SEIU 1199 – HMC/ALNW/UWMC – NW Negotiations Recap for August 16
Background
This recap details the first virtual session between the University of Washington (UW) and Service Employees International (SEIU) 1199NW to jointly bargain two collective bargaining agreements (CBA), one for the UW Medical Center – Northwest (UWMC-NW) and one for Harborview Medical Center and Airlift Northwest (HMC/ALNW). Recaps are published online on the Labor Relations websites for SEIU 1199 UWMC-NW Negotiation Updates and SEIU 1199 HMC/ALNW Negotiation Updates.
Critical Recruitment and Retention Wages Increases
The Employer acknowledges the staffing challenges present throughout the University and the importance of immediate implementation of wage increases for recruitment and retention purposes. The parties agreed to an MOU that would increase wages for specified classifications facing critical recruitment and retention challenges. The agreement includes regular employees and non-permanent intermittent employees, who will be placed on their current step in a new range. Temporary hourly employees not on steps will receive an increase in their hourly rate if below the new range, if applicable. The increases will have an effective date of August 1, 2022. The proposal included increases ranging from 2% to 5% for the following job profiles:
| Job Profile | Table | Current Range | Proposed Range | Average % Increase | Notes |
| Flight Nurse | BR | 002 | 002 | 5% | same range but values increase by R&R% |
| Flight Nurse, Senior | BR | 003 | 003 | 5% | same range but values increase by R&R% |
| Electroneurodiagnostic Technologist 1 | BS | 042 | 047 | 5% | |
| Electroneurodiagnostic Technologist 2 | BS | 052 | 057 | 5% | |
| Electroneurodiagnostic Technologist 3 | BS | 059 | 064 | 5% | |
| Pharmacy Technician 1 | BC | 012 | 017 | 5% | |
| Pharmacy Technician 2 | BC | 017 | 022 | 5% | |
| Pharmacy Technician Lead | BC | 022 | 027 | 5% | |
| Registered Nurse 2 | BR | 002 | 002 | 5% | same range but values increase by R&R% |
| Registered Nurse 3 | BR | 003 | 003 | 5% | same range but values increase by R&R% |
| Social Worker | BC | 053 | 058 | 5% | |
| Advanced Cardiac Technologist Lead | BU | 290 | 290 | 2% | same range but values increase by R&R% |
| Advanced Cardiac Technologist | BU | 274 | 274 | 2% | same range but values increase by R&R% |
| Cert Nursing Asst | BU | 166 | 170 | 4% | |
| Float Cert Nursing Asst | BU | 163 | 171 | 4% | |
| Instrument Tech | BU | 183 | 183 | 5% | same range but values increase by R&R% |
| Instrument Tech Lead | BU | 194 | 194 | 5% | same range but values increase by R&R% |
| Medical Assistant – Certified | BY | 042 | 047 | 5% | |
| Medical Assistant – Certified Lead | BY | 050 | 055 | 5% | |
| Medical Assistant Apprentice | BU | 125 | 125 | 5% | same range but values increase by R&R% |
| Medical Asst – Reg | BY | 036 | 041 | 5% | |
| Operating Room Tech Cert | BU | 209 | 209 | 5% | same range but values increase by R&R% |
| OSC Resource Coordinator | BU | 217 | 227 | 5% | |
| Pharmacy Purchasing Tech | BD | 022 | 027 | 5% | |
| Pharmacy Technician | BD | 012 | 017 | 5% | |
| Pharmacy Technician Lead | BD | 022 | 027 | 5% | |
| Social Worker, Senior | BD | 053 | 058 | 5% | |
| Surg Svcs Resource Tech | BU | 215 | 215 | 5% | same range but values increase by R&R% |
Staff Salary Survey
Milliman, a third-party Consulting firm, presented an analysis of how the compensation for both healthcare and non-healthcare classified benchmark jobs compares to market. The analysis is based on salary data (actual data) from published Milliman surveys as well as a Higher Education Custom survey that Milliman conducted on behalf of the UW. A copy of the Classified Staff Salary Study can be found here.
Employer Initial Proposals
BU Table – Currently, increments between the ranges of the BU table vary significantly which makes range increases for jobs difficult to understand and implement. The Employer proposed that effective September 16, 2022, the Employer would restructure pay table BU to create 1% increments between ranges. No employee pay will decrease as a result of this proposal; many employees will receive a nominal increase to move to their new range.
Under this proposal, employees allocated to the classification Float Cert Nursing Asst (21332) would be re-allocated to the classification Cert Nursing Asst (21299) and would receive $2.25/hour float pay for all hours paid. Employees allocated to the classification Float Unit Secretary (21333) would be re-allocated to the classification Unit secretary (21404) and would receive $2.25/hour for all hours paid. All other existing job profiles would be assigned to a new range with step values that are equal to or greater than their current step values. Regular, intermittent, and non-permanent employees would remain on their current step. Progression Start Dates (PSDs) would not change.
Next Steps
The next UW and SEIU 1199NW joint-bargaining session is scheduled for August 24 and will be held virtually.