We will be voting online on June 25 via SimplyVoting from 12:01 AM to 8 PM. Every union member in good standing and union dues paying member will receive an email on June 25 with a unique login in order to vote. The full vote document will be available at UFCW 21 and on SimplyVoting. We will also be going over the document on June 14 and June 23 via Zoom. 

Click HERE to UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFO

If you have workplace or disciplinary issues, please contact your union rep, Adrian Noel at anoel@ufcw21.org  or (360) 419-4677. You may also call the Member Resource Center at (206) 436-6570.

In solidarity, 

Pro/Tech/LPN and Support Services Bargaining Team

WhidbeyHealth - Bargaining Begins! WhidbeyHealth Claims “Financial Problems,” Again!

In 2019, WhidbeyHealth and the Pro-Tech/LPN and Support Services bargaining units reached a one-year contract agreement. At that time, the Hospital asked for a “longer runway” so that they could sort out their finances and plan for annual wage increases for 2020 and 2021.We granted them more time and decided we would fight for fair wage increases in 2020. 

We expected to begin bargaining in 2020, but the pandemic delayed bargaining and the Hospital did not respond to our requests to meet. After threatening to file charges against the Hospital for their unresponsiveness, we met with them early January 2021 to begin bargaining. 

We made proposals to improve contract language and increase premium pay. We were supposed to meet with the Hospital on February 3 to present our wage proposal, but the Hospital cancelled bargaining. The Hospital told us that they had negative three days of “cash at hand” (liquid money). This was the same excuse they made in 2019! We believe that they have negative days of “cash at hand,” but believe is unfair of Management to ask us to wait for wage increases when Management has received substantial increases since 2019. Our units have received no cost of living increases since 2018 and are having problems recruiting and retaining staff because of it! 

We think enough is enough! We must take action and hold WhidbeyHealth accountable! 

The Hospital is claiming “unprofitability,” meaning that they are making a profit, but not as much as they hoped for. On top of that, they are directing money towards Management’s salaries and other projects, instead of spending money on our wages! 

We are asking for all UFCW 21 members to attend the March 10 WhidbeyHealth board meeting and tell the board that we need wage increases and a fair contract now! We also will be asking community and labor organizations to support us in our contract fight and will be planning public facing actions in the upcoming weeks. For more information about contract negotiations and actions, please join us via Zoom on March 3 @ 6PM. 

If you have workplace or disciplinary issues, please contact your union rep, Adrian Noel at anoel@ufcw21.org or 360-419-4677. 

— In solidarity, Your Pro/Tech/LPN and Support Services Bargaining Team