Eight Thousand Hospital Workers Strike in Seattle
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 Coasts 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