This summer, the weather is hot and our wins are too. We’ve stood together to take action to move management at the bargaining table in order to raise standards for healthcare workers everywhere.
Our union is ever-growing: on-call healthcare workers at DESC in Seattle overwhelmingly voted union YES to join our union! Workers were motivated by the opportunity to have a respectful relationship with management and to negotiate over shared priorities. Welcome to our union siblings!
Nurses at Logan Health in Kalispell, Montana voted YES to ratify a strong new contract! Our wins include historic wage increases of 20% over the next two years, including 11.5% upon ratification — the largest one-time wage increase won by healthcare workers in Montana in recent memory. In addition, we won higher premiums and differentials, healthcare protections, and rights for holding union activities in the hospital. Our unity, persistence, and willingness to stand together to take action is what ultimately moved management at the bargaining table!
Then, healthcare workers at Klickitat Valley Health in Goldendale won big and officially ratified our new contract! We’ll be seeing wage increases from 6.75%-12% this year, credit for past experience, and recognition of our education. After this one-year agreement, we’ll be back just as strong and united to bargain again next summer.
Behavioral health workers at Navos in King County voted to ratify our new contract as well. Through taking action and our continued unity, we won wage increases between 10-20% with additional across-the-board increases and differentials, improved PTO, and more. We fought back against takeaways and retained bargaining team pay, preceptor pay, and rest between shifts. Our unity made the difference, and we secured a great contract that will help us afford the cost of living, recruit and retain great coworkers, and provide the quality care our patients deserve.
Next, healthcare workers at Country Doctor Community Health Centers and Carolyn Downs in Seattle unanimously voted YES to ratify our first contract! With our clinics’ rich history since being founded by the Black Panther Party and anti-war activists, we were driven by our commitment to racial justice and the communities we serve.
Our contract includes across-the-board increases and a wage scale that will recruit and retain coworkers who are invested in our mission, a new grievance process, increased retirement contributions, and a commitment from management to invest in racial justice work. We came together, organized our coworkers, and then stood steadfast for a strong first contract!
After months of bargaining, standing together to take action, and even voting yes to hold an informational picket if necessary, workers at Providence Hospice and Home Care of Snohomish have ratified a great second contract!
We won incredible raises between 19-29% that will help us afford the increased cost of living, access to the Multi-Employer Training Fund to further our educations with up-front tuition money, Organizational Equity and Inclusion facilitation as a part of our labor-management relationship, and much more. We held strong for a contract that will help us recruit and retain great coworkers, and it paid off.
Most recently, workers at Wellfound Behavioral Health Hospital in Tacoma ratified a first contract that will help recruit and retain great coworkers and keep us safe at work! It took over a year of actions throughout bargaining – including many petitions and sticker ups, reaching out to our local electeds for support, and holding a community vigil – but our persistence won.
We’ll see increased wages, including our first-ever wage scale, a voice in safety and staffing in our hospital, and a new labor-management relationship. Our new contract will allow us to continue delivering the quality behavioral health care that Tacoma needs.
By standing together, we win big, and we aren’t stopping anytime soon.