EVERETT—What started four months earlier in October of 2023, nurses at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett on February 21, 2024, overwhelmingly ratified a new contract with their employer addressing concerns about staffing and patient safety at the hospital.

“When we went out on strike in November, we were united in identifying better staffing as the top issue at the bargaining table,” said Stephanie Sausman, nurse and bargaining team member. “Providence wasn’t ready to listen until we walked out the door, and even after that it took time to get powerful enough staffing language that nurses were willing to agree to a contract. This is a contract we’re really proud of.” 

Highlights of this new contract include both long-overdue pay increases as well as groundbreaking new language on staffing, all designed to address the critical issue of short-staffing that nurses identified as their top issue when they walked out on a 5-day unfair labor practice strike in November. 

“Even management was admitting they were paying us under market,” said Julie Bynum, nurse and bargaining team member. “Our team was careful to look at other health care workplaces in the region and make thoughtful proposals to ensure we retain our longtime nurses as well as attract new talent. We want our patients to feel more secure about having enough people on the floor to care for them, on every shift and in every department.” 

While Providence management initially refused to consider many of the nurse bargaining committee’s proposals around staffing, the final ratified contract includes creative and effective language to address, correct, and compensate for understaffing, including:

• Commitment from Providence to staff the hospital according to the staffing plans they submit to the Dept. of Health
• Yearlong collaborative process between Providence and nurses to reach mutually agreed-upon goals for retention and recruitment
• Monthly bonuses paid out by the hospital to those working in understaffed departments
• Agreement to resolve chronic staffing issues through binding mediation
• Premium pay for those caring for boarded patients in the ER (these are patients that overflow from other areas of the hospital into the already busy emergency dept)
• New break relief nurse positions (break relief nurses’ role is to ensure that other nurses on the floor have coverage to be able to take their rest and meal breaks)
• Paid prep time for those chairing a hospital staffing committee, respecting the work involved to fully participate in the new statewide staffing committee process
• Guarantee that charge nurses don’t have patient assignments in addition to their challenging charge duties

The wage increases, which bring Providence Everett nurses to competitive wages with other area facilities after years of being below market, also include new recognition for experience, a shorter path to future raises, a ratification bonus, as well as targeted bonuses and premium pay to achieve safer staffing where it’s needed most while also acknowledging the work of longtime staff who have been bearing the burden of short staffing. 

Finally, the contract includes an early contract reopener in March of 2026 so nurses have the opportunity to bargain further improvements and stay competitive with area hospitals.

“Nurses at Providence Everett took every action they could think of to raise awareness about staffing issues, but ultimately it was the power of a highly effective strike and the democratic process of negotiating a union contract that made these changes possible,” said Faye Guenther, president of UFCW 3000. “We look forward to speaking with other health care employers about the innovative language nurses won at this bargaining table and spreading the word to other health care workers about Providence nurses’ big victory.”

The UFCW 3000 union, of which select Providence nurses are members, represents over 50,000 frontline essential workers across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It is a chartered member of UFCW international with over 1.4 million workers in North America.

Over 1,300 Providence Regional Center nurses, their families, and community members alike headed to the picket line November 14 through November 19, on an unfair labor practice strike against, what they call, “chronic understaffing” at the hospital which “threatens the safety and wellbeing of the community.”

@ProvidenceNW nurses, patients, and community allies gathered together for a candlelight vigil on November 16 to show their solidarity for patient safety.@BobFergusonAG @BernieSanders @washdems @WAGOP @UFCW @ufcw3000 @UFCW_3000 #providencestrike pic.twitter.com/KlnkrNiRHP

— Lynnwood Times (@LynnwoodTimes) November 18, 2023

On October 19, 2023, nurses working at Providence voted to authorize an unfair labor practice strike (ULP) with 97% approval. 83% of all nurses working at Providence voted, which the union said is much more than normal. Their primary demand is that hospital management engage in good faith bargaining and come to mutual agreement on a contract that includes provisions to ensure safer staffing levels as well as transparency and accountability measures meant to renew community trust in the local hospital.

Nurses held striking as a last resort but said they were left with no choice. Providence Everett nurses have been raising understaffing and safety concerns for years and even played a role in advocating for new statewide hospital staffing standards that were passed by the legislature in 2023.