United for Quality Care at Kadlec
same employer ● same work ● same pay
We are more than 1,100 service and technical healthcare workers united in SEIU Healthcare 1199NW at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland and the Freestanding Emergency Room in Kennewick.
This union, our union!
august 20-26
unfair labor practice strike
More than 1,100 techs and service workers at Kadlec united in SEIU Healthcare 1199NW held a seven-day unfair labor practice strike August 20-26 to denounce Providence executives’ bad-faith bargaining and refusal to settle a strong contract with investments in wages and staffing that respect our experience as frontline workers. Executives’ behavior at the bargaining table and in our workplaces reinforced our belief that Providence does not have a true desire to reach a contract with our union bargaining team.
With a seven-day ULP strike, we put a spotlight on Providence’s disregard for our workers’ rights under the NLRA, and failure to bring forth meaningful proposals that will recruit and retain us, address inequities in the workplace, and keep patients safe.
For Members
For Our Community
By check:
Made out to “SEIU Healthcare 1199NW Solidarity Fund”
SEIU Healthcare 1199NW
19823 58th Place South, Suite 200
Kent WA 98032
Records show that executive pay at Kadlec in the Tri-Cities is similar to executive pay at Providence Swedish in Seattle. According to its compensation report filed with the Washington Department of Health for 2023, Providence paid $3.5 million to its top-five executives at Kadlec who are based out of the Tri-Cities, and $3.8 million to its top-five executives at Swedish First Hill who live in the Seattle area. Meanwhile, wage ranges for frontline workers in similar job classes show significant disparities between the two locations.
Who we are
We Care for our Tri-Cities community
We are the environmental services workers who keep our facilities clean and free of infection; the certified nursing assistants who bathe and feed patients; the sterile processing technicians who assemble medical and surgical supplies and maintain sterile areas; the OR technicians who provide specialized technical support to surgeons; the nutrition and dietary workers who prepare and monitor food for patients with special nutritional needs; among dozens of additional job classes that make up the care team.
We began bargaining with Providence, Kadlec’s parent corporation, in January 2024. Our contract expired in December 2023. After two contract extensions and eight bargaining sessions, we voted YES in May to authorize our bargaining team to bring our fight for a fair contract to the public, up to a strike if necessary.
As Kadlec caregivers, no matter who we are or what job we do, we all work hard for Kadlec to be the best it can be. We want to foster a culture of belonging, longevity, equity, and pride. A strong contract will help us to achieve this by ensuring that we all feel valued and see investment in wages that respect us no matter where we work in the Providence system.
same employer, same pay
Our Bargaining Priorities
At Kadlec, we’re proud to provide high-quality care that rivals the standards of Providence Swedish in Seattle. We are aware that Providence compensates its Kadlec executives in the Tri-Cities similarly to their Seattle-based peers. It’s concerning that Providence finds it acceptable to pay us frontline workers at Kadlec substantially less for the same work. This disparity raises questions about fairness and equity in compensation practices.
We have proposed a new wage scale that mirrors the investment that Providence has made in Providence Swedish. In response, Kadlec proposed a wage scale that starts some of our co-workers at the state minimum wage. No one working at Providence hospitals — one of the biggest and wealthiest healthcare corporations in the country — should be earning minimum wage. Kadlec is the second-largest employer in the Tri-Cities. Poverty wages do not reflect an investment in community.
I stand with healthcare workers!
Add your name to our community petition:
The healthcare workers at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland and Kadlec Free Standing Emergency Department in Kennewick are dedicated to ensuring that everyone in our community has access to quality healthcare. They cared for our community through the COVID-19 pandemic and remain dedicated to providing the best care possible to our families and neighbors.
Unfortunately, Providence Kadlec management has prioritized excessive executive pay and profits above quality care and the needs of patients. Providence’s proposals at the bargaining table do not reflect an investment in care to better serve our Tri-Cities community; they’ve stated that if Kadlec workers want to be valued in the same way as workers in other Providence facilities, they should leave this community and go there.
We, the workers at Kadlec Regional Medical Center and Kadlec Free Standing Emergency Department, with the support of our friends, family, neighbors, and community members, call on Providence Kadlec executives in the Tri-Cities to accept the proposals we’ve made to improve staffing and retention. Trust healthcare workers — they know what it takes to safely take care of patients.
*By submitting, I consent to SEIU and SEIU Healthcare 1199NW using and publishing my name in connection with this petition, including in a newspaper advertisement. I release SEIU and SEIU Healthcare 1199NW (the union) from all liability and any claims I may have arising out of the use and publication of this material. By signing above, I understand that my name (and only my name) will be used with the text of this advertisement. By signing this petition, I agree the union may contact me by email.
Taking action
Informational Picket and Rally
After two contract extensions and several bargaining sessions, we voted to bring our fight for a fair contract to the public. We held our informational picket on May 28.
Taking action
Candlelight Vigil for Safe Patient Care
We sent a message to Providence that we are united by holding a candlelight vigil for safe patient care on July 8.