Hospital Workers Join Community to Oppose Closure of Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton

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For Immediate Release: August 23, 2017

Hospital Workers Join Community to Oppose Closure of Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton

The union that represents workers at Harrison Medical Center (HMC) in Kitsap County has declared its opposition to CHI Franciscan Health’s (CHI Franciscan) plan to close HMC’s Bremerton campus. UFCW 21 announced today that, while it supports having a new, unionized hospital in Silverdale, Phase 2 of CHI Franciscan’s plan should be to upgrade or replace the hospital that currently serves the largest city in Kitsap – rather than close it down, as CHI Franciscan intends.

UFCW 21 member Aimee Oien said, “As a Pharmacy Tech at Harrison and a Kitsap resident, I expect CHI Franciscan to put the community’s needs ahead of their corporate parent’s bottom line. Kitsap County gives CHI a huge property tax exemption. It just does not make sense for them to close the hospital in our largest city.”

It is the position of UFCW 21 that instead of cutting staff, closing a hospital and outsourcing work, CHI Franciscan should improve staffing levels, keep more union workers on the job serving patients, and maintain hospital beds in the largest city in the County. That path would be better for health care workers, patients and the community.

Aimee Oien is one of about 1,300 members of UFCW 21 who work at HMC in Bremerton and Silverdale. These workers are members of UFCW 21 which represents more than 3,300 healthcare and grocery store workers who live in Kitsap County, and more than 46,000 around the state of Washington. UFCW 21 is the state’s largest private sector local union.

BACKGROUND:

CHI Franciscan’s parent company, Catholic Health Initiatives, acquired HMC in 2013 and recently asked the Washington State Department of Health (DoH) for permission to permanently close the hospital’s Bremerton campus and relocate all HMC hospital beds to its Silverdale campus. CHI’s plan calls for opening one new hospital tower in Silverdale in 2020 and a second in 2023, at which time the Bremerton campus would be closed.

DoH had originally approved CHI Franciscan’s request, but then in an unusual move agreed to reconsider its decision after reviewing information provided by the City of Bremerton, which opposes the hospital closure.

UFCW 21 Encourages Everyone to Attend Hearing:

The DoH will hold a second public hearing on CHI Franciscan’s plan.

·         Friday, September 8

·         Bremerton School District Office (134 Marion Ave N. Bremerton).

·         UFCW 21 members and allies will rally at 9:30 AM, prior to the start of the 10:30 hearing.

Now more than ever, sticking together.

Brothers, Sisters and Friends -
 
Our UFCW 21 family includes people of all faiths, ethnicities, genders, languages, sexual orientations and ages. We will stand together. We will protect one another. We will have each other’s backs. That is what it means to be union. That is what it means to be American.
 
We are writing to you with great sadness, but also with great determination to defeat the voices of hate and division that are becoming louder and more dangerous across our country. For many years, our mission has been building a more powerful union that fights for economic, political and social justice in our workplaces and in our communities.
 
This past weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia we saw what happens when violent hate groups feel empowered by racist rhetoric and policy initiatives from the highest levels of our government. The white supremacists that gathered there proudly carried symbols of racism and anti-Semitism and threatened violence against peaceful counter-protestors. In an act of domestic terrorism, one of these men sped his car into a peaceful crowd, injuring 19 and killing a young woman named Heather Heyer, who was well-known locally as an advocate for social justice.
 
The rise of racism is a problem we cannot ignore. Racism divides us from each other and, in so doing, it weakens our union and our communities. When we look to history, we see how employers have used racism in order to exploit workers and keep them from uniting for better wages and working conditions. In fact, some of the strongest anti-union laws being pushed today originated in the 1940s with white supremacist groups trying to maintain the racist Jim Crow labor system. The fight against racism is a moral imperative. And it is also a fight against union busting.
 
Here in Washington we are not immune to racial injustice. Just one week ago, a young Mexican man named Honesto Silva Ibarra, a Saraband Farms worker in Sumas, Washington, died after allegedly being denied needed medical attention in the fields. After his death, at least 70 of Ibarra’s co-workers protested unsafe working conditions. Saraband Farms fired them. In an atmosphere of rising anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies, perhaps this employer felt free to mistreat and abuse these workers because they are from Mexico and other countries outside the United States.
 
Also, here in our backyard the recent killing by Seattle police officers of a young mother, Charleena Lyles, highlights the need to address issues of police accountability. In the three years since the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, we have been repeatedly confronted with the sad fact that race and bias are factors in policing and as a result people of color and marginalized people are disproportionately impacted by police violence. Again, we will stand together. We will protect one another. We will have each other’s backs. That’s what it means to have a strong union and build strong communities.
 
If you have been watching what’s happening and wondering what you can do, now is the time to join with UFCW 21 to make a change. Here are just a few of the initiatives you can work on as a member of UFCW 21:

  • Help UFCW 21 form Rapid Response Networks to protect our brothers and sisters when they and their families face racist threats, including anti-immigrant raids. Get involved by sending an email to action@ufcw21.org with the subject line "Rapid Response Networks"
  • Challenge racism in our workplaces and our communities, by participating in the Washington State Labor Council’s Race and Labor Initiative. Get involved by sending an email to action@ufcw21.org with the subject line "Race and Labor Initiative"
  • Support our partner organization, Community to Community, which is working to win justice for immigrant workers at Saraband Farms and throughout Northwest Washington. Get involved by sending an email to action@ufcw21.org with the subject line "Support Farmworkers"
  • Join UFCW 21 to help pass Initiative 940 to De-Escalate Washington by requiring police be trained in violence de-escalation, mental health, and first aid; mandating that police should render first aid at the scene; and applying a good faith standard for use of deadly force. Get involved by sending an email to action@ufcw21.org with the subject line "De-escalate Washington"
  • If you want to request that you or a co-worker become a Union Steward to help lead your workplace, get involved by sending an email to action@ufcw21.org with the subject line "Steward Training Request"

We want to close by thanking all of you who have stepped up to play a leadership role in our union, as stewards, as bargaining team members, as volunteer organizers and in many other capacities.
 
It is our activists and stewards who lead the effort to enforce and bargain better contracts, pass legislation that reflects our values, and build strong bonds with the communities we serve.
 
In the coming months and years we will need even more of you to emerge as leaders to help us defeat the voices of hate and racism that seek to divide and weaken us.
 
Sincerely,
 
UFCW 21 Executive Board

UFCW 21 Resolutions @ the 2017 Washington State Labor Council Convention

Last month UFCW 21 members joined union members from across the state for the 2017 Washington State Labor Council Convention in Vancouver. Every year, delegates to the convention discuss and pass resolutions submitted by union locals and councils that establish priorities for the WSLC, including the resolutions UFCW 21 members helped pass below!

Summer 2017 General Membership Meetings

Olympia
Monday, August 21
12:00 pm
Kaiser Permanente
Olympia Medical Center
700 Lily Rd NE
Conference Room B

Tuesday, August 22
3:30 pm
Capital Medical Center
3900 Capital Mall Dr SW
Cafeteria

Wednesday, August 23
1:00 pm
Providence St. Peter Hospital
413 Lily Road NE
Cafeteria

Omak
Tuesday, August 22
2:30 pm
Mid-Valley Hospital
Family Medical Building
800 Jasmine St
Room E (Family Medical Center)

Tuesday, August 22
5:15 pm
Mid-Valley Clinic
529 Jasmine St
Break Room

Port Angeles
Wednesday, August 23
4:30 pm
Olympic Medical Center
939 Caroline Street
Fairshter Room

Port Townsend
Tuesday, August 22
12:00 pm & 5:15 pm
Pt. Townsend Senior Ctr.
620 Tyler St
Board Room

Republic
Tuesday, August 22
1:00 pm  (New Time)
Ferry County Memorial Hospital
36 Klondike Road
Hospital Conference Room 

Sea-Tac
Monday, August 21
7:00 pm
Angle Lake Community Center
4040 S 188th Street, #100
Meeting Room

Seattle
Tuesday, August 22  
9:30 am & 7:00 pm
Phinney Neighborhood Center
6532 Phinney Ave N
Room 31 Lower Brick Bldg.

Thursday, August 24
9:00 am & 7:00 pm
UFCW 21 - Seattle
5030 1st Ave S
Joe Crump Hall

Sequim
Wednesday, August 23
7:00 pm
Quality Inn
134 River Road
Breakfast Room

Shelton
Monday, August 21
12:00 pm
Mason General
901 Mountain View Dr
Washington Room

Silverdale
Wednesday, August 23
9:00 am & 5:30 pm
UFCW 21 Office
3888 NW Randall Way #105
Conference Room

South Bend
Monday, August 21
3:00 pm
Willapa Harbor Hospital
800 Alder Street
Cedar Room

Spokane
Thursday, August 24
8:00 am, 1:00 pm & 4:00 pm
UFCW 21 Office
1710 N Calispel
Conference Room

Tacoma
Tuesday, August 22
2:00 pm & 5:00 pm
First United Methodist Church
621 Tacoma Ave S
Room 119

Tonasket
Wednesday, August 23
12:30 pm & 2:00 pm
North Valley Hospital
203 S. Western Ave
Orientation Room

Walla Walla
Monday, August 21
1:00 pm
Providence St. Mary’s Medical Center
401 W. Poplar St
Luken Room

Wenatchee
Thursday, August 24
12:00 pm
Confluence Health
1300 Fuller St
Conference Room B

 

 

 

 

Aberdeen
Monday, August 21
6:00 pm   
Grays Harbor Hospital- West Campus
915 Anderson Drive
Conference Room E - 1st Floor

Auburn
Wednesday, August 23
2:30 pm
Auburn Regional Medical Center
Plaza 1: 202 N Division St
AMC 1st Floor
Cascade Training Room

Bellevue
Thursday, August 24
9:00 am & 7:00 pm
Sheraton Hotel
100 112th Ave NE
Bel Air Room

Bellingham
Wednesday, August 23
7:00 pm
Quality Inn Baron Suites
100 E Kellogg Road
Olympus Room

Bremerton
Thursday, August 24
11:00 am
Harrison Medical Center
2520 Cherry Ave
Cafeteria

Brewster
Wednesday, August 23
5:00 pm
Three Rivers Hospital
415 Hospital Way
Hillcrest Admin. Bldg. 
Commons Area

Centralia
Wednesday, August 23
10:00 am
Providence Centralia Hospital
914 S Scheuber Road
Cafeteria

Colville/Chewelah
Wednesday, August 23
5:00 pm
Nordlig Hotel
101 W Grant Ave, Chewelah
Meeting Room

Coupeville
Wednesday, August 23
3:15 pm  
Whidbey General Hospital
101 N Main St
Conference Room B

Enumclaw
Monday, August 21
1:00 pm
Guesthouse Inn
1000 Griffin Ave
Meeting Room

Everett
Thursday, August 24
9:00 am & 7:00 pm
Snohomish County PUD
2320 California Street
Room TC1-A

Federal Way
Tuesday, August 22
9:00 am
Hometown Office Suites & Svcs
33530 1st Way South #102
Class Room

Forks
Monday, August 21
2:00 pm
Forks Community Hospital
530 Bogachiel Way
Main Conference Room

Kennewick
Monday, August 21
6:00 pm
IBEW 112
2637 W Albany Ave
Meeting Room

Kent
Monday, August 21
9:00 am & 5:00 pm
Kent Commons
525 4th Ave N
AM - Interurban Room
PM - Mill Creek Room

Lynnwood
Monday, August 21
7:00 pm
Lynnwood Convention Center
3711 196th St SW
Room 1A

Monroe
Thursday, August 24
3:30 pm
EvergreenHealth Monroe
14701 179th Ave SE
The Café Corner

Moses Lake
Thursday, August 24
5:00 pm
Samaritan Healthcare
801 E Wheeler Road
Classroom 401

Mount Vernon
Tuesday, August 22  
7:00 pm
UFCW 21 Office
1510 N 18th St
Conference Room

Oak Harbor
Wednesday, August 23
7:00 pm
Best Western Harbor Plaza
33175 SR 20
Whidbey Room