Tacoma hospital, union mired in contract talks covering healthcare and service workers
St. Joseph Medical Center workers represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW are calling out Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and its parent company as contract talks go beyond a year.
The union-represented workers held an informational picket Wednesday outside the VMFH hospital Wednesday (Oct. 23), citing their issues with VMFH and its parent company, Chicago-based CommonSpirit.
The workers’ bargaining unit includes more than 600 licensed practical nurses and workers in service-job classifications. Those include certified nursing assistants, environmental service workers, cooks and dietary clerks, among others.
The workers contend talks have not gone far enough to ensure safe staffing and working conditions, improved wages and “respect from management as they continue to provide critical care for the Tacoma community,” the union said in a release this week.
“The union workers’ proposals would lift up all workers, many of whom are BIPOC and immigrant workers in low-wage job classes, and would strengthen VMFH’s self-proclaimed Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging blueprint,” the union stated.
“Instead, the multi-million-dollar corporation has focused on profits, spending on costly agency workers, executive compensation, and sports sponsorships while its diverse workforce struggles with low wages and inadequate staffing due to high rates of turnover,” it added.
Sydney Bersante is interim president, at St. Joseph Medical Center. She told The News Tribune in an emailed statement, “We deeply value the contributions of each employee and remain committed to providing fair and competitive pay and benefits for all.”
Bersante said that the hospital has been negotiating “in good faith” with SEIU, and added, “Collectively, we still have work to do in reaching an agreement, and we remain committed to the negotiation process.”
Charney Chambers is an equipment tech in respiratory therapy at St. Joseph. Chambers said in a statement, “We can’t keep doing our jobs well when we’re understaffed, underpaid, and working in unsafe conditions. Our patients deserve better, and so do we.”
The union contends that the base hourly pay for some job classes falls just above Washington state’s minimum wage of $16.28, noting that an emergency-room technician’s hourly base pay is $19.88. The union in its release said workers have sought to lift that pay rate to $27.88 an hour, and say they were met with a counter of $21.52 an hour, “which does not meet the market and does not help keep up with the increased cost of living.”
Use of contract and temporary workers, a trend that rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, has continued, according to the union, with those workers paid “significantly higher rates,” SEIU added in its release, “making it difficult to recruit and retain permanent staff.”
Bersante said proposals St. Joseph has offered include an up to 25 percent increase in pay upon ratification for “all SEIU team members.”
“Since SEIU’s contract expired more than one year ago, all positions would qualify for both year one and year two increases immediately in addition to substantial increases in year one,” Bersante added.
Bersante also said the hospital has proposed “a new Workplace Safety & Violence Prevention program and support of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging skill and awareness building and a broader work plan in collaboration with the team.”
Jane Hopkins, a registered nurse and president of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, said in a statement, “Healthcare workers have sacrificed so much, especially during the pandemic. They deserve a contract that reflects their value and ensures they can provide the best care for their patients.
“When healthcare workers have the resources needed to provide high-quality care, patients experience healthier outcomes,” Hopkins added.
The two sides return to the bargaining table Oct. 28.
