PORT ANGELES — Olympic Medical Center union-represented employees plan to picket the hospital Wednesday, citing hospital officials’ proposed cost increases to health care insurance coverage, which they said are not acceptable.
Bargaining between hospital administrators and the union was to resume Tuesday at the hospital, said Linnae Riesen, spokeswoman for Service Employees International Union Healthcare 1199NW, which represents 327 health care workers at the hospital.
“Our patients are our first priority,” said Virginia Majewski, an obstetrics nurse at Olympic Medical Center.
“But as health care workers, we need health care, too. We want to work with our hospital to settle a fair contract, but this attack on our kids is unwarranted.”
Riesen said pickets will take place in front of the hospital before and after work hours and during breaks.
“No informational picketing will be on hospital time, but definitely a strong message is being sent to the hospital,” Riesen said.
OMC has proposed health care increases that would make health care unaffordable for health care workers and their children, Riesen said.
“For many workers, the proposed health care increases would be as much as a 10 percent wage cut,” she said.
Said Rhonda Curry, OMC assistant administrator for strategic development: “We will not be pressured into entering into agreements that would send us into deficit spending.”
OMC executives said this is the first picket at the hospital that they could remember.
Best OMC can afford
They said the hospital’s wages and benefits are the best they can afford in challenging economic times.
“We do want the public to know that OMC is proud of the wages and benefits we are able to offer,” Curry said.
“At the same time, we are in a similar position as many other public sector employers. That is, we face significant limitations in the amount of revenue we are paid.
“Therefore, it is critical that OMC enter into labor contract settlements that we can afford now and over time.”
The union represents affected nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, surgical technicians, dietary workers, housekeeping staff and other health care workers, she said.
Riesen said if an acceptable contract cannot be reached, the hospital’s represented employees could vote to strike, but that possibility has not yet been considered.
Strike not considered
Once a contract agreement is reached, the employees would vote on ratification.
The employees will be preparing today by building signs and creating banners to share their message with the community Wednesday, Riesen said.
SEIU Healthcare 1199NW represents 22,000 nurses, health care employees and mental health workers in hospitals, agencies and clinics statewide.
Curry said the hospital’s management “believes that the issues raised in labor negotiations are best resolved through good-faith bargaining, which means meeting together in an attempt to reach mutually agreeable solutions to the challenges facing many health care employers, especially rural health care organization such as Olympic Medical Center, with facilities in Port Angeles and Sequim.”
Large employer
OMC is the largest private employer in Clallam County, with more than 1,000 employees.
“One of our main goals is to keep our current workforce employed by maintaining a pay and benefits packages that we can afford,” Curry said.
The hospital commissioners late last year approved a budget with $131.4 million in operating revenue and $129.9 million in operating expenses.
In part because of a decline in outpatient volume, OMC projects a $480,829 loss in net income — from $2.9 million last year to $2.4 million this year.
The hospital must balance the need for up-to-date medical equipment and facilities, Curry said, which represents about 8 percent of the health care facility’s budget, with the need for a competitive wage and benefits package for employees.
Staff salaries come to about 58 percent of the hospital’s budget.
“We are working hard to achieve this difficult balance and will continue to offer wages and benefits that are fair and competitive in our local marketplace,” Curry said.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.