Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center is preparing for a five-day strike by non-nursing employees that is set to begin Monday. The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West issued a 10-day notice last week of its intended labor action.
The strike comes after months of negotiations between PSJMC and SEIU-UHW, where the hospital bargaining team proposed significant wage increases and contract enhancements – including a 24% increase in wages over a three-year contract and significant market wage adjustments for many jobs.Unfortunately, the union has offered unrealistic counterproposals in response and has chosen to strike instead of continuing contract negotiations.
The hospital is well prepared for the strike and assures patients and the community that the planned work stoppage will have no impacts on the safe, high-quality care they have come to expect from Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center. The hospital will maintain its daily operations and has contracted replacement workers for members of the bargaining unit who choose to strike.
PSJMC firmly believes that strikes don’t settle contracts; they delay them and keep our caregivers from getting the pay and benefits enhancements they deserve. The PSJMC bargaining team will return to the bargaining table after the strike ends.
