Photo by Shayna Clayton
By Alice McIntyre
On Oct. 30, nurses at St. Peter Hospital represented by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 21 voted to authorize a strike, after five months of contract negotiations and a June 27 protest. The nurses also voted down a previous contract proposal in 544-1 vote in August. Local 21, representing 1,200 workers at St. Peter, has objected to proposals by management which would affect paid time off, staffing levels, and future pay increases.
Nurses and hospital workers at other Providence hospitals throughout the state of Washington have also voted to authorize strikes. Votes were cast in favor of strikes at Sacred Heart and Holy Family hospitals in Spokane, St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, Centralia Hospital, and Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett. UFCW Local 21 and the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) have undertaken a statewide campaign against Providence under the slogan “patients before profits,” holding similar objections to proposed contract changes by management as the nurses at St. Peter.
Hospital workers allege that Providence has utilized threats and surveillance in its campaign against the union. Austen Louden, a food service worker at Sacred Heart in Spokane, told The Inlander on Oct. 31 “They’ve been threatening our co-workers saying that if we were to go on strike, they would lock us out,” and “You can tell they’re scared.”
On their website, Providence states that their proposed contract changes will provide “greater financial security and more flexibility when unexpected needs arise,” and replace an “antiquated and inequitable extended illness time program with a new employer-paid short-term disability benefit.” Anne Piazza, senior director of strategic initiatives at the Washington State Nurses Association, asserted to The Inlander that “What Providence is proposing is for nurses to give up their earned benefits, including earned illness time and reducing their paid time off,” pushing back against management’s narrative.
Nurses and healthcare workers’ grievances aren’t limited to Providence or to Washington State. In California, mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente have voted to strike the week of Nov. 11, citing overwhelming caseloads, excessive wait times for appointments, and inadequate pay and benefits. The strike by the 4,000-strong union would affect more than 100 Kaiser locations throughout the state. Workers at Kaiser Permanente narrowly averted a nationwide strike in September, reaching an agreement with management over staffing levels, benefits, and pay.
The fight at Providence is part of a national trend of increased labor militancy. From an uptick in education worker struggles to the recent General Motors strike, the organized working class is on the move. Grocery store workers in Olympia and throughout Western Washington are, at the time of writing, voting on a contract proposal with Albertsons, Safeway, Fred Meyer, and QFC.
With The Inlander and other local media reporting that Providence isn’t budging on key sticking points in negotiations, it seems uncertain that management will be able to avoid a strike. Nurses and hospital workers, while wishing to avoid a strike, are in their own words determined to do so if necessary. The slogan “patients before profits” makes it clear that UFCW Local 21 and WSNA consider themselves not just to be fighting for their own interests, but those of the whole community.
