Enumclaw nurses approve new contract amid flurry of labor actions in state
Nurses who rallied in December to bring attention to contract negotiations at an Enumclaw hospital have approved a new deal.
A supermajority of the 124 nurses at CHI Franciscan’s St. Elizabeth Hospital in Enumclaw participated in the vote and unanimously ratified the contract, a media representative for the nurses told The News Tribune late Friday afternoon.
The nurses are represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, which represents more than 30,000 nurses and health care workers in Washington state and Montana.
“The agreement includes safer staffing so patients receive the care they deserve, substantial raises to recruit and retain qualified staff, and none of the dangerous cuts that executives had originally proposed,” according to a release from SEIU sent Jan. 9 after reaching a tentative agreement.
According to the release, the agreement “guarantees a wide range of improvements, including: a commitment by management to adhere to the written staffing guidelines in every hospital unit, enforceable through a neutral arbitrator; a 6.5 percent pay increase upon ratification, a 3.25 percent retroactive raise back to April 1 when the last contract expired, and another 3.5 percent raise on April 1, 2021; increased premium pay for charge nurses and hospital resource nurses; increased pay for extra shifts and standby; credit for new registered nurses who have previous experience as licensed practical nurses” as well as other staffing and pay improvements and training on equity and inclusion for the labor-management committee.
The new contract expires March 31, 2022.
Cary Evans, vice president for communications and government affairs for CHI Franciscan, told The News Tribune in a statement late Friday: “We value our nurses and are committed to providing a quality work environment with competitive wages and benefits that attract and retain the very best. We are happy to have now reached an agreement with our nurses.”
For now, January remains an active month in labor talks, both for CHI Franciscan and another health system.
At Highline Medical Center in Burien, also owned by CHI Franciscan, 550 nurses and healthcare workers are still in negotiations and have been pursuing a new contract since June.
Contract negotiations involving various Providence sites are ongoing, with some reaching tentative agreements.
“Members of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW at Swedish are negotiating alongside thousands of workers at other Providence locations, including members of UFCW 21,” according to the SEIU local’s release.
Early Friday, UFCW 21 announced its nurses from St. Mary’s in Walla Walla and at St. Peters from Olympia and Centralia have reached tentative agreements with Providence.
According to UFCW 21’s release: “This week started with a tentative agreement being reached by RNs from WSNA at Sacred Heart (in Spokane). Within 24 hours UFCW 21 service and maintenance workers at Sacred Heart also reached a tentative agreement, followed another 24 hours later by tentative agreements with service and maintenance workers at Holy Family and two more bargaining units (Professional and Technical workers) at Providence Medical Center in Everett.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
