University of Washington Human Resources

SEIU 1199 – HMC/ALNW/UWMC – NW Negotiations Recap for September 1

Background

This recap details the third 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 a joint UWMC-NW and HMC/ALNW Negotiation Update page, here.

SEIU 1199 Initial Proposals

Across-the-Board Wage Increase – The Union proposed that, in addition to their other wage proposals, effective July 1, 2023, all employees covered by SEIU 1199NW contracts for HMC/ALNW and UWMC-NW would receive a 15% across-the-board increase with all employees receiving at least a $5.75 per hour wage increase. They also proposed that effective July 1, 2024, all employees would receive an 8% across-the-board increase, with all employees receiving at least a $2.25 per hour wage increase.

Call-In Pay – The union proposed (for both contracts) that the Employer would pay double-time for any employee called in from a prescheduled standby shift. Current contract language states that call back from standby is paid at time-and-a-half for both contracts (for a minimum of a 2.5-hour shift in the HMC/ALNW CBA and a minimum of a 3-hour shift in the UWMC-NW CBA).

Premiums and Differentials – The union proposed the following premiums:

*Preceptor Premium – The Union proposed that any and all employees who are assigned as preceptor or who are training someone under any circumstances would receive the precepting premium. Under current HMC/ALNW CBA language, only specific bargaining units receive the precepting premium (as show above), and under current UWMC-NW CBA language, only employees who are assigned the role of preceptor (as defined by the contract) receive the premium.

Float Premium – The Union proposed that any and all employees who are floated from their home clinic, unit, department, or a part of a dedicated float team would receive the float premium for all hours while floating. Under current HMC/ALNW CBA language, RNs in the float pool receive $4 per hour for all hours worked, and RNs who are floated to work outside the departments to which they were hired and for which they are a part of the department staffing plan receive a temporary float pay premium of $3.75 per hour. Under current UWMC-NW CBA language, CNAs and Unit Secretaries assigned to the Float Pool receive $2.25 per hour for hours worked in the Float Pool, and clinic workers that are assigned to float from their home clinic to a different clinic location than their home clinic will receive an additional $1.50 per hour for all hours worked at the assigned clinic.

Non-monetary Steps – The Union proposed that effective on the first available pay period following ratification as determined by the Employer, the Employer would eliminate all non-monetary steps for all pay ranges on pay table BE and BR. The Employer would also remove non-monetary steps for any additional pay table that may exist that are applicable to any and all SEIU Healthcare 1199NW collective bargaining agreements.

Next Steps

The next UWMC-NW and SEIU 1199NW bargaining session is scheduled for September 8 and will be held virtually.