Eight Thousand Hospital Workers Strike in Seattle

[Omaha Steve]

After nine months of fruitless negotiations, 8,000 hospital workers in the Swedish Medical Center chain in Seattle walked out January 28 on a three-day strike.
Photo: SEIU 1199NW.

January 31, 2020 / Steve Leigh

After nine months of fruitless negotiations, 8,000 hospital workers in the Swedish Medical Center chain in Seattle walked out January 28 on a three-day strike.

The strikers include everyone from nurses and medical assistants to orderlies and janitors. They are represented by SEIU 1199NW.

The strike was over unfair labor practices. The union alleges that Swedish management has fired workers for union activity and has failed to engage in good-faith bargaining.

Swedish is part of a bigger corporation, Providence Health & Services, one of the West Coast’s largest and richest health care systems. Since Providence is such a major care player, the success or failure of this campaign is likely to have ripple effects on the wages and working conditions for health care workers around the region.

FULL story: https://labornotes.org/2020/01/eight-thousand-hospital-workers-strike-seattle

[Sovmattis]

1. the results?

Hi, I am curious of how the aftermath of this strike has unfolded, if anyone could share any news on this. /Mattias, Swedish RN (As in living in Sweden...)

[quaint]

2. After a labor strike and a pandemic, Swedish Hospital nurses have a contract

Union members secured raises with the agreement, but some say they just wanted to put the fight behind them.

<> Following the walkout, Gov. Jay Inslee’s office stepped in to help mediate new talks. But those were temporarily paused as COVID-19 began to spread through the community. What had been one of the year’s biggest local stories faded as the coronavirus dominated the attention of both Swedish and Inslee.

Nevertheless, in the last week of March, the union’s bargaining team announced a tentative agreement, recommending that members vote yes. <>

Story

[Sovmattis]

3. Thank you for the answer.

I hope they will prosper with the deal, and maybe even get better ones, once the epidemic is over.