We put forward our vision for how to solve the problems that UW has created in our staffing, recruitment, and retention so our patients know that in their greatest moments of need, Harborview will have the resources to provide the best care. UW has a different vision; they see creating profit as their way of caring for our community. UW Medicine needs to know that any profit created by our work is put back into our mission by funding FTEs and providing wages that recruit and retain committed coworkers.
That’s why we took action this week, to ensure UW knows we will fight for our vision for Harborview, one that is one based in our lived experiences – we are the ones best positioned to know what needs to happen to provide the best
care for the community.
UWMC-Northwest: We are united for better wages that would recruit and retain, and we are committed to ensuring safe staffing so we can continue providing quality patient care. Management, on the other hand, wants us to do more with less. They came to the bargaining table proposing to fix our staffing problems by mandatorily floating all job classes between all UW facilities. Their proposal would float us whenever they want to, for whatever reason.
That is why hundreds of us took action throughout the hospital and clinics — wearing stickers, showing our solidarity with the bargaining team and with each other, and telling UW to “Fix Staffing.” We have made proposals that would do this, and we are united to win for the safety of our patients.
