MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital nurses hold strike vote June 20 and 21

PUYALLUP, Wash – About 750 registered nurses are taking a strike authorization vote at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital today and tomorrow.

Good Sam nurses are seeking safe staffing measures in their contract that will ensure they are able to give their patients the care they need and deserve. At present nurses are too often working short-staffed and not getting meal and rest breaks, which can put patient safety at risk.

The vote will be held:

• Date/Times: June 20 and 21, 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., both days
• Location: In front of Good Samaritan Hospital, at the intersection of 15^th Avenue SE and 4^th Street SE

Nurses are taking the strike vote for their patients and their community. Nurses at Good Samaritan are negotiating a new contract that focuses on safer staffing and breaks for nurses.

After three months without a contract, 18 bargaining sessions, and countless nurses leaving the hospital, nurses are considering a strike.

In the last two years, reported incidents where unsafe staffing posed a serious threat to the health and safety of a patient have gone up 600%. Nurses regularly go entire 12-hour shifts without being able to break and use the bathroom, eat, or rest.

MultiCare Good Samaritan has engaged in Unfair Labor Practices in the course of bargaining, for issues including refusing to bargain, retaliation against a union officer and bargaining team member, and unilaterally implementing a different patient care model, which has to be bargained.

A strike date has not been set. If nurses vote to authorize a strike, WSNA will provide the 10-days’ notice required by law. Nurses are back at the bargaining table June 21 and 29.