We have reached an historical agreement!
After months of hard work and sacrifice, we’ve won an agreement that meets our demands. Our strike broke their bad faith bargaining practices and we made huge advancements in negotiations to get a contract that addresses the staffing crisis, boosts wages, and improves working conditions in the hospital.
We should be incredibly proud of ourselves for our fight, our struggle, and believing in one another to get this done!
Tentative agreement highlights:
A full summary of our tentative agreement will come shortly, but we have some of the highlights of the incredible wins we were able to secure:
- Across the board raises of 7%/4%/4%
- Almost 70% of membership will receive Market equity adjustments in year 1 (2-9%) plus 3% in year 2
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Added weekend differential language and weekend differential of $2.00/hr
- Increased standby rate
- Added lead pay
- Retention bonus of up to $2000 for full time employees and $1500 for part time employees
Vote for your new contact!
We won’t get these wins unless we lock them in and vote “yes” to ratify our contract. Voting will take place in Arnold Cafe on Nov 20 from 10am-8pm and on Nov 21 from 6am-2pm. Make sure submit your ballot so we can secure our wage increases and retention bonus!
This week we would not be silenced
Through months of bargaining in bad faith, Providence St. Joseph has relied upon us being too overworked to come together and fight for patient care, better staffing, and a fair contract. They thought with enough intimidation, lies, and stalling that they could get us to back down and take less than what we deserve as frontline healthcare professionals, healthcare workers who dug down deep and made great sacrifices to carry our community through a global pandemic.
Instead, we came together as one. We fought back against the intimidation, the lies, and the bad faith bargaining to tell our community about the problems we face everyday. Providence St. Joseph saw that we will not back down and will stand up for what is right. They were hoping we would fall apart under the immense pressure, but we are strong. They have heard us call for fair negotiations and for solutions to the staffing crisis and respect for our hard work.
“St. Joseph’s refuses to bargain in good faith. They are trying to silence us as healthcare workers and they do not want to bargain fairly in today’s economy. They are playing hard at the risk of our patient’s health.”
-Jay Thomas, Respiratory Therapist
Soon, we will return to the bargaining table to achieve all we have fought for this week. We have grown our bargaining power to win our goals
- Safe staffing for ourselves and our patients
- A fair contract with fair wages
- Solutions to keeping and retaining quality workers in all our departments
- A rejuvenated focus on providing the highest quality care for our patients
All of LA is Hearing Our Call
As we have shown up to the strike line everyday in great number, Burbank and Los Angeles is hearing our voices. We have had reporters from press outlets across southern California, spreading our message. This is just a sample of the articles and reports, and we should be proud that people are taking note:
There’s one more day
It’s time for us to celebrate one another for all of our hard work. Tomorrow is Family Day on the strike line, so bring your kids, signifigant others, friends, (well-behaved) dogs, and let’s acknowledge the hard work we’ve put it to make it clear that Providence St. Joseph is bargaining in bad faith and needs to fix the short-staffing crisis at our hospital for our lives as well as our patients.
PSJMC healthcare workers in Burbank went on ULP strike to draw attention to the patient care and staffing crisis. They are calling attention to understaffing and low wages that put patients and caregivers at risk.
Our Strike Is Working
Providence is taking note.
For Solidarity Day, we had an outpouring of support. Electeds like State Senator Anthony Portantino, Burbank Vice-Mayor Nick Schultz, and support from SAG/AFTRA, the Writers Guild, SEIU 2015, and Reverend Jennifer Guttierrez from CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice). We have also had elected officials come and support us on the strike line including the mayor of Burbank and State Senator Caroline Menjivar.
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- Burbank Mayor Konstantine Anthony
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- CA State Senator Caroline Menjivar
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- Providence St. Joseph CNA Alexis Schoffstall
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- Burbank Vice Mayor Nick Schultz
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- CA State Senator Anthony Portatino
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- Demetri Belardinelli from SAG/AFTRA
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- Grace Barrios, Executive Board from SEIU 2015
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- Reverend Jennifer Guttierrez, Executive Director of CLUE
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- Leslie Simmons from Animators Guild
Nearly every media outlet — big and small — paid us a visit to tell the world about our story.
But we’re not done yet
We’ve got more work to do. We need to stay strong on the strike line for the rest of the week, so Providence knows that we stand strong in our convictions. You can join us, send Providence St. Joseph CEO Karl Keeler an email demanding they bargain in good faith so we can fix the staffing crisis at our hospital. We are winning in the court of public opinion, but we need to communicate to Providence St. Joseph management that we will not be intimidated into taking a contract that doesn’t address the severe short-staffing that hurts our hospital and helps us retain quality staff in our departments.
STRIKES can be an exciting but overwhelming experience. In order for everyone to feel prepared and ready to express our unity on the strike-line we’ve created this short guide. We strike not because we want to, but because it’s one of our sharpest tools for communicating our message so that the public and our community know how Providence executives are bargaining in bad faith, engaging in intimidation tactics, and refusing to work with us to solve the short-staffing crisis which is harmful to us and our patients.
WHEN 6am to 3:30pm Oct 23 – Oct 27
WHERE We will meet at Buena Vista + Alameda at 6am on Monday morning, Oct 23.
HOW You do not need to call-out. SEIU-UHW submitted a strike notice that legally protects you. Invite your family and friends to be loud and proud. Consult our STRIKE FAQ if you have more questions.
PARKING We cannot park in the hospital parking lot. There is a shuttle running from the Marriott at 2500 North Hollywood Way; Lot D in Burbank to Providence starting at 6am – 3pm everyday. Or consider parking at Johnny Carson Park.
THEME DAYS
Monday: Strike Kick-Off Day – We’re showing up at 6am to support our colleagues walking-off the floor
Tuesday: Healthcare Worker Day – Wear your scrubs and show the world we are proud frontline healthcare workers
Wednesday: Solidarity Day – We’ll be joined by fellow UHW workers and other unions joining in solidarity
Thursday: Costume Day – Dress up in your favorite costume
Friday: Family Day – Fun for the whole family
SOCIAL MEDIA It’s important for our message to be heard, so we can put enough pressure on the executives at Providence St. Joseph to bargain in good faith. Consider posting your favorite pics and videos to your social media account publicly with our hashtags and tagging Providence.
We’ll all be posting at 10am EVERYDAY for our Purple Power Post!
Not sure what to post, reshare our Post of the Day (starting Tuesday):
If you have any questions, reach out to your bargaining team or union rep or check the STRIKE FAQ
98% Vote Yes
We overwhelmingly voted to strike because of Providence St. Joseph’s bad faith bargaining and Unfair Labor Practices.
We have consistently been intimidated for voicing our concerns about staffing, equipment issues, and patient care. Now there can be no misunderstanding: we are committed to patient care and fixing the staffing crisis. Across departments, we want better for our patients, for Burbank, and our coworkers.
Join us on the strike line by signing up for a strike shift where we will be fighting for Providence St. Joseph to bargain in good faith so we can fix the staffing issues which cause us to work long hours and miss breaks and put an end to the substandard pay that force talented frontline healthcare workers to leave for other hospitals and other careers. We will not be silenced any longer.
We will be striking Oct. 23 – Oct. 27 from 6am to 6pm. Make sure you sign up for your strike shift so that we can make a statement to Providence executives that we will not be intimidated into a contract that doesn’t address our needs. Once you’ve signed up, make sure you coworkers are committing to strike days as well!
Providence St. Joseph Bargaining Update —
October 2, 2023
Power concedes nothing without a demand
We have conducted over 11 bargaining sessions and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center is still dragging its feet. While we have made significant progress in some areas there are points of contention that still remain. Management has finally agreed to market equity adjustments, they are refusing to add steps to our wage grid: affecting our members differently across the hospital. The hospital is still proposing wage increases less than our minimum 15% raises over three years and — significantly — still won’t agree to adding a contract specialist or freezing our healthcare rates over the term of our contract.
While we are getting much closer, power concedes nothing without a demand. Management believes they can intimidate us into taking a contract less than what we know we deserve. We must maintain the pressure and remind Providence executives that there is force behind our demands. We will be conducting a strike vote, so we can be ready and unified and secure the improvements in our hospital that Burbank deserves.
Providence St. Joseph Bargaining Update —
August 28, 2023
Management is not accepting realities on the floor
Other than agreeing to adding Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday, management and our bargaining team remain far apart on our proposals. While progress has been made, management is still only proposing increases of 5% – 3% – 3% for each of the next three years. They have also rejected our proposal to update our wage scale to be more inline with the industry standard for our area.
Our top priorities remain:
- Adoption of a new wage scale, comparable to Providence Cedars Sinai Tarzana Medical Center
- $25 an hour minimum wage for healthcare workers
- Add a contract specialist
- Cap increases on healthcare rates
Next steps:
Providence St. Joseph definitely took notice of our picket, which was a smashing success. Joined by our brothers and sisters from SAG/AFTRA and the WGA we made our voices heard. We are a part of a movement, not just in healthcare, but for workers across industries. Not only can Providence afford to do better, they must do better for the sake of the community. We may hold a second picket and we may be forced to strike to improve our hospital and our working conditions.
Providence St. Joseph Members Picket!
In the midst of stalled bargaining, we came out to let management know that we are not happy. After a grueling pandemic, we are now suffering at the hands of dangerous understaffing. To make a stand, we held a picket outside the hospital. Joined by both SAG-AFTRA and WGA, we made a statement that will not be forgotten.
Now it’s time to ratchet up the heat. We won’t let up the heat until we get the contract we deserve.
We’ve elected our co-workers who will lead us through our negotiations with management next year. Let’s meet our team!
- Christian Ayon
- Juan Buenrostro
- Jacob Fukumoto
- Martha Johnson
- Sonia Martinez
- Leah Nery
- Promise Rainey
- Alicia Rivera
- Eric Sanitate
Our 2023 bargaining isn’t just us at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center. 85,000 SEIU-UHW members will be negotiating new contracts during the year — and we are fighting together to get strong contracts.
We are #United4All.
Get the results of all the elections across our United for All campaign HERE.
