On Wednesday, August 27, our Bargaining Team met with the Management for our first official day of negotiations on our first union contract! We passed along most of our proposals to the Employer and are waiting for their response at the next session. Overall, we felt it was a very productive day!
Read MoreRN Case Managers will have the opportunity to vote on Friday, October 24, from 12pm to 1pm at the Cascade Room (in the cafeteria) on joining the new RN contract.
The full contract document will be available to review during the voting period and the new RN contract is available online on the UFCW 3000 Capital Medical RN contract page. To participate, you must complete a union membership application and vote in person.
If you have any questions, please contact your Union Representative, Kimberly Starkweather, at (206) 436-6515.
October 24
12pm - 1pm
Cascade Room
In the cafeteria
On October 8, nurses overwhelmingly voted to approve our new contract! This agreement makes us competitive with St. Peter and provides meaningful wage increases that will strengthen retention and recruitment.
From the beginning, our goal was clear: secure a contract that keeps us competitive with nearby hospitals and addresses workplace issues through stronger language. We believe this agreement does just that—supporting better staffing and giving management a clear framework to provide incentive pay when short-staffing occurs.
Nurses will see their wage increases reflected on the October 24 payday. Our next step is to finalize and post the blackline version of the contract online. In the meantime, you can review the redline version here: >>
Remember: a contract only matters if we enforce it. We encourage you to get involved in your workplace—join the Labor Management Committee, the Hospital Staffing Committee, or become a workplace leader in your department. An active and informed bargaining unit will ensure an even stronger contract in 2028.
If you're interested in getting more involved, please reach out to Kimberly Starkweather at 206-436-6515.
Our union Bargaining Team representing the Professionals at MultiCare Capital Medical Center is excited to announce that we have our first bargaining date on the books, scheduled for October 21, to kick-off negotiations for our first union contract!
Read MoreWe began bargaining for a new contract in late May, and after nearly five months of negotiations, we are proud to announce that we reached an agreement with Capital Medical. From the very start, our priority was clear: secure a contract that is competitive with Providence St. Peter and win some of the language that staff at other MultiCare hospitals already have.
Read MoreAfter nearly 11 hours at the bargaining table, we walked away without a deal. Capital Medical Center management continues to oppose some of our proposals on critical issues: safe staffing, fair wages, incentive and extra shift pay, meal and rest breaks, continuing education, PTO, FMLA, and health insurance.
Read MoreOver the past few sessions, our Capital Medical RN bargaining team has been working hard to move negotiations forward on a successor contract. While we have reached tentative agreements on many language items, we have not reached an agreement on a lot of economic pieces. In our most recent session on September 19, we put all our outstanding proposals on the table. These proposals are not minor details—they are critical to recruiting and retaining nurses at our hospital.
Let's be clear—our priorities aren't optional. Nurses need:
Better staffing solutions and manageable patient loads
Incentive pay for vacant shifts
Competitive wages and benefits that recruit and retain RNs
Improvements to report pay for on-call nurses
Increases to premiums
Respect for the work we do every single day
These proposals are the solutions we need to provide quality care for our patients. We've also made it clear that our hospital must remain competitive with Providence St. Peter's new contract. Our wage scale and contract need to be competitive with Providence. Anything less will only make staffing challenges worse.
We will be bargaining into the night on September 23 and 25. We asked that you show your support by:
Wearing your union buttons and colors—make your solidarity visible
Talk to your coworkers—make sure everyone knows what's at stake
Be ready—if management drags their feet, we'll need to take action!
Bargaining Team: Bonnie Verellen, Dennis Verellen, Cindy Dixon
Questions or ready to get more involved? Contact our bargaining team or reach out to Kimberly Starkweather at (206) 436-6515.
This is our time. Our patients, our profession, our fight.
On August 6, we met with Capital Medical Center management to exchange proposals on retirement plans, wages, meal periods, and health insurance.
Over the past few years, health insurance premiums have risen sharply—especially for part-time nurses, who can pay more than $300 a month for coverage. We believe nurses should not bear these costly increases. Our proposal ensures:
No premium costs for full-time and part-time nurses for "employee-only" coverage.
No increases in premiums for the life of the contract.
We also proposed locking in contribution levels for both the 401(k) and a defined pension plan. Under the pension plan, Capital would contribute a percentage of gross wages each month to a pension trust, providing vested participants with a guaranteed monthly benefit for life. Vesting requires five years of service with a participating employer. Kaiser Permanente, St. Joseph Pharmacy Techs, and Jefferson Healthcare RNs already benefit from this program. We believe retiring with dignity is essential—and a pension plan helps retain experienced nurses and attract new ones.
The employer has not yet responded to our retirement or health care proposals but is expected to do so at our next session on September 10. This past session, management proposed a 24-step wage scale similar to the scales at CMC Techs, Auburn RNs, and Mary Bridge RNs. Our bargaining team countered with a 30-step wage scale that eliminates "ghost" steps and shortens the progression. While we do not agree with their proposed annual increases, shortening the scale offers potential benefits for nurses' wage growth.
We are closely watching our union siblings' negotiations at Providence St. Peter, and our goal is to secure a contract that keeps us competitive with St. Peter and other Multicare hospitals in the South Puget Sound region.
Until our next bargaining session, it's critical we show our unity and determination to win a competitive contract that improves staffing. Join us to pick up union swag:
For questions, reach out to your bargaining team or Union Rep, Kimberely Starkweather at 206-436-6515.
Since late May, your RN bargaining team has been at the table fighting for real solutions to short staffing and unsafe conditions. We've put forward proposals that reflect your priorities—better staffing, competitive pay, and stronger protections. Instead of engaging in meaningful dialogue, management has dismissed our proposals and violated key parts of the contract we already have.
We've filed grievances to address the Hospital's repeated violations of our current CBA:
"Flex Time": Management is low censusing RNs, then expecting them to remain on-call without providing on-call pay. Article 7.6 is clear: RNs are not required to be on-call for all or part of a shift they were scheduled for and then low censused from. Changing start times or forcing nurses to wait by the phone—without compensation—is a contract violation.
In-House Registry Pay: Under Article 12, nurses working in-house registry shifts beyond their FTE are owed 1.5x pay—no 40-hour condition applies. Management is withholding that pay and claiming they can revoke it at will. That's not how our contract works—and we're fighting back.
These issues all point to a pattern: Capital Medical wants more out of nurses—more flexibility, more hours, more patience—without paying more. That's unacceptable.
Capital Medical Center is expanding services and asking more of RNs every day, yet refusing to invest in staff. We've proposed:
Double pay for all extra and vacant shifts
Premium pay increases
Competitive wage increases and removal of ghost steps
Break relief RNs for every unit
Safe staffing ratios and enforceable staffing language
An additional holiday and expanded holiday pay for night shift nurses
Increased PTO and EIB usage from day one
Capital Medical rejected these proposals—while claiming they want to compete with Providence St. Peter. If they're serious, they need to invest in nurses.
Instead, nurses are being told daily about how to take breaks on time—without enough staff to cover those breaks. We've been clear: no break relief RNs and short staffing = no missed and untimely breaks.
Nurses are stretched thin. Morale is low. And instead of investing in the workforce, Capital Medical is rejecting commonsense proposals.
We are continuing to push management to take these issues seriously. Our next bargaining session is August 6 and our contract will expire September 30, 2025.
If you have any questions, please contact your bargaining team or Kimberly Starkweather, Union Rep (206) 436-6515.
Bargaining team: Dennis Verellen, ICU; Bonnie Verellen, L&D; Holly Bruckner, ED; Cindy Dixon, PCU
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