1,100 Tri-Cities medical workers vote to strike if fair wage demands aren’t met
Service and technical workers at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland and Kennewick have voted to strike, if needed, to obtain wages in line with other Providence facilities.
After eight bargaining sessions since the contract for 1,100 Kadlec workers expired in December 2023, they picketed on their time off Tuesday in front of the Richland hospital and the Kennewick free-standing emergency room off Highway 395.
“Same employer, same job, same pay,” workers chanted.
Workers at other Providence hospitals in Western Washington are paid higher wages, said Jane Hopkins, Service Employee International Union Healthcare 1199NW, at a worker rally following picketing in Richland.
The union is asking that Providence pay the same wages at Kadlec as at Providence Swedish, which has hospitals along the Interstate-5 corridor, including Seattle, in Western Washington.
Kadlec, the largest hospital in the Tri-Cities, was acquired by the not-for-profit Providence St. Joseph Health in 2014.
Since then it has generated $154 million in profits and $255 million in earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization, according to the union.
“Kadlec is making a lot of money and they are making a lot of money because of you,” Hopkins said.
In some cases, such as pay for Medicare patients, Providence makes the same rate at all Washington hospitals. But paying workers less in the Tri-Cities, means it spends less to care for Medicare patients there, Hopkins said.
She said that the Kadlec chief executive officer was given a 38% pay increase last year to about $200 an hour and a total compensation package of $1.2 million annually.
Rapid staff turnover
Yet Providence is proposing to pay some Kadlec workers little more than minimum wage, Hopkins said. It also is proposing moving some job classifications to lower pay scales.
Kadlec workers should not need to work a second job or depend on overtime to support themselves, said Yolanda King Lowe, the secretary treasurer of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW.
SEIU Healthcare workers at Kadlec include:
- Certified nursing assistants who bathe and feed patients
- Janitors and cleaners
- Sterile processing technicians who assemble medical and surgical supplies
- Operating room technicians who support surgeons
- Nutrition and dietary workers
- Technologists
- Respiratory therapists
- Workers in dozens of other job classifications
A lack of competitive wages has led to rapid staff turnover, compromising the quality of care in the Tri-Cities, the union said.
It also is bargaining on issues of safe staffing levels, paid time off accruals, a voice in decisions that affect healthcare benefits, job and contract security and paid bargaining time.
Kadlec said in a statement that it respects the union’s right to stage an informational picket, but that agreements are reached at the bargaining table.
“Kadlec has provided a strong compensation proposal to SEIU and is committed to working through our differences together,” it said.
It is hoping the two sides can make progress at bargaining session scheduled for two days this week, it said.
“As always, our priority is serving our patients and caregivers with safety and compassion,” it said.
It also pointed out that all Kadlec facilities are operating as usual and that patient care has not been interrupted. The union gave Kadlec the required 10-day notice of picketing.
This story was originally published May 30, 2024 at 5:00 AM.