As employees of Virginia Mason, we deserve to be treated with respect and have a meaningful voice in the future of our hospital. We, are committed to joining together to build an effective union organization for the employees of VM to provide the highest quality care and services for our patients and uphold the dignity of our professions and workplace.
12/14: Learn how unions work and what to expect from management before we vote.
1/3: By forming our union, Virginia Mason staff gain a seat at the table.
Join our Virginia Mason Voices WhatsApp channel and connect with other union supporter and share you ideas.
Nurses and caregivers standing together have the most powerful voice to take on a healthcare system that’s increasingly cutting back staffing while our patients get less and less of the care they need. Together, we have won a strong voice in staffing decision making and real, concrete benchmarks for staffing that range from guaranteed staffing ratios to a process where we can call in additional staff when needed. Our union voice means we can give each patient more of the attention they deserve.
Uniting in SEIU Healthcare 1199NW means having a contract with guaranteed, predictable raises that are based on experience, not favoritism. Our contracts include two raises a year—one across-the-board to keep up with the increasing cost of living and one step raise to recognize seniority and dedication. Additionally, we get guaranteed premium pay that recognizes our sacrifices as on-call, night shift, weekend, or precepting workers. Our union voice means fair pay that invests in us and our skills and dedication.
Why is management fighting our union effort?
A majority of CommonSpirit hospital employees in Washington State have a union. Our Registered Nurse colleagues are members of WSNA. CommonSpirit management has bargained with each of them and settled contracts in good faith. Why is our desire to have a union and contract so different? Why has CommonSpirt chosen to hire expensive “union avoidance” attorneys from Missouri and to require our managers to attend meetings and spend time trying to convince us to vote no? Why are we being pulled away from professional and patient care responsibilities to listen to anti-union “information”?
Unfortunately, these tactics are common among many employers – so common and predictable that BINGO cards have been created by countless others going through a union vote. Follow along to see just how many tricks CommonSprit will attempt.
Do you want your rights and benefits left up to chance, or decided by top-level management who you never see on the floors? Union members, like our nurses, have the right to engage in decisions that affect them, and as we bargain with management they will have many chances to show us their commitment to retaining and appreciating staff. Right now, management could be extra sweet to keep you from recognizing the power you’ll have by forming a union, but there is no measure to keep them accountable to you or your patients without a lasting contract.
Without a union, there is no protection for your flexibility. Current working conditions, including flexibility, are subject to the goodwill and approval of management and can be removed at any time without a contract. A contract can lock in current practices into a legally binding document. Healthcare professionals at Harborview and Swedish have both won contract language that promotes and protects flexibility. Would you vote yes on a contract where you lose flexibility?
Strikes are the strongest collective action workers can take. Union members must vote to strike in a strong and decisive manner and provide advanced notice to a hospital. Strikes are rare, especially in healthcare, and most union contracts are settled without a strike. The 2020 Swedish strike was the only strike SEIU members at Swedish have ever had in over 30 years. Union members who have made the choice to strike do so to show employers like Providence that they're not backing down from safe staffing and a living wage. Swedish union members currently have the highest pay in the state for most healthcare positions and their most recent contract was settled in less than 6 weeks.
It is true that union membership nationally has been in decline, and there are lots of reasons for that, including the increasing power of large corporations, employers' dislike of higher union wages, and political power of corporations resulting in anti-union laws. However, since the pandemic, union membership has been growing, reflecting the struggle of working people to support their families during a time when “essential workers” felt unappreciated and taken advantage of. Additionally, in Seattle every hospital is union, and the standard in our community is a union voice for hospital employees.
Yes, members pay dues to belong to a union. Fighting corporate healthcare that prioritizes profits over patients requires resources, and our union dues help build a strong organization that wins strong contracts and holds employers accountable. Union dues are 1.8% or $18 for every $1,000 and can be modified with a vote of members. We will not pay union dues until AFTER we have bargained our contract and won our improvements. We will be able to review the contract and raises, and then we vote on ratification and begin paying dues. Union members would not ratify a contract that was not worth the dues.
That’s true for things you have right now. Until we have a union, where we can negotiate and enforce a contract, management can do whatever they want like reduce staffing and change assignments, and we have no recourse. Federal law requires hospitals to maintain the status quo once a union vote is called and contract negotiations begin. Our current practices will be locked in place and they will not change unless we agree to changes in bargaining. The legal definition of a union is the ability to bargain over wages, benefits and working conditions; without a union management makes 100% of the decisions about each of those. With a union there are no guarantees on what we will achieve, but what we do know is we will have the right to bargain a contract of our own and that we will not agree to changes that don’t work for us. We can review other area contracts to see just how much other hospital workers have won and the guarantees they now enjoy.
The NLRB recognizes that management has access and influence over employees participating in a union vote 24/7, and therefore you cannot have a fair vote unless voters have the opportunity to speak to both employer and union. In recognition of this, the government says that SEIU Healthcare 1199NW and the Union Organizing Committee can have the SAME access management has to voters’ phone numbers and addresses to allow us to discuss the union away from management’s influence at work and without management interference. Speaking to a union member, organizer, or co-worker is your choice and one we will respect, but we hope you will take the opportunity to speak directly with a union member, organizer or co-worker.
Management at VM doesn’t have to take years to settle, they could listen to their workers and settle immediately! The longer a contract takes, the more it shows how little management feels the need to listen to and implement the ideas of their workers, and shows why workers needed a union in the first place – so they can be heard and not placed on the back burner! SEIU Healthcare 1199NW members have a great track record of settling first contracts that achieve high standards. There are many fun and engaging ways to participate in contract campaigns that help move negotiations forward.
All SEIU Healthcare 1199NW contracts have language in them encouraging direct communication with management as the first step to resolving a problem. SEIU union members at hospitals all around the Puget Sound have great relationships with their managers and maintain close, positive, and collaborative work environments. Our union will be our union and we decide if and when we need to escalate concerns through our grievance procedure. If things are working between you and your manager then that will not change, if there are problems with current communication practices with your manager, the union can be a way to address those.
Some hospitals choose to spend money on expensive anti-union lawyers, sometimes called union busters or union avoidance attorneys. These attorneys cost a lot of money, and their job is to train local managers on anti-union tactics, try to stop a union drive, and sometimes to use legal delays. It’s especially unfortunate when a non-profit hospital chooses to spend money that should be used for patient care on these for-profit law firms, consultants, and attorneys. Many employers do NOT use outside attorneys, out of state firms, or union avoidance attorneys at all. It’s disappointing that VM has chosen to hire attorneys from the firm PolSinelli who specialize in union avoidance.
This is something VM workers will decide when you negotiate a contract. Union shop is something that has to be negotiated into your contract. The way a union works is that everyone benefits from the contract so a union shop is about fairness – to make sure that since everyone benefits, everyone contributes. The strongest unions with the best contracts are where everyone is a member – that’s how management takes you seriously.
CommonSpirit wants to maintain control, they do not want to have to bargain with employees. Stopping this union vote is administrators’ most important job right now - that could look like being very friendly and helpful or it could look like being intense and critical of the union to increase tension. Holding meetings, walking the floors, and generally being more present and accessible to employees is common during the lead up to a union vote. It is not lasting and will typically stop once the vote has occurred.
When you get the raises you deserve in a union contract, you can buy your own lunch! Much better than what management gives you, because the taste won’t be tarnished with union busting 😉
Did management inform you that Swedish won a 21.5% or $6.50 raise in their last contract? Did they inform you that the nurses at VM got record raises and a metal detector in their last contract? Management will say anything they can to keep 100% of the decision making power at VM, and the “information” they give is always going to reflect that. The best way to be informed about a union is to talk to UNION MEMBERS. Ask a nurse colleague how they like being a union member. Speak to an SEIU member from Providence Swedish or UW about their experience. Many SEIU members have volunteered to host or attend union info meetings or text with VM voters.
SEIU Healthcare 1199NW is a non-profit organization, and unlike non-profit healthcare systems our budget is fully transparent. Officers receive NO bonuses - just a regular salary. Our budget is reviewed monthly by an elected executive board made up of union members from area hospitals and is voted on and approved at an annual meeting open to all union delegates. A union is you and your coworkers coming together to make changes that you can’t on your own. Our statewide organization is the same: we come together across employers and job classes to support one another, uplift careers in healthcare, promote the highest standards in pay and benefits, advocate safer staffing and quality care, and create communities and workplaces where all of us are valued.
There are thousands of SEIU union members at area hospitals, they all have managers. Some of those managers help out and some don’t. Probably that is very similar to how things work right now at Virginia Mason. If you have a manager that is helpful and responsive right now, there is no reason that cannot continue to be the case. If you have a manager who is inaccessible and not particularly helpful that too may continue. However, with a union you have more tools to facilitate and encourage good communication with managers. Nothing in a union contract prohibits managers from being supportive and helpful to staff.
SEIU Healthcare 1199NW is the largest union in Washington state for hospital, clinic and behavioral health workers. Our sole focus is healthcare and representing all healthcare positions in the care team. Our mission is to ensure healthcare jobs are the best jobs for healthcare workers and their families, and for providing healthcare workers with the tools to take the best care of their patients. SEIU Healthcare 1199NW has been VERY successful at winning, we have the strongest contracts, with the highest pay. We don’t back down from what is right - even if that means going up against big systems like Providence and CommonSprit. When someone says SEIU is the wrong union they usually mean SEIU is the strongest union and if that person is a manager or representative of CommonSpirit, please consider why they do not want you to be represented by the strongest union in healthcare.
Advocating for your patients and profession is professional. Advancing pay and best practices that recruit and retain staff minimizes turnover and fills vacancies - allowing us the ability to focus on our work. SEIU Healthcare 1199NW members created the SEIU Training Fund that promotes access to continuing education and career ladders for all of us to create a stable workforce for the future. Thousands of healthcare professionals at Providence, UW Medicine and Kaiser have joined SEIU Healthcare 1199NW and more are joining every year.
This statement implies the super majority of Virginia Mason employees who signed the union authorization petition did so rashly or without thinking it through. To the contrary, we have met, spoken to one another, learned about what other union hospitals have achieved, and most of us have spoken to union members on our own floor – our NURSES. We know what a union is, and we know what a union can achieve, and we know management knows too and that’s why they are scared of us voting yes.
Workers at VM have shared time and time again different instances when they have shared concerns with management only to feel dismissed and without a real mechanism to hold management accountable. Management currently has the power to choose when and what to listen to and act on. Workers who want a union are saying we deserve a real voice in decisions that impact us and the patient care we provide, and that only comes from the collective power we have as a group and a legal contract that we can enforce.
The union is you and your coworkers. Would you go out of your way to protect someone who isn’t providing adequate patient care? Having a union means that there’s actually a process management has to follow before someone is let go, and people don’t have to walk around worried they’ll be fired for no reason.
The decision to form a union is up to workers at the hospital. Management should have no say in the decision but that doesn’t mean they will stay out of the conversation. They may say that they respect your choice and your right to make a decision, but at the end of the day their actions in holding constant meetings, huddles and emails, and allowing no space for union supporters to have equal time shows that they want to influence the outcome of the vote. Requiring employees to listen to the opinions of managers about unions and the distribution and repetition of management misinformation is unfair and creates a tense and unhealthy atmosphere for a vote. There is a power imbalance between managers' ability to control the agenda at these meetings and require staff to attend or listen, and union supporters' ability to have space and time to share their perspective – which is one reason many employers have agreed to end this harmful practice and the federal government is considering banning this practice.
Union flyers are about what’s going on at your workplace and a way to make sure people are hearing the reason folks at VM are forming a union directly from the source – their coworkers. Our right to pass out union literature is protected under federal law in the same way our right to put on a union badge pull or sticker is. Our right to post a union flyer or talk about the union at work is also protected so long as others are allowed to post things like notices about a baby shower, or discussion about a football game.
A union is ultimately you and your coworkers coming together to have a say over issues that impact Virginia Mason, like staffing, at work. There are no cookie cutter unions or cookie cutter contracts. You and your coworkers choose your union bargaining team and delegates, you decide your priorities, and only you can ratify your contract. Union staff are a resource to assist in achieving the objectives of union members and connecting you to others who have been through similar struggles at their hospital. Your union at VM will be your union where you make the decisions.
SEIU Healthcare 1199NW has a Healthcare Leadership Fund, that is a voluntary contribution members can participate in to make political contributions for candidates. Any political endorsements the union makes are made and approved by members. We don’t endorse based on party affiliation. Our main goal in endorsements is to elect people who fight for working families. One of our top priorities is standing up for quality patient care, and as a union we do engage in legislation and with elected bodies that make decisions about our jobs and healthcare. If frontline staff are not part of the process and discussion on laws governing our professions and hospitals, who is? We know hospital executives and health systems engage in legislation all the time, and if we are not there too, our elected officials may only be hearing one side of the story. The union political program is totally voluntary but you may find it very fun to attend a lobby day or testify in hearing about safe staffing!
We are a union — an independent organization created by employees to advocate for our common interests. We know that healthcare works best when we have a strong voice in decision making at our facilities. We stand together to make sure that our pay and benefits allow all of our families to thrive.
