Labor Relations

Tentative Agreement Reached on 2015-2017 Contract

The parties reached a comprehensive tentative agreement for the 2015-2017 contract during the 28th bargaining session, on January 19, 2016. This was the 16th session to be facilitated by State-appointed mediators.

Highlights of the 2015-2017 Agreement

Highlights of the parties’ agreement are outlined below. For a more comprehensive summary of the agreement, please see the Summary of Final Agreement table.

Wages

  • General Wage Increases:

    • Effective after Ratification: 3 percent across the board wage increase effective the first pay period after ratification, but not prior to February 1, 2016.

    • Effective July 1, 2016: 3 percent across the board wage increase.

  • Lump Sum Payment (to be paid in March 2016):

    • $600 lump sum payment upon ratification for employees above .6 FTE.

    • $300 lump sum payment upon ratification for employees at or below .6 FTE.

  • New Top Steps:

    • Nurses: A 2 percent salary step will be added to the top of the wage scale, effective January 1, 2017.

    • Non-Nurses: A 3 percent salary step will be added to the other SEIU 1199 pay tables, effective January 1, 2017.

    • Automatic Movement: On January 1, 2017, all employees who have been at the current top salary step for at least one year will advance to the new top salary step.

Break Relief

  • Break Relief: Day shift break relief nurses/resources will be added to three additional acute care units one year from the contract’s ratification, and all acute care units will have day shift break relief resources in place by June 30, 2017.

  • Alternative Models: Individual units may use alternative models for break relief upon review by the staffing committee and approval by the joint labor-management committee. All break relief models will be evaluated for nurse satisfaction one year after implementation.

Harborview Scholarships (Academic Year 2016 and 2017)

  • Harborview/UW Bothell Program: Harborview will grant scholarships of up to $14,000 each to up to 11 Harborview nurses accepted into the UW Bothell RN-to-BSN degree program offered on-site at Harborview.

  • Funds for Non-UW Programs: Harborview will create an additional annual pool of up to $100,000 (up to $6,000 per employee) for Harborview nurses to attend a program to complete their BSN, MSN, or other advanced nursing degrees, and for non-nurses to complete a BSN.

  • Master of Nursing: New language memorializes that all nurses who complete their Master of Nursing degree during the life of the agreement receive an additional salary step increase upon completion.

Social Workers

  • Consolidation and Increased Wages: Harborview will consolidate the Social Worker 1 and 2 job classes, providing wage increases of roughly 6 percent to employees in the current Social Worker 1 job class, effective February 1, 2016.

  • License Pay: State-licensed social workers will qualify for $1.50 per hour licensure pay.

Healthcare Specialists

  • Consolidation and Increased Wages: Harborview will merge the inpatient and outpatient healthcare specialist pay ranges such that affected employees will be placed at the same salary step on the new pay range, effective February 1, 2016. This will result in increases of roughly 5 percent for outpatient healthcare specialists.

  • Healthcare Specialist Certification Pay JLM: The parties will hold at least two joint labor-management meetings to discuss the application of certification pay for healthcare specialists with the intention to come to a mutually acceptable agreement on this topic.

END Technologists

  • Job Descriptions: The UW Compensation Office will review and report on the END Technologist series job class specifications within 60 days of the contract’s ratification.

  • Wage Increase: Upon completion of the above review, END Technologists will receive a wage increase of at least 2 percent.

Hall Health Nurses

  • Salary Step Analysis: UW will evaluate the experience and placement of Hall Health nurses who the union believes are placed on a salary step that does not appropriately reflect their years of experience.

  • Salary Step Increase: Any nurses deemed by UW to be on an improper salary step will receive an additional step increase for their next two periodic increment dates, unless they have already advanced to the top step.

Research Nurses

  • Compensation Meetings: The parties will hold at least two joint labor-management meetings specific to research nurses within six months of the contract’s ratification. Topics will include consolidation of the Research Nurse 1 and 2 job classes as well as applicable market data.

Contract Ratification

SEIU 1199’s membership ratified this agreement on January 25, 2016.