Release: More than 1,100 healthcare workers to strike at St. Joseph, St Clare Hospitals

Ready to Stand Up for Pierce County Patients, 1,100 Healthcare Workers Deliver Strike Notice to CHI-Franciscans

TACOMA- Pierce County needs quality, affordable healthcare and good jobs and now 1,100 healthcare workers are ready to take a stand to hold CHI-Franciscan to its responsibility to provide good care and good jobs our community.  The workers, united in SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, delivered notice to CHI-Franciscan St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Tacoma and CHI-Franciscan St. Clare Hospital in Lakewood that, unless the hospitals settle a contract that includes an improved investment in frontline care and end unfair labor practices, they will strike on Tuesday, November 18.

“The hospital has cut our staff by nearly 10% even though we have the same number of patients,” said Becky Horst, a Health Unit Coordinator at St. Clare Hospital.  “They’ve cut our benefits, too.  They’re sending profit to CHI in Denver and leaving us and our patients with less.”

The unfair labor practice strike will involve nursing assistants, housekeeping, dietary, sterile processing, unit coordinators, and other service positions at both hospitals plus technical positions including radiology techs, sonographers, and surgical techs at St. Clare Hospital.

“We are fed up with executives making decisions based on finances instead of what our community and our patients need,” said Jen Storm, a Nursing Assistant at St. Joseph Medical Center. “We don’t want to strike, but we need to send a strong message that St. Joe’s, St. Clare’s, and patients in Pierce County care too much to let Denver CHI executives put profits before patients. We’re real families, real workers, real patients, and we need our healthcare dollars to stay here.”

The strike follows recent community actions around charity care problems at CHI-Franciscan, including several protest actions held by Washington CAN! highlighting how stingy the hospitals, identified as nonprofit charities, are with financial aid and charity care.

“It’s clear that CHI-Franciscan has lost its way,” said Reverend Gregory Christopher of Shiloh Baptist Church. “We need to hold this corporation accountable to its commitment to care. This is not how a mission driven non-profit behaves.”

Barring an agreement, the strike will begin at 7am on Tuesday, November 18th and will end at 6:59am on Wednesday, November 19th.

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SEIU Healthcare 1199NW is 26,000 nurses, healthcare employees, and mental health workers in hospitals, agencies, and clinics statewide.