After hundreds of us marched on the picket line including nurses and techs at Everett and St. Peter’s on May 5, Providence continues to disrespect us at the table! We have worked through an entire pandemic short staffed and being undervalued! Providence is trying to frustrate us so we will accept a bad deal. We are essential workers and deserve more than what Providence is offering. 

On May 17, we discussed proposals regarding PTO, leaves of absence, recognition, definitions, grievance, and no strike/no lockout. One of the main reasons we unionized was to keep our EIB/PTO plan. Providence announced the elimination of EIB prior to bargaining, but never announced any changes to our PTO plan until we were in contract negotiations. Due to this change in the status quo, we will be filing an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). We filed a charge for St. Peter’s and the NLRB found merit in our case! This means that Providence must reinstate the original PTO plan at St. Peter’s. At Centralia, we need to show Providence that we want to keep our original PTO plan and they must bargain with us to change it!

We also asked Providence for their wage proposal, but they told us they are still working on their proposal. At the PCH Tech table, Providence proposed merit wage increases and a “minimum, midpoint, maximum” pay scale which mirrors their current practice. We expect that Providence will propose something similar to our unit.

If this is the case, our next action will most likely be to vote down Providence’s proposal. We will be holding a contract action team meeting to discuss bargaining on May 26 and 27.

In Solidarity, Your Support Services Bargaining Team: Necole Moore, EVS; KayCee Grimm, Lab; Kim Jorgenson, ED HUC; Aaron Green, Kitchen; Laura Norton, Endo Tech

PCH will have in person meetings at Fort Borst Park in Centralia on Wednesday, May 26 from 1-3 pm, and Thursday, May 27 from 5-7 pm!