FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2024
MORE THAN 1,100 HEALTHCARE WORKERS AT KADLEC TO STRIKE IF AGREEMENT ISN’T REACHED
Following Thursday’s bargaining session, healthcare workers at Kadlec in the Tri-Cities issued a 10-day Unfair Labor Practice strike notice to Providence executives, calling for “same employer, same work, same pay”
Richland, Wash. – More than 1,100 techs and service workers at Kadlec united in SEIU Healthcare 1199NW will strike for seven days starting August 20 to denounce Providence executives’ bad-faith bargaining and refusal to settle a strong contract with investments in wages and staffing that respect frontline workers’ experience, no matter where they work in the Providence system.
On Friday, dozens of workers gathered in the hospital and hand-delivered the legally required 10-day notice to hold an unfair labor practice strike to Kadlec CNO Kirk Harper. With a seven-day strike, the workers will be putting a spotlight on parent corporation Providence’s disregard for workers’ rights under the NLRA, and failure to bring forth meaningful proposals that will recruit, retain, address inequities in the workplace, and keep patients safe. A return to work is set for August 27.
The strike notice followed an emotional bargaining session Thursday where members of the union bargaining team — made up of frontline workers — shared personal stories of evictions, financial duress, and declining mental health, stemming from the workers’ inability to provide for their families due to stagnant and insufficient wages. The workers’ stories were met with disregard and a pointed lack of sympathy by the hospital’s bargaining team, according to the workers. Management’s limp proposals and lack of reaction to bargaining team members’ deeply personal stories reinforced the union team’s belief that Providence is bargaining in bad faith, without a true desire to reach a contract.
“Thursday’s bargaining session marked a turning point for our team,” said Mona Chalmers, certified nursing assistant and member of the bargaining team. “We’ve bargained with Kadlec in good faith, and as bargaining team members, we’ve depleted our PTO banks to show up at the bargaining table and get this contract settled; we’ve been very candid about our coworkers’ financial situation and our own difficulties making ends meet and supporting our families. There’s been no compassion, no real acknowledgment of our sacrifices, and very little urgency toward settling a contract that we can bring back to our coworkers.”
Frontline healthcare workers have been sounding the alarm about Kadlec executives’ failure to bring forth proposals that mirror the investment that parent corporation Providence has made at Providence Swedish in Seattle. At stake at the bargaining table is Kadlec’s ability to recruit and retain without wages that keep up with the increasing cost of living in the Tri-Cities, among other issues. Providence executives at Kadlec have proposed for the first year of the contract wage raises worth pennies over the minimum wage for the lowest paid job classes.
The bargaining process began in January 2023, and the parties have held 13 bargaining sessions since. The workers authorized their union bargaining team to call a strike with a membership vote that concluded in May; the workers overwhelmingly voted to support their team’s proposal to take their message to the community. The workers held an informational picket on May 28, followed by a candlelight vigil on July 8.
Kadlec announced its affiliation with Providence in 2014. At the time, the then-CEO of Kadlec claimed that the affiliation with “a system with the expertise and financial resources” would help “keep up with the needs of the region.” Records show that executive pay at Kadlec in the Tri-Cities is similar to executive pay at Providence Swedish in Seattle. According to its compensation report filed with the Washington Department of Health for 2023, Providence paid $3.5 million to its top-five executives at Kadlec who are based out of the Tri-Cities, and $3.8 million to its top-five executives at Swedish First Hill who live in the Seattle area. Meanwhile, wage ranges for frontline workers in similar job classes show significant disparities between the two locations. It underscores the workers’ message to executives: Same employer, same work, same pay.
“Providence has no excuse — it must invest in care at Kadlec, not in executive pay or to expand its real estate portfolio,” said Jane Hopkins, RN, president of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW. “Kadlec frontline workers are performing the same jobs and providing the same high-quality care as their counterparts in Seattle; they deserve the same pay. When pay differentials based on geography don’t appear to apply to its executives, only to frontline healthcare workers, it sends a message — that they don’t respect the experience of the staff who make Kadlec run and care for the Tri-Cities. As a union of 33,000 healthcare workers, we don’t back down from fighting for what healthcare workers deserve, and we are ready to send a strong message to Providence executives at Kadlec with this action. When healthcare workers are outside, it’s because there is something wrong inside.”
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About SEIU Healthcare 1199NW
SEIU Healthcare 1199NW is a union of nurses and healthcare workers with over 33,000 caregivers throughout hospitals, clinics, mental health, skilled home health and hospice programs in Washington state and Montana. SEIU Healthcare 1199NW’s mission is to advocate for quality care and good jobs for all.