St. Michael Medical Center - Bargaining Begins

St. Michael Medical Center
Bargaining Begins

We met with Management for the first time and proposed our first set of non-economic proposals. We the Bargaining Team are ready to fight for a strong contract that addresses the many needs we have in our departments and that gives equitable and competitive wages!

If you have any questions about bargaining please reach out to any of our Bargaining Team members or our Union Rep Ryan Degouveia @ 360-662-1989.

“We will not give up without a fight!” - Pamela Reese, EVS Discharge

“I am excited and optimist about the new contract!” - Vanessa Rosadino, Dietary Caterer

“I feel like we had a productive first day and all of our concerns were heard.” - Susan Mayer, Dietary Cook

“We are ready to fight for a strong contract and get what we need to get done!” - Christy Sammons, EVS Relief

Our St. Michael Medical Center Bargaining Team: Susan Mayer- Dietary Cook, Vanessa Rosadino- Dietary Caterer, Pamela Reese- EVS Discharge, Christy Sammons- EVS Relief

Virginia Mason Franciscan Health - Management ignores cease and desist and demand to bargain over overpayment demands

In October 2022, the Employer overpaid wages to a large portion of members within St. Michael Medical Center, St. Joseph Medical Center, St. Anne Hospital, and Virtual Health bargaining units. They notified UFCW 3000 that they would be seeking recuperation of the excess wages, which they are legally entitled to do. When the Employer began deducting overpayment members realized that the deducted amounts were incorrect.

We sent the Employer a cease and desist letter asking them to stop the deductions and allow us to bargain over the overpayment recovery plan. Management has ignored our request, so we have filed a group grievance on behalf of all bargaining units regarding the overpayment recovery plan. Additionally, we have filed an unfair labor practice against the Employer for ignoring our request.

If you believe you have been deducted an incorrect amount, please email your paystubs and a brief description of how much money you believe is owed to you at: Virginiamasonwagegrievance@ufcw3000.org. We will continue sending out updates to all VMFH bargaining units.

We also encourage you to file a L&I complaint with the State: https://secure.lni.wa.gov/wagecomplaint/#/ and file a PAR with VMFH human resources.

UFCW 3000 Calls for Resignation of St. Michael Medical Center Leaders in Petition of No Confidence

UFCW 3000 is publicly circulating a Petition of No Confidence in the leadership at St. Michael Medical Center, after years of inadequate response to issues at the hospital, including the recent experience of UFCW 3000 members in the Emergency Department who had to request assistance from the local fire department as conditions were unsafe due to short staffing.

Hospital staff, emergency services workers, physicians, local leaders, and the entire community of patients and residents in the Kitsap area served by the hospital are invited to sign on to this petition calling for accountability from Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.

We, the undersigned, hereby submit the following letter to Virginia Mason Franciscan Health Chief Executive Officer Ketul Patel:

Our community has been advocating for a safe hospital for years as workers repeatedly sound the alarm on the serious issues plaguing St. Michael Medical Center. Unfortunately, after years of ineffective response, and after workers have had to repeatedly report their concerns to hospital leadership through committee meetings, contract negotiations, and very publicly through picketing, media, and outreach to legislative officials, the health care workers’ pleas have been met with empty promises as the situation continues to deteriorate.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! We demand change, we demand action, we demand that you take the concerns of your workers and the community seriously and make significant changes at St. Michael Medical Center.

We have lost confidence in the leadership team at St. Michael Medical Center and request that you start with the resignation of both President Chad Melton and Chief Nursing Officer Jeanell Rasmussen.

St. Michael Medical Center RN - New Agreement Ratified

After six months of negotiations, our Bargaining Team is excited to announce that nurses voted to ratify their successor contract. St. Michael Medical Center will now have one of the highest wage scales and charge nurse premiums in the state, a much stronger staffing committee, and much more.

However, the fight is not over! Our new contract will not solve the chronic staffing issues and mismanagement that continues to plague St. Michael Medical Center, no amount of money could fix that. We need to continue to elevate the pressure by submitting official complaints to state agencies, running petitions of no confidence against incompetent managers, and fight to pass legislation on staffing ratios.

While changing the law may take time, we are taking action NOW to impact change. The first petition of no confidence will begin circulating this month and you can begin to file complaints with the state today through the following links.

Please contact Union Representative Aimee Oien at (360) 662-1981 if you have any questions or need assistance filing a complaint with the state. 

Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks. 

DOSH Complaint

Report safety issues and/or hazardous working conditions directly to the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I).

DOH Complaint

Report unsafe staffing directly to the Washington State Department of Health (DOH). We encourage members who file a DOH complaint to also follow-up with a CSI report, ensuring the hospital as a record of the issue. 

Collaborative Staffing Intervention (CSI)

Report unsafe staffing and/or missed breaks and lunches.

St. Michael Medical Center RN - Contract Vote Scheduled

Contract Ratification Vote Documents are now available. Links below:

https://www.ufcw21.org/s/SMMC-RN-22-25-Contract-Redline-Vote-Doc.pdf
 
https://www.ufcw21.org/s/SMMC-RN-Vote-Highlight.pdf

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After six months of negotiations, your Bargaining Team was able to reach a tentative agreement with management on a new contract. The Bargaining Team is recommending a YES vote:

• One of the highest wage scales in the state, exceeding St. Joseph Medical Center, Tacoma General Hospital, Swedish Medical Center, and most others! The 4.00% raises in year two and three will ensure that we’ll stay competitive throughout the life of our contract.

• Significantly improved staffing language,

• $3.25/hr charge nurse pay immediately! This is the highest charge nurse pay in the state (and 18% higher than St. Joes!).

• Removal of ghost steps 17, 21 and 23 (steps with 0% wage increase),

• Per Diem differential increased to 15% (and they will continue to receive holiday pay),

• Double time when called back to work from standby during a holiday,

• NEW B.S.N. / M.S.N. differential,

• NEW language to prepare for the next public health emergency,

• And much more!

While we were unable to get staffing ratios added into our contract, your Bargaining Team did win unprecedented staffing language that will help address the long-term issues at St. Michael Medical Center. However, the fight for staffing ratios is not over! Our Union is working to make staffing ratios state law, because every hospital across Washington State should be held accountable when they fail to provide high quality care to their community.

Our fight has also shined a light on the serious problems at St. Michael Medical Center. Our community, state leaders, and even Dignity Health have heard directly from nurses that our hospital is in crisis. We will continue to challenge those with authority to work on solutions to the problem that we cannot address in contract negotiations.

Voting Process:
DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE
On Friday, June 24, electronic copies of the vote documents will be made available on ufcw3000.org and emailed out to nurses who have an accurate email on file with the Union.

ONLINE MEETINGS
Wednesday, June 29
9AM, 6PM, 8:30PM

The Bargaining Team will run through the vote documents, provide details about the progress of negotiations, talk about what it means to go on strike, and answer any questions. Voting will NOT occur during these meetings.

VOTE DAY
Thursday, June 30
6AM-9AM, 12PM-2PM, 4PM-9PM
St. Michael Medical Center – Garden Room
1800 NW Myhre Rd, Silverdale, WA 98383

The vote will be in-person and nurses will have the opportunity to speak to Bargaining Team members and Union staff before casting their ballot. Please arrive during the posted vote times as we cannot allow members to enter the vote room outside of the advertised times.

NOTE: The Contract Action Team (CAT) meetings scheduled for Wednesday, June 22 have been CANCELED and replaced with the online vote meetings mentioned above. This will allow nurses time to review the vote documents before the online meetings.

Your Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones.

St. Michael Medical Center RN - Tentative Agreement Reached

After six months of negotiations, your Bargaining Team was able to reach a tentative agreement with management on a new contract. The Bargaining Team is recommending the offer, which includes:

• One of the highest wage scales in the state, exceeding St. Joseph Medical Center, Tacoma General Hospital, Swedish Medical Center, and most others! The 4.00% raises in year two and three will ensure that we’ll stay competitive throughout the life of our contract.

• Significantly improved staffing language,

• $3.25/hr charge nurse pay immediately! This is the highest charge nurse pay in the state (and 18% higher than St. Joes!).

• Removal of ghost steps 17, 21 and 23 (steps with 0% wage increase),

• Per Diem differential increased to 15% (and they will continue to receive holiday pay),

• Double time when called back to work from standby during a holiday,

• NEW B.S.N. / M.S.N. differential,

• NEW language to prepare for the next public health emergency,

• And much more!

While we were unable to get staffing ratios added into our contract, your Bargaining Team did win unprecedented staffing language that will help address the long-term issues at St. Michael Medical Center. However, the fight for staffing ratios is not over! Our Union is working to make staffing ratios state law, because every hospital across Washington State should be held accountable when they fail to provide high quality care to their community.

Our fight has also shined a light on the serious problems at St. Michael Medical Center. Our community, state leaders, and even Dignity Health have heard directly from nurses that our hospital is in crisis. We will continue to challenge those with authority to work on solutions to the problem that we cannot address in contract negotiations.

More information about offer and the upcoming ratification vote will be announced early next week.

Your Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones.

St. Michael Medical Center (RN) - Nurses vote to authorize a strike

Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, Janice Jones.

On Thursday June 9, Nurses at St. Michael Medical Center overwhelmingly voted YES to authorize a strike and NO on the Employer’s latest contract offer.

Our Bargaining Team will return to bargain with the Employer next week, now with the authority to call a strike.

We hope the results of the vote will force the Employer to improve their offer in a meaningful way and, therefore, avert a strike. However, if the Employer continues to drag their feet then our Bargaining Team will initiate the 10-day strike countdown. Nurses have sent a strong message to the Employer; NOW IT’S TIME FOR MANAGEMENT TO LISTEN!

Next Steps:
Monday, June 13
Bargaining with Employer

Wednesday, June 15
Contract Action Team Meetings
9AM // 6PM // 8:30PM

Thursday June 16
Bargaining with Employer

Wednesday Jun 22
Contract Action Team Meetings
9AM // 8:30PM

Wednesday Jun 22
Telephone Townhall
6PM

For questions and meeting details please contact a Bargaining Team member or Union Rep Aimee Oien @ (360) 662-1981.

St. Michael Medical Center RN - ULP Strike Authorization Vote Notice

Your Bargaining Team met with Management on May 31 to continue negotiations for the St. Michael Medical Center RN contract. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach an agreement.

We focused our proposals on addressing the staffing crisis at St. Michael Medical Center, demanding that the Employer implement safe staffing standards on every unit and raise wages to help retain and recruit nurses. Management has failed to seriously address these issues, refusing to be held accountable for our chronic staffing issues.

The Employer has made matters worse by committing several unfair labor practices (ULPs) in an attempt to intimidate nurses from engaging in union activity. We have filed unfair labor practice charges against the Employer when Management (1) threatened discipline to nurses wearing union stickers, (2) prevented nurses from distributing strike pledge cards, and (3) threatened discipline to nurses leafleting to patients during the picket.

Given the Employer’s serious ongoing unfair labor practices that are negatively impacting the bargaining process, our Bargaining Team has announced a ULP strike authorization vote. To go out on strike, two-thirds of voters must approve the strike. Going out on strike is always our last resort, but it is clear to our Bargaining Team that Management will not listen unless we take serious action. Authorizing a strike will empower our Bargaining Team to call a ULP strike if the Employer continues to drag their feet at the bargaining table.

It's imperative that everyone participate in the vote to show management that we stand in solidarity for a fair contract and against their unfair labor practice charges.

Voting Process:
DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE
Links to the vote documents are now available and and will be emailed out to nurses who have an accurate email on file with the Union.

www.ufcw21.org/s/SMMC-RN-Strike-Vote-Highlight.pdf
www.ufcw21.org/s/SMMC-RN-22-25-Proposed-Contract-Redline.pdf

ONLINE MEETINGS
Wednesday June 8
9AM // 6PM // 8:30PM
Contact a Bargaining Team member or your Union Rep for details. Details will also be emailed.
The Bargaining Team will run through the vote documents, provide details about the progress of negotiations, talk about what it means to go on strike, and answer any questions. Voting will NOT occur during these meetings.

VOTE DAY
Thursday June 9
6AM-9AM // 12PM-2PM // 4PM-9PM
Best Western Plus Silverdale Beach Hotel 3073 NW Bucklin Hill Rd
Silverdale, WA 98383
The vote will be in-person and nurses will have the opportunity to speak to Bargaining Team members and Union staff before casting their ballot. Please arrive during the posted vote times as we cannot allow members to enter the vote room outside of the advertised times.

St. Michael Medical Center RN Management is unresponsive — Time to take action!

St. Michael Medical Center RN

Management is unresponsive — Time to take action!

Our Bargaining Team will be meeting with Management today and tomorrow with a Federal Mediator, continuing contract negotiations for St. Michael Medical Center nurses.

We haven’t met with the Employer since May 6 and, except for a small package proposal, haven’t received a substantive proposal from Management since our last bargaining date in April. We continue to be frustrated with the lack of progress from the Employer but have hope that the Federal Mediator will be able to help during this week’s bargaining sessions.

As of Monday morning, everything is in the Employer’s court. Our Bargaining Team is looking forward to seeing the proposal they’ve had weeks to work on.

It is imperative that nurses make a strong statement of solidarity at this week’s informational picket, showing Management we are serious about winning a fair contract. Nothing will move the employer more than a high turnout by nurses and the community at the informational picket.

We invite nurses to attend our next Contract Action Team meeting on Wednesday May 25 at 9AM & 6PM, where your bargaining team will share the latest news from negotiations and talk about the logistics of Thursday’s picket.

Informational Picket: Thursday, May 26

3:00PM – 5:00PM

@ St. Michael Medical Center

1800 NW Myhre Rd, Silverdale, WA 98383

RSVP and Join the Informational Picket!

go to: bit.ly/smmc-info-22

Join the Contract Action Team Meeting

May 25, 2022 @ 9:00AM & 6:00PM via Zoom

St. Michael Medical Center RN - SAVE THE DATE – INFORMATIONAL PICKET

“The Employer made very little movement and has requested federal mediation. RSVP to our May 26 Informational Picket to show management that we stand in solidarity for a fair contract!”

Your Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones.

Our Bargaining Team met with management again on May 3 to continue negotiations for the St. Michael Medical Center RN contract. 

Your Bargaining Team worked hours on crafting a comprehensive proposal for the employer on wages, staffing, and other important issues. However, the Employer only responded with a small package proposal regarding charge nurses and holiday call but nothing else. They failed to even provide an economic counteroffer!

Then at the end of our bargaining session the employer surprised the Bargaining Team by requesting that the parties bring in a federal mediator to help work through the remaining issues on the table.

We are very disappointed with the progress of negotiations and the lack of proposals from the employer at this session only furthered the Bargaining Team’s frustration. Therefore, we have agreed to begin the process of federal mediation.

Unfortunately, we must also report that we believe the employer has violated nurses’ rights on at least two occasions, forcing the Union to file Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges against the employer with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). 

These incidents occurred when management asked for members to remove their “Hello Staffing Crisis” stickers in early April, then again when nurses handing out strike pledge cards at an employee entrance were told they were in violation of company policy and must leave. In addition to filing charges, we are reviewing other actions that we can take to ensure the employer will cease violating the rights of bargaining unit nurses. 

We are scheduled to meet with the Employer again on May 6, which will be our first session with the federal mediator. We’ve also signed a contract extension agreement through the end of the month, meaning that all protections of your contract remain fully intact.  

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What is mediation? 

When the Union and Employer have reached a point when little progress is being made, the parties have the option to bring in a neutral third-party mediator to help move things along. The federal government provides a free mediation service (Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service) that works exclusively on union-employer disputes and has assigned a mediator to help us reach a deal with management. The role of the mediator is to help the parties better understand the other’s point of view and to push both sides towards an agreement. However, the mediator has no power to force either side to make any changes to their proposals.

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RSVP to the Info Picket!

After months of bargaining, our Bargaining Team has announced that nurses at St. Michael Medical Center will be holding an informational picket on Thursday May 26 from 3:00PM to 5:00PM. We invite bargaining unit nurses who are off-the-clock, their families, and any member of the community to RSVP for the event. RSVP through the code or link below!

Thursday, May 26 • 3PM - 5PM
1800 NW Myhre Road, Silverdale, WA 98383

St. Michael Medical Center RN - NO DEAL – INFORMATIONAL PICKET ANNOUNCED

“We’re severely disappointed that management did not come to the table with a serious proposal to address our concerns.”

Your Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones.

Our Bargaining Team met with management again on April 27 to continue negotiations for the St. Michael Medical Center RN contract. After working late into the afternoon, we were unable to reach an agreement with management because of serious differences of opinion on what St. Michael Medical Center needs to address the current staffing crisis. 

Management sent over two economic proposals during this meeting, which only included minor changes such as increasing their wage proposal by just 2.5% over the life of the contract when compared to their April 5 proposal. We are extremely frustrated that management continues to make wage proposals that would keep our wages below what nurses at St. Joseph Medical Center are paid and then somehow expect that nurses at St. Michael Medical Center would be happy to accept their offer.

Management also continued to reject our proposal to create safe staffing standards in every department, claiming that staffing ratios wouldn’t help address our staffing crisis. They took particular issue with our proposal’s hourly premium that would be paid to nurses as a penalty when staffed outside of safe staffing standards, which was included as an enforcement measure to encourage compliance. 

Management instead countered with a new staffing proposal that outlined “staffing and scheduling principles” that they promised to adhere to. They claimed their proposal outlined a collaborative effort that would create space to talk more about possible solutions to the crisis, which they believe is better than the Union’s well defined and enforceable staffing ratios. 

Our Bargaining Team pointed out that their proposal does not include any firm deadlines, no substantive guarantees, and no efficient enforcement mechanism if they fail to follow through on their promises. And quite frankly, we don’t trust management to follow through. We will continue to review their proposal and determine if we could counter with changes that would appease our concerns, but the bottom line is that we need staffing language that commits to more than “the employer will make every reasonable effort” to address the staffing crisis. 

Our Bargaining Team presented the results of the strike pledge card as evidence that nurses are not satisfied with the progress of negotiations and management was clearly surprised that a majority of nurses signed the card. With over 435 nurses signing the strike pledge card, members have made clear that what’s on the table is unacceptable and we’re ready to do whatever is necessary to win a fair contract. 

Now is the time to put our words into action! After months of bargaining, our Bargaining Team has announced that nurses at St. Michael Medical Center will be holding an informational picket on Thursday, May 26 from 3:00PM to 5:00PM. We invite bargaining unit nurses, their families, and any member of the community to RSVP for the event.  

We are scheduled to meet with the Employer again on May 3 and 6 with our contract scheduled to expire after April 30. We are working with the employer on a possible one-month extension of our contract that would cover nurses as we continue negotiations. 

Contract Action Team (CAT) Meeting

You don’t want to miss our next meeting as our Bargaining Team is hosting picket captain training to prepare for our upcoming informational picket! We’ll also spend time talking about what to expect as we move closer to announcing a strike vote.

Wednesday, May 4

9:00AM & 6:00PM

https://zoom.us/join

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

St. Michael Medical Center RN - SIGN THE STRIKE PLEDGE CARD

“Stand in solidarity with your co-workers for a fair contract by signing the strike pledge card TODAY!”

Your Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones.

Our Bargaining Team met with management again on April 11 to continue negotiations for the St. Michael Medical Center RN contract.

At this meeting the Employer did not provide an updated economic offer, sticking with their last offer of 15% over the next three years. Your Bargaining team finds it difficult to be excited about the Employer’s offer, which would still place us about 6.50% behind the base wage rate at St. Joseph Medical Center after their 2022 raise in November.

The Employer’s last bargaining update claimed their proposal would be “on average, at least” (whatever that means) 20% over the life of the contract. Make no mistake, all nurses will NOT receive at least a 20% wage increase throughout the life of the contract with the Employer’s proposal. After working through a global pandemic, our bargaining team refuses to let management’s creative math pressure us into a mediocre agreement.

We also continue to fight for several important non-economic improvements such as implementing safe staffing standards in every department, permanent pandemic language that prepares the hospital for the next public health emergency, and new language about the refusal of hazardous assignments.

Despite our frustration, significant progress was made on several other issues such as holiday pay, charge nurse language improvements, notice of resignation, low census, and union steward access to disciplinary meetings. We were only able to make such progress after nurses showed solidarity during last week’s sticker action, which made clear to management that we are not satisfied with the progress of negotiations.

Our next bargaining session with the Employer is scheduled for April 27, which will be our last meeting before our contract is set to expire on May 1. Management has signaled that they want to reach an agreement this month, however, we remain far apart on many important issues.

Stand with our bargaining team and show management that nurses at St. Michael Medical Center are willing to do whatever is necessary to win a fair contract by SIGNING THE STRIKE PLEDGE CARD and send a strong message that management’s failure to reach a fair agreement is unacceptable.

To sign please scan the QR code or follow the link below.

You’re Invited!

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.

Wednesday, May 4

6:00PM

https://zoom.us/join

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

Emergency Department Meeting: Meeting focused on discussing the serious issues faced by nurses in the Emergency Department and working on solutions that can be achieved through contract negotiations.

Tuesday, May 10

6:00PM

https://zoom.us/join

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

CHI St. Michael Medical Center RN - Bargaining Continues

“Management’s initial economic offer misses the mark, failing to come close to St. Joseph Medical Center’s recent wage increase.”

-Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones.

Our Bargaining Team met with Management again on April 5 to continue negotiations for the St. Michael Medical Center RN contract.

Before sending over their economic offer, Management gave our Bargaining Team a speech about the financial health of the medical center. Management outlined that the medical center is $45 million behind budget this year because of issues with patient length of stay, non-emergent procedure moratoriums, and the high number of travelers.

We countered by pointing out that if they agree to competitive wage increases for bargaining unit nurses, then they could retain and attract staff nurses and significantly cut down on the number of expensive travelers. We also noticed that they never mentioned that they are going into debt just not making as much money as they anticipated, which does not really concern our Bargaining Team. Management even admitted that they’ve noticed positive financial trends in March as the pandemic continues to abate.

Management’s Economic Proposal
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
8.00% 3.50% 3.50%

While we would have likely been excited about their initial offer in previous contract cycles, we are now in different times with historic inflation and a hyper-competitive labor market. In fact, their proposal is far behind the 11% wage increase that nurses at St. Joseph Medical Center recently won, even worse when you consider that they will receive an additional 4% increase later this year.

We also reminded Management that St. Michael Medical Center is in a unique geographic location, meaning that we need to pay a higher wage to attract nurses into Silverdale or, more importantly, stop nurses from commuting into Seattle.

Management also continued to REJECT our enhanced charge nurse language, guarantees that nurses won’t be responsible for EVS or billing work, permanent pandemic language that ensures nurses will be protected during the next public health emergency, and our addition of staffing ratios into the contract.

We are scheduled to meet with the employer on Monday, April 11 and then again on Wednesday, April 27.

Next Steps:

Our Bargaining Team invites you to join our official Facebook page to get the latest news regarding contract negotiations at: facebook.com/SMMCNURSES

Contract Action Team Meeting: Attend regular Contract Action Team (CAT) meetings to hear the latest updates regarding negotiations, plan actions to pressure Management, and learn how to get our co-workers involved. We’ve also started holding a separate Emergency Department meeting focused on discussing the serious issues faced by nurses working in the department.

Sticker Action! Reach out to our workplace leader or Union Rep Aimee Oien to get a stack of our “Hello Staffing Crisis” or “Hello Missed Breaks” stickers to wear in the workplace. The stickers are launching on April 7, so make sure to get yours soon!

QUESTIONS? Join your coworkers and hear from the Bargaining Team! Zoom links are in the text below.

Wednesday, April 6 @ 6 PM
Contract Action Team (CAT) Meeting

Tuesday, April 12 @ 6 PM
Emergency Department Meeting

St. Michael Medical Center RN - Bargaining Continues

“We proposed competitive increases to wages and differentials that take into account both today’s competitive labor market as well as everything we’ve been through over the last few years. Management said they were disappointed with our aggressive proposal, but we made clear that we refuse to settle for a mediocre contract.” 

Your Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones.

Your Bargaining Team met with management again on March 9 to continue negotiations for the St. Michael Medical Center RN contract.  

At this session we finally presented our initial economic proposal to management, which was written to ensure that our wage scale will become (and stay) competitive with neighboring hospitals. We believe that “neighboring hospitals” is not just limited to Tacoma but should also include Seattle competitors that easily recruit nurses to commute across the water.  

We also recognize that St. Joseph Medical Center recently reached an agreement with their employer for an 11% raise, with another 4% in November, plus the removal of multiple ghost steps (years with 0% wage increases). Your Bargaining Team’s proposal was significantly higher than the SJMC agreement and also included the removal of our ghost steps. 

In addition to wage increases, your Bargaining Team proposed a new retention bonus program, increases to various differentials, and new language that would ensure equitable and timely incentive pay.

Our proposal shocked management, who said they were extremely disappointed and “taken aback.” They complained that our proposed increases would make St. Michael Medical Center nurses the highest paid in the entire state. While management is likely right, we believe that serious action is needed to attract and retain nurses.  

We expect to see a counter economic proposal from management during our next bargaining date on April 5. 

Your Bargaining Team invites you to join our official Facebook page to get the latest news regarding contract negotiations.

You’re Invited! 

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 Wednesday, April 6 @ 6:00PM

Wednesday, April 6

6:00PM

https://zoom.us/join

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

CHI St. Michael Medical Center RN - Bargaining Continues

“We are focusing on improvements to our safety and staffing language while preparing to present our first economic proposal. Be sure to attend our next Contract Action Team meeting to learn more!”

- Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones

Our Bargaining Team met with Management again on March 3, continuing contract negotiations for nurses at St. Michael Medical Center.

We are pleased to report that some progress was made as we successfully convinced the Employer to withdraw their proposals to increase both the required resignation notice as well as the minimum work requirements of per diems. The Employer also showed a willingness to still agree with our demand that the per diem differential revert back to 15%, even without the increased work requirements.

However, we are still far apart on our safety and staffing proposals. Management has continued to reject our minimum staffing ratios, language regarding the refusal of hazardous assignments, and our new public health emergency language that would help better prepare the medical center for the next pandemic.

Despite the outstanding issues, our Bargaining Team feels that enough progress has been made for us to finally make our initial economic proposal at our next meeting with the Employer. After months of market research, we have crafted an economic proposal that would raise our wages and differentials to rates that would be hyper-competitive with our neighbors in both Tacoma and Seattle.

We are scheduled to meet with the Employer again on Wednesday, March 9 with dates scheduled through April.

Our Bargaining Team invites you to join our official Facebook page to get the latest news regarding contract negotiations at: facebook.com/SMMCNURSES

You’re Invited! Contact a Bargaining Team member or your Union Rep for Zoom meeting details!

Contract Action Team (CAT) Meeting
Wednesday, March 9 @ 6 PM
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

Emergency Dept. Meeting
Tuesday, March 15 @ 6 PM
Meeting is focused on discussing the serious issues faced by nurses working in the Emergency Department and working on solutions that can be achieved through contract negotiations.

St. Michael Medical Center RN - Cautious Optimism

“While we still have a long way to go, we are cautiously optimistic with the progress that was made today.”

Your Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones.

Your Bargaining Team met with management again on February 17, continuing contract negotiations for nurses at St. Michael Medical Center.

While we have yet to receive a comprehensive response to all our proposals, management seemed to have taken note of the Bargaining Team’s frustration at our last session. Noting that safety was clearly a major priority of the Union’s proposals, management made a counter proposal that focused on responses to our safety concerns. 

We were surprised by the amount of thought and consideration that went into crafting their proposal, with actual responses instead of the outright rejection we were expecting. For example, the employer’s response agreed to some of our demands such as:

• Enhanced training when preforming hazardous duties, 

• Language that ensures changes to the staffing matrix shall be voted on by the staffing committee,

• Withdrew their demands for more control over our committees,

• New language that will reduce the amount of committee meeting cancelations, 

• Employer paid training on conducting effective committee meetings.

We also reached a tentative agreement on rewriting our preceptor pay language, which has been notoriously hard to understand. Our new language makes it unmistakably clear when nurses shall qualify for preceptor pay, removing the loopholes and inconsistences that plague our current language. 

While we were pleased with the progress, it’s important to remember that we are very far from reaching an agreement on a new contract. Even with the progress we made today, the employer has still failed to address most of our safety and safety concerns. We also haven’t begun talks about wages and differentials, which we expect to be very contentious as we fight for significant increases. 

Your Bargaining Team invites you to join our official Facebook page to get the latest news regarding contract negotiations. We are scheduled to meet with the employer again on Thursday March 3 with dates scheduled through April.  

You’re Invited! 

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 Wednesday, March 9 @ 6:00PM

Wednesday, March 9

6:00PM

https://zoom.us/join

Emergency Department Meeting: Meeting focused on discussing the serious issues faced by nurses in the Emergency Department and working on solutions that can be achieved through contract negotiations.

Tuesday, March 15

6:00PM

https://zoom.us/join

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

St. Michael Medical Center (RN) - Management is out of touch with reality

“Management has failed to seriously address any of our concerns, proving that serious action will be required to win a fair contract.”

-Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones.

Our Bargaining Team met with Management again on February 15, continuing contract negotiations for nurses at St. Michael Medical Center.

Management finally provided our Bargaining Team with a counter to most of our proposals, but it was not worth the wait. As you’ll see with some of our proposals below, the general theme of their proposal was “NO.”

• Union Proposal : Safe Staffing Standards
  Management Response: REJECT

• Union Proposal :Staffing Committee Improvements
  Management Response: REJECT, countered with more Management control over committees.

• Union Proposal :Financial Penalty for Cancelled Committee Meetings
  Management Response: REJECT, countered by offering to have a meeting about canceled meetings.

• Union Proposal :Instant Use of Extended Illness Bank (EIB)
  Management Response: REJECT

• Union Proposal: Low Census Standby Improvements
  Management Response: REJECT

• Union Proposal: Better Union Representative Access to Hospital
  Management Response: REJECT, countered with more restrictions to union access.

• Union Proposal: Charge Nurse Improvements
  Management Response: REJECT

• Union Proposal: Increased Per Diem Protection from Discipline
  Management Response: REJECT

• Union Proposal: 14 Day Resignation Notice
  Management Response: 28 Day Resignation Notice

Management’s response to our safe staffing standards proposal was “[we] reject staffing ratios in its entirety.” They even had the audacity to demand more authority over our staffing committee, which they have been working to undermine for years in an attempt to take our voices out of the conversation about safe staffing.

Your Bargaining Team was infuriated by their behavior, directly confronting management during joint session by declaring they are ignorant and completely out of touch with the reality. During this heated exchange, management followed up with their concerns that the Union seems to have looked at every corner of the contract and just tore it apart, nearly re-writing the contract.

They’re right! The status quo is not working, and radical change is necessary if we are going get St. Michael Medical Center out the crisis we’re facing today. We’ve combed through our contract and proposed many solutions to our problems. All we ask is that Management work with us to create a safer medical center for both nurses and our patients but apparently that’s too much ask. With that becoming increasingly clear, we’re going to have to explore alternative methods to force them to listen.

We are scheduled to meet with Management again on February 23 with additional dates scheduled through April. We hope Management will have responses to our other proposals ready when we meet again next week.

You’re Invited! Attend our next Contract Action Team (CAT) meeting to hear the latest updates regarding negotiations, plan actions to pressure Mangement, and learn how to get your co-workers involved.

Wednesday, March 9
10 AM
Contact a Bargaining Team member or your Union Rep for Zoom meeting details.

St. Michael Medical Center RN Bargaining Continues

St. Michael Medical Center RN Bargaining Continues

“Management showed they are out of touch by trying to increase our work instead of finding solutions on recruitment and retention.” -Anne Burns, RN

Our Bargaining Team: Anne Burns, Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson

Our Bargaining Team met with management again on February 8, continuing contract negotiations for nurses at St. Michael Medical Center. Our meeting was not very productive, with management failing to have a comprehensive response to our recent proposals, citing the need for additional research. The only proposal they had was a package, which offered an increase to the per diem premium so long as we agreed to larger work commitments for per diems in exchange.

Our bargaining team had already proposed an increase to the per diem premium in the hopes to recruit and retain employees, but adding more work commitments in exchange will only push more nurses to leave. We are not interested in their package proposal and intend to reject the change at our next session.

We are scheduled to meet with the employer again on February 15, which we hope will be more productive than our last meeting.

You’re Invited! March 9 @ 6:00PM

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 Wednesday, March 9 @ 6:00PM

St. Michael Medical Center RN - Bargaining Continues

“We were disappointed when management’s first proposal focused more on enhancing their contractual rights instead of working to address our concerns.”

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

Your Bargaining Team met with management again on February 3, continuing contract negotiations for nurses at St. Michael Medical Center.

We began our session by passing additional proposals to the employer for their consideration, including:  

• Changes to how we recognize the past experience of new hires when placing them on the wage scale,

• Increases to both our Paid Time Off (PTO) accrual rates and the maximum allowed in your bank,

• Easier access to your Extended Illness Bank (EIB),

• Improvements to our language regarding paid holidays and bereavement leave, 

• And much more!

We also proposed an entirely new article titled “Health, Safety and Staffing,” all of which was identified as a major concern in the bargaining survey. When writing this new article, we researched union contracts up and down the west coast in search of solutions, using what we found to write language that would best address the unique problems at St. Michael Medical Center. This includes staffing ratios requirements, strong pandemic language (not just COVID-19), hazard pay, language regarding the refusal of hazardous assignments, and an improved process to report staffing concerns. 

The employer also provided your Bargaining Team with a proposal. Unfortunately, almost everything in their proposal was a power grab, only enhancing their own authority while failing to address any of the issues we brought to their attention. 

Management’s proposal included an increase to the resignation period (28-days instead of current 21 days), additional access restrictions for Union Representatives visiting the medical center, stripping per diems’ access to the grievance procedure, a broad and overreaching management’s rights clause, and more. 

The only benefit that management did propose was a B.S.N/M.S.N differential of one dollar per hour. While they were proud to offer this new premium, we have been asking for this differential for years and, after many neighboring hospitals already added the benefit to their contracts, they’re finally relenting. While we will certainly accept the addition of a B.S.N/M.S.N differential, we have a long ways to go until we reach a complete agreement with the Employer.  

We are scheduled to meet with the employer again on February 8 with additional dates scheduled through March. 

You’re Invited! 

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 Monday, February 7 @6:00PM 

St. Michael’s Medical Center (RN) February CAT Meeting

Monday, February 7

6:00PM

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

St. Michael Medical Center RN - You’re Invited!

What is a Contract Action Team?

It’s a group of bargaining unit members who regularly gather (usually monthly) to hear the latest updates regarding negotiations, plan actions to pressure management into a fair contract, and learn how to get their co-workers involved. Commonly referred to as CAT meetings, they are a great opportunity to stay involved and provide feedback to your bargaining team as they work to negotiate your contract.

Who is invited to CAT meetings? 

Any St. Michael Medical Center nurse who is part of the UFCW Local 21 bargaining unit is welcome to join CAT meetings! Having high involvement within your Contract Action Team is crucial in winning a strong contract, so we encourage everyone to attend if your schedule permits. Because of the sensitive nature about what we discuss, non-union management is not permitted to join our meetings.

See you there!

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

St. Michael’s Medical Center (RN) February CAT Meeting

Monday, February 7

6:00PM

https://zoom.us/join

St. Michael’s Medical Center (RN) March CAT Meeting

Wednesday, March 9 

6:00PM

https://zoom.us/join

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