The union representing more than 700 health care workers at three local hospitals will be holding an informational picket line Tuesday.
Beginning at 3 p.m., workers represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW will picket at St. Clare Hospital in Lakewood, St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma and Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup.
At those hospitals, the union represents about 700 workers whose contracts expired last year. In April, a statewide community organizing group released a report claiming the hospitals’ parent nonprofits, MultiCare and Franciscan health systems, earn $1,000 more per patient than the statewide average. The report used a data analysis done by the SEIU. The health systems disputed the SEIU conclusion.
The picket, to be held on May Day (also known as International Workers’ Day) coincides with a rally for economic justice. The Occupy Tacoma Movement plans a community gathering in Wright Park from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. People, including health care workers from the SEIU picket, will march from Wright Park to Shiloh Baptist Church, 1211 South I St., in Tacoma, for a community rally.
Kathleen Cooper, kathleen.cooper@thenewstribune.com
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