Nearly 500 technical workers at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane will go on unfair labor practice strike starting Monday, April 22. Providence’s behavior in our union contract negotiations has shown consistent disrespect for our hard work and for our right to a fair bargaining process. That disrespect of our rights has included unfair and unlawful labor practices, undermining our ability to reach a fair deal. Not only have their proposals at the bargaining table failed to acknowledge Sacred Heart’s skilled technical staff and our unique role in the Inland Northwest’s health care system, their behavior outside the bargaining process has crossed the line into illegal behavior. They have illegally changed our schedules, breaks, and working conditions and attempted to direct deal and coerce staff into accepting subpar proposals. They revoked our access to hospital property for our contract and strike vote, and walked away from negotiations completely when we gave 10-day notice of our strike. This is all while attempting to bargain away our medical and dental benefits and insisting that our jobs be among the lowest-paid and most poorly treated in the region.
We know our community is counting on us. If we allow Providence management to undermine negotiations, degrade the standards in our contract, ignore our hard work and sacrifices, and set the bar as low as possible for how skilled technical workers are treated, we know it will have devastating impacts on our ability to retain experienced staff and recruit new highly qualified technical staff. As our region’s only level II trauma center for adult and pediatric patients, Providence should be the regional leader in recruiting and retaining skilled staff.
“A supermajority of UFCW 3000 members showed up to vote. As an extension of our voices, we used our votes to reject the present contract offered by Providence and to authorize a strike, signaling it is time for Providence to hear us and find solutions to combat short staffing and retain experienced staff. We are a part of this community, and we will continue to fight to keep our community safe and healthy.”
–Providence Sacred Heart Technical Unit Bargaining Team: Derek Roybal, Janelle Mathias, Craig Kistler, Lee Lidman, Joe Sikkila, Shane Sullivan, Miam Critelli, Teresa Bowden, Angela Holmes, Holly Granly.
Add your name to the community pledge of support for striking healthcare Technical Workers at Providence Sacred Heart!