St. Michael Medical Center RN - SAVE THE DATE – INFORMATIONAL PICKET
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“The Employer made very little movement and has requested federal mediation. RSVP to our May 26 Informational Picket to show management that we stand in solidarity for a fair contract!”
Your Bargaining Team: Brett Moore, Cindy Franck, Kimberly Fraser McMillan, Michael Nord, Tammy Olson, and Janice Jones.
Our Bargaining Team met with management again on May 3 to continue negotiations for the St. Michael Medical Center RN contract.
Your Bargaining Team worked hours on crafting a comprehensive proposal for the employer on wages, staffing, and other important issues. However, the Employer only responded with a small package proposal regarding charge nurses and holiday call but nothing else. They failed to even provide an economic counteroffer!
Then at the end of our bargaining session the employer surprised the Bargaining Team by requesting that the parties bring in a federal mediator to help work through the remaining issues on the table.
We are very disappointed with the progress of negotiations and the lack of proposals from the employer at this session only furthered the Bargaining Team’s frustration. Therefore, we have agreed to begin the process of federal mediation.
Unfortunately, we must also report that we believe the employer has violated nurses’ rights on at least two occasions, forcing the Union to file Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges against the employer with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
These incidents occurred when management asked for members to remove their “Hello Staffing Crisis” stickers in early April, then again when nurses handing out strike pledge cards at an employee entrance were told they were in violation of company policy and must leave. In addition to filing charges, we are reviewing other actions that we can take to ensure the employer will cease violating the rights of bargaining unit nurses.
We are scheduled to meet with the Employer again on May 6, which will be our first session with the federal mediator. We’ve also signed a contract extension agreement through the end of the month, meaning that all protections of your contract remain fully intact.
What is mediation?
When the Union and Employer have reached a point when little progress is being made, the parties have the option to bring in a neutral third-party mediator to help move things along. The federal government provides a free mediation service (Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service) that works exclusively on union-employer disputes and has assigned a mediator to help us reach a deal with management. The role of the mediator is to help the parties better understand the other’s point of view and to push both sides towards an agreement. However, the mediator has no power to force either side to make any changes to their proposals.
RSVP to the Info Picket!
After months of bargaining, our Bargaining Team has announced that nurses at St. Michael Medical Center will be holding an informational picket on Thursday May 26 from 3:00PM to 5:00PM. We invite bargaining unit nurses who are off-the-clock, their families, and any member of the community to RSVP for the event. RSVP through the code or link below!
Thursday, May 26 • 3PM - 5PM
1800 NW Myhre Road, Silverdale, WA 98383
