Swedish Medical Center - SEIU Healthcare 1199NW votes YES!
SEIU Healthcare 1199NW and Swedish Medical Center have negotiated a new three year collective bargaining agreement ratified by 97% of members. The new agreement covers more than 4,000 registered nurses, technical staff, and service workers.
“The contract represents a significant investment in caregivers and the patients we serve,” said Diane Sosne, RN, president of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW. “The contract addresses common interests around staffing, but also implements proactive measures including the new ‘training and upgrading fund’ to provide our members with career mobility that will help address nurse and healthcare staff shortages.”
The collective bargaining agreement includes:
- A ‘training and upgrading fund’ between SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, Swedish Medical Center, Stevens Hospital, Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, Highline Medical Center, and Valley Medical Center - a first in the state of Washington for acute care hospitals. This fund will help address the shortage of healthcare staff by providing training and education opportunities to currently employed healthcare staff. Governor Gregoire and the legislature adopted a $1.5 million allocation in the 2008 supplemental budget to train healthcare workers for high vacancy jobs through programs such as these.
- Job security measures including a ‘no subcontracting’ clause in Washington to ensure that jobs done by Swedish Medical Center employees will not be subcontracted out; a pledge not to manage hospital finances through cyclical layoffs; opportunity for creation of new union jobs in future expansions of Swedish Medical Center; and protection of charge nurses’ right to remain union members under the Supreme Court Kentucky River ruling.
- Wage increases for Registered Nurses between 12% - 15% over the three year contract.
- Wage increases for service and technical healthcare staff between 8% - 10.5% over the three year contract. Service and technical healthcare staff also benefited from a 3% wage increase on April 1 that was bargained as part of their previous contract.
- Maintenance of full employer paid healthcare coverage for employees, with a modest increase in the employee share of dependent coverage beginning in 2010, and no other out-of-pocket increases for the three year contract.
Incorporation of the new safe staffing law passed by the legislature, which requires collaboration between front line managers and nurses to develop and evaluate a publicly posted staffing plan.
“This contract is a win for our patients” said Nancy Gladsjo, RN at Swedish Medical Center. “Our working conditions are also patient care conditions, and the provisions in this contract ensure that we can continue to deliver quality patient care at Swedish.”
The new three year contract covers Registered Nurses, service and technical healthcare workers and is effective until June 30, 2011.
Five area hospitals represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW also completed contract negotiations. Swedish Medical Center was the first hospital to settle their contract among the five hospitals with contract expirations of June 30, 2008. Highline Medical Center, St. Clare Hospital in Lakewood, Stevens Hospital in Edmonds, Valley General Hospital in Monroe, and Valley Medical Center in Renton also recently completed negotiations.
Bargaining Team Members:
Ballard
Ghenet Araya, ENVIR SVCS TECH I, Environmental Services
Colleen Clancy, RN, Acute Care
Ella Hisaw, RN, Emergency Services
Rolinda Morford, LINE COOK, Nutrition Services Patient
Sally O’Neill, RN, Family Childbirth Ctr
Pamela Putnam, RN, Ballard Nursing Float
Edward Robertson, RESP CARE PRACTR LD, OP Physical Therapy
Michael Sweeney, RN, Addiction Recovery
Cherry Hill
Cara Alderson, RN, Neuro Critical Care ICU
James Bolzendahl, NURSING ASST CERT, Interventional Cardiac
Charles Bowers, SURGICAL TECH, Same Day Surgery-PAC
Leslie Brown-Padilla, RESP CARE PRACTR, Respiratory Thrpy
Corrina Burris, PAT REGIST COORD, Patient Registration
Barbara Cryderman, RN, Cardiac Cath Lab
Chriss Curry, RAD TECHNLGST REG, Med Imaging
Carle Griffin, COOK II, Cafeteria
Stephanie Johnson, DIAG SONOGRAPHER, Med Imaging
Geralyn Kaperak, RN, Interventional Cardiac
Lynda Krestinski, RN, Heart and Vascular Surgery
Aurolyn Lee, RN, Nursing Float
Ladessa Lohr, NURSING ASST CERT, Wound Center
Mary McKibben, RN, Critical Care
Ross Minard, RN, Two East General
Katherine Powell, RN, Recovery
Gail Sanderson, RN, Critical Care
Suzi Scott, RN, Swedish Family Med Clinic
Kathleen Tracey, RN, Six East Rehab
Lupe White, MED ASST LD LIC HCA-ACE, Swedish Family Med Clinic
First Hill
Ana-Lisa Allen, RN, Labor Delivery 5E
Ann Allen, DIET TECH, Nutrition Services-Patient
Debra Almquist, SURGICAL TECH, Surgical Resource Services
Linda Arkava, RN, Telemetry and Interventional U
Beverly Barker, RN, Short Stay Unit 2SW
Kelly Bleiweis, RAD TECHNLGST REG, Medical Imaging
James “Mike” Booth, STERILE PROCESS TECH II, Sterile Processing
Joseph Bridges, ENVIR SVCS TECH II, Waste Management
Shelly Burnett, RN, Ortho Services
Vincent Carlo Carbonell, MATRL DIST TECH, Material Service Center
Isabel Congdon, RN, Postpartum 4S 5S 5SW
Antoinette Coulibaly, RN, Nursing Float
Antoinette Eaton, PAT SVCS COORD, Swedish Family Medicine Clinic
Mark Edmondson, RESP CARE PRACTR, Respiratory Therapy
Gayle Ann Erickson, RN, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Ludmila Faber, TELECOMM ATTENDANT, Call Center
Eric Faught, EMERG DEPT TECH LD, Emergency Services
Nancy Gladsjo, RN, Labor Delivery 5E
Mary Graling, RN, Flexible Staffing
Clarita Guanlao, Pharmacy Tech, Pharmacy
Rebecca Hell, RN, Inpatient Surgery-2nd Level
Stephanie Henkel, RN, Infant Unit 2S
Ivory Infante, RN, Intensive Care
Katherine Johnson, PAT SVCS COORD, SCI-Breast Surgery Clinic
Sophie Keller, RN, Postpartum 4S 5S 5SW
Trayci Knox, Unit Secretary, Nursing Float
Maret Lambert, RN, General Medical
Elizabeth Lewis, RN, Recovery IP Surgery-2nd Level
Sandra Martellini, RN, Gastro Special Procedures
Granger Michaelsen, RN, Inpatient Surgery-2nd Level
Don Miller, RN, Emergency Services
Justin Mitchell, PERIOP SUPP TECH II, Surgical Resource Services
Vanetta Molson-Turner, RN, Gyn Surgical -11SW
Elizabeth Moore, RN, Antepartum 5SW
Raffi Ohanian, STAFFING ASST, Nursing Resource Operations
Cheri Puetz, RN, Pediatric Unit
Josephine Renken, RN, Infant Unit 2SVincent Rhodes, RN, Intensive Care
Mary Seabeck, PAT REGIST REP, Patient Registration
Shirley Sims, UNIT SECRETARy LD, Pediatric Unit
Michele Strausser, RN, Medical Respiratory 8SW
Katherine Sweeney, RN, Ambulatory Surgery Center
Cheryl Wallace, RN, Pediatric Intensive Care -8E
Serena Wang, DIAG SONOGRAPHER, Medical Imaging
Perry Whitner, NURSING ASST CERT, Ambulatory Surgery Center
Christie Williams, COOK, The Market Cafe
Freddie Williams, SURGICAL FACILITATOR, Surgical Resource Services
Wendy Zema, RN, Intravenous Nurses
Issaquah
Shane Severide, EMERG DEPT TECH LD, Issaquah Emergency Services