Jefferson ProTech Clinic Bargaining Update - October 4 and 11 Sessions

We recently held our second and third bargaining sessions with Jefferson Healthcare management on October 4 and October 11. Here's what we discussed:
 

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October 4 Session

Staffing Committee: At this session, we introduced new proposals to improve how the staffing committee operates. In 2023, UFCW 3000, WSNA, and SEIU 1199NW worked together to pass a new staffing law, SB 5236, aimed at improving staffing conditions for healthcare workers across Washington. This law requires hospitals to have a staffing committee that meets quarterly. The committee includes nursing staff like CNAs, HUCs, surgical techs, and ED techs, and it plays a critical role in developing staffing plans and tackling staffing challenges.

Our proposal strengthens these responsibilities by making sure these staffing rules are part of our collective bargaining agreement (CBA). This way, if there are any violations of the staffing committee’s operations, we can address them through the grievance process. We also proposed a clear process for handling both short-term and ongoing staffing problems, including using mediation to resolve any disagreements on staffing solutions.

While wages and benefits are important for recruiting and retaining staff, our proposed staffing language gives caregivers more control and a stronger voice in addressing staffing concerns at Jefferson Healthcare.
 

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October 11 Update

Unfortunately, the Hospital rejected our idea for an alternative way to resolve staffing issues, saying the current staffing committee (made up of both nursing staff and management) should be enough to solve problems. We believe more solutions—like incentive pay and retention bonuses—need to be part of the conversation, and we will keep pushing for binding mediation to ensure staffing issues are fully addressed.

Adding Per Diems to the Bargaining Unit

There’s been growing interest in extending the protections of our CBA to per diem caregivers. Right now, Jefferson Healthcare gives per diem staff some of the same benefits as full-time employees, but they can take those benefits away at any time.

By adding per diem staff to the CBA, they would get the same protections, including access to the grievance process for any contract violations. Although per diem caregivers would be represented by the Union, they can choose whether to become dues-paying members. We strongly encourage everyone to join, as union dues fund critical resources like legal representation, wages for bargaining committee members, and arbitration costs. Without dues, we wouldn’t have the power to enforce the CBA and protect caregivers.

October 11 Session

We were able to reach agreements on a few important issues:

• Workplace equity language
• Expanded paid sick leave: This can now be used for illness, vacation, holidays, or other leaves of absence.

 

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What’s Next?

Our next bargaining sessions are scheduled for October 25 and November 1. We will focus on crafting an economic proposal that includes competitive wages and benefits to help retain and recruit caregivers. We’re reviewing the wages and benefits of other hospitals to make sure our proposal is competitive.

Our union contract expires on October 31, 2024. Even after it expires, all provisions of the contract will remain in effect, except for the arbitration and no strike/no lockout clauses. Additionally, after October 31, the hospital is prohibited from making any changes to workplace conditions. If you notice any changes or believe the hospital has modified a workplace condition, please contact your Union Rep, Ryan Degouveia at (360) 662-1982.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Ryan Degouveia. We’ll also be holding another contract update/contract action meeting in November—stay tuned for more details!

Our Bargaining Team: Kim Vasenda, LeAnne Potts, Donita French, and Casey Paredes  

Jefferson Healthcare RN - Bargaining Update October 21 Session

On October 21, we held our third bargaining session with Jefferson Healthcare.Although we had additional sessions planned earlier in the month, they were canceled due to the lack of coverage for the nurses on our bargaining team.

During this session, the Union presented several new proposals, including:

Health Benefits and Pension

Many nurses have expressed that the current health insurance costs are unaffordable. Right now, RNs pay 20% of the health insurance premium plus $1.722 per compensable hour (up to 173 hours per month).

We proposed a switch to a flat weekly rate for health insurance:

• PPO: $9/week for employee-only coverage and $23/week for family coverage

• HMO: $5/week for employee-only coverage and $19/week for family coverage

This would eliminate the $1.722 per hour contribution.

Additionally, we proposed increasing the Employer's pension contribution to 2.8% of each nurse’s gross salary. Under the current pension plan (Sound Retirement Trust/Sound Variable Annuity Pension Trust), RNs become vested after five years of service and receive monthly retirement benefits for life. This benefit extends to their spouse after their passing. Jefferson Healthcare’s combination of a pension plan (with employer-only contributions) and a 457b plan (with employee and employer contributions) sets us apart from many hospitals that offer only a 401k or 457b plan, helping nurses retire with dignity.

Recognition for Per Diem RNs and LPNs

There has been interest in extending the benefits and protections of our collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to per diem RNs and LPNs. Currently, Jefferson Healthcare offers them similar benefits to FTE RNs and LPNs, but these can be revoked at any time.

By adding per diem staff to the CBA, they would have the same protections, including access to the grievance process for any contract violations. While per diem staff would be represented by the Union, they could choose whether to become dues-paying members. We encourage everyone to join, as union dues fund critical resources like legal fees, wages for bargaining committee nurses, and arbitration costs. Without dues, we would lack the power to enforce the CBA and protect RNs and LPNs.

Resource RN and Low Census

Resource RNs have encountered issues volunteering for low census. We proposed allowing Resource RNs to volunteer for low census and increasing the Resource RN premium to $5/hour, which aligns with other hospitals in the area.

We reached agreements on several important issues, including:

• Workplace equity language

• A streamlined payroll error correction process

• Expanded paid sick leave, allowing it to be used for illness, vacation, holidays, or other leaves of absence

Employer’s Counterproposals

The Employer presented counterproposals to our staffing committee language and edits to existing articles, including:

• Bridging PTO benefits

• Partner units

• Seventh consecutive day pay

However, they rejected an alternative way to resolve staffing issues, stating that the staffing committee (composed of nursing staff and management) should be sufficient to address problems.We believe that solutions like incentive pay and retention bonuses should be on the table when creating solutions for staffing, and we will continue to push for binding mediation to resolve these issues.

Next Steps

Between now and our next bargaining session on November 4, we will focus on crafting our economic proposal.We are reviewing wages and benefits at other area hospitals to craft a competitive proposal that will help retain and recruit nurses and LPNs.

Our RN Bargaining Team: Robin Bridge, Michelle Grimmer, Chris Beatty, and Emily Bishop

PRMCE Interventional Radiology Tech - Online Vote on October 29! Past Experience Recognized!

We have reached an agreement with PRMCE regarding past experience recognition for Interventional Radiology Techs. All current employees will receive credit for their prior experience as Radiology Techs, effective the first full pay period following ratification of the Letter of Understanding and following the resume submission.

As this change affects the current Technical contract, it requires a vote. All Interventional Radiology Techs who are union members in good standing are eligible to vote online on:

October 29
Between 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Eligible members will receive a voting link via email from SimplyVote at 8:00 AM on October 29.

We strongly recommend a "YES" vote!

PRMCE Endoscopy Techs - Online Vote on October 30! Past Experience Recognized!

We have reached an agreement with PRMCE regarding past experience recognition for Endoscopy Techs. All current employees will receive credit for their prior experience as Certified Medical Assistants effective the first full pay period following ratification of the Letter of Understanding and following the resume submission.

As this change affects the current Technical contract, it requires a vote. All Endoscopy Techs who are union members in good standing are eligible to vote online

October 30
Between 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Eligible members will receive a voting link via email from SimplyVote at 8:00 AM on October 30.

We strongly recommend a "YES" vote!
 

Card Kingdom - Membership Meeting Update Tenure Wage Grievance Settlement

During our recent membership meeting on October 8th, we presented the settlement reached regarding the tenure wage grievance. By choosing this settlement, we secured the best possible outcome for the entire Card Kingdom bargaining unit. If we had taken the grievance to arbitration, the Employer's interpretation could have been applied, which would have been less favorable for the bargaining unit.

• MOU on Wage Scale Interpretation: The Union and Employer have agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding that clarifies the interpretation of the wage scale in Article 21. Members will receive their tenure increases on two specific dates based on their hire date: January 1st for those hired between July 28th and January 1st, and July 27th for those hired between January 2nd and July 27th. This agreement prevents significant inequity that could have arisen from the Employer's initial interpretation, which would have required some members to wait nearly an entire year for their increases. With this new language, no member will have to wait more than six months for their tenure wage increase.

• Compensation for Active Members: Each active bargaining unit member will receive 8 hours of pay.

• Backpay for Former Members: The settlement includes 50% of the backpay owed to former Card Kingdom members who were affected by the pay discrepancy.

If you have any questions regarding this settlement, please reach out to grievance representative Dominic Zinsli at (206) 436-6613 until October 23rd. After that date, your Union Representative, Allison Hanley, will be back from her out-of-state assignment and can be contacted at (206) 436-6586.

Ashley House - Bargaining Update

Our bargaining team welcomes Janet Neice from Ashley House Country Home in Woodinville!

We continue to meet and negotiate over working conditions as well as hours of work, overtime, standby, pay for meetings and trainings, meal and rest breaks, seniority and scheduling practices.

We are looking forward to bargaining over wages, premiums, benefits, PTO and EIT, and other economics during upcoming bargaining sessions, scheduled for October 23 and 24.

Update Your Contact Information >>

For additional information reach out to bargaining team members:

• Janet Neice, Woodinville
• Cindy Jones, Browns Point
• Donna Iverson, Olympia

OR

Charlie King, Union Representative: (360) 409-0606

Multicare Capital Medical Center Service/Office/Technical - Bargaining Update!

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Wednesday, October 2 marks our fourth bargaining date with MultiCare since we began negotiations for a 2024 contract for the Service, Office, & Technical union members at Capital Medical Center.

Transparently, our day began a bit slow in terms of meeting with management, with our Union team providing MultiCare with any remaining contract proposals we had in our court in the morning, and then waiting until just before the end of our scheduled time to receive proposals back from management.

Upon hearing back from management later that afternoon, we were presented with a number of responses on a few of the contract articles we’ve been exchanging back and forth with the employer; most importantly, wages.

Overall, it’s fair to say that we were shocked by MultiCare’s initial offer, not because it undercut our value and ignored regional competitors’ wage rates (as one can typically expect from an Employer’s first wage counter...), but instead, their proposal seemed to consider the rates of pay that competitors are paying in the greater South-Puget-Sound region, as well as the significant increases MultiCare workers in Pierce and King County won in union negotiations earlier this year.

There are varying increases throughout the numerous job classifications—mainly due to the varying market fluctuations for those classifications—but our bargaining team can say that while the wage proposal we received from Capital is not quite ready for us to agree to yet, it will serve to move market-based wage discussions much faster than we have seen at other bargaining tables!

We are looking forward to meeting with MultiCare for our next session on October 10 to continue working towards a strong contract for Capital Medical Center employees!

“We’re not all the way there yet, but we are cautiously optimistic!”
—Julie Hinchcliffe, HUC/Monitor Tech @ CapMC

Your Bargaining Team: Julie Hinchcliffe, HUC/Monitor Tech; Beatrix Sales, CS Tech; Lindsey Moorhead, Cath Lab Tech

Jefferson Healthcare - Bargaining Update

On October 3, we held our second bargaining session with Jefferson Healthcare management. The Hospital provided responses to some of our proposals, specifically on non-discrimination language and payroll errors. We’re making steady progress in these areas and expect to reach an agreement on these articles soon.

During this session, we also introduced new staffing language. In 2023, UFCW 3000, WSNA, and SEIU 1199NW worked together to improve staffing conditions for healthcare workers across Washington. Part of the new staffing law SB 5236 requires hospitals to have a staffing committee that meets quarterly. This committee, which includes nurses and support staff, plays a critical role in creating staffing plans and finding solutions to staffing challenges.

Our staffing proposal strengthens these responsibilities by including them in our contract. This ensures that nurses can address any violations of the staffing committee’s operations through the grievance process. The proposal also sets a clear framework for how acute and chronic staffing issues should be managed, including a mediation process to resolve staffing concerns.

While wages and benefits are vital to recruiting and retaining staff, the proposed staffing language acts as a safeguard, giving nurses and caregivers on the Hospital Staffing Committee real power and a strong voice in addressing staffing issues. The Hospital is currently reviewing this proposal.

Our next bargaining session is scheduled for October 7. By the end of the month, we plan to begin discussions on compensation, health insurance, and pension.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Ryan Degouveia. Don’t forget that you can still submit your bargaining survey and your Sound Health and Wellness feedback survey.

We will be holding another contract update/contract action meeting soon!