Healthcare workers at Multicare Emergency – Parkland in Tacoma, Washington began a five day strike at midnight on June 30. The workers on shift at that hour proudly walked out of the facility as other workers and IAM representatives cheered outside the gates of the facility.
Staff at Multicare Parkland emergency clinic go on strike over stalled contract negotiations King 5 News
The strike is over repeated illegal actions, including bad faith bargaining and retaliation against unionized employees, which has resulted in 14 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) charges of unfair labor practices at the facility, Good Samaritan Hospital of Washington state. The facility is an Off-Campus Emergency Department (OCED) operated by Emerus, a Dallas-based equity firm.
“MultiCare has intentionally made negotiations difficult from day one. The first ULP was filed immediately after certification because we were and continue to be denied basic access to our membership at the facility,” said IAM Western Territory International Representative Brandon Hemming, the group’s lead negotiator. “I’ve negotiated for over a decade, and I’ve never sat across the table from someone with such blatant disregard and a real aversion for reaching a fair agreement.”
Workers at the Parkland facility—known widely as the busiest OCED location within MultiCare—face unique challenges, handling significant trauma patient volumes without direct hospital support.
Healthcare workers start strike in Parkland, WA Q15 News
“Safe staffing is crucial to proper patient care, and that is a major concern for us,” said Michelle Zaun, an Emergency Service Technician at Parkland Multicare. “The company’s actions have contributed to significant staff attrition, dropping from 120 employees at certification to around 75 today, because people just can’t take it anymore. And [the company] openly told us they are spending $300,000 on replacement employees for this week alone.”
IAM Western Territory General Vice President, Robert “Bobby” Martinez said, “We are witnessing the solidarity that it takes to make meaningful change. These members have endured enough disrespect by the company and it is time for it to end. We stand strong with our brothers, sisters, and siblings to back them as they fight for what is right in this first contract”.
Workers will man picket lines in front of the facility in two shifts for the rest of this week. They intend to return to work on the coming holiday weekend, knowing that critical emergency health incidents normally rise during that period.
The post IAM District 160 Washington State Multicare Healthcare Professionals Begin Five-Day Strike for Safe Staffing, Fairness appeared first on IAM Union.