Help Striking Health Care Workers at Providence Sacred Heart

Nearly 500 technical staff at Providence Sacred Heart in Spokane are participating in an 8-day unfair labor practice strike April 22-30. These highly skilled health care workers have been bargaining a union contract since November. Providence’s behavior in negotiations has been egregiously disrespectful of technical staff’s knowledge, skills, and expertise. But it has also repeatedly crossed the line into illegal behavior, unfairly and unlawfully disrespecting the bargaining process.

While union members (with UFCW local 3000) proposed solutions to the hospital’s chronic understaffing that has greatly impacted workers, their families, and their patients, Providence proposed stripping workers’ health and dental benefits and making these high-skill jobs among the lowest-paid in the region. Meanwhile, Sacred Heart management imposed changes to schedules and working conditions without bargaining over them and attempted to undermine contract negotiations.

“We’re still here because we know the hospital can’t run without us Techs,” said Teresa Bowden, a respiratory therapist of 30+ years, at a worker press conference. “It seems like Providence has really forgotten that.”

Respiratory therapists, surgical techs, mental health counselors, and many other hospital staff care for our community when we need them, and now they are walking a strike line in protest of Providence’s unfair labor practices, determined to fight for their right to a fair union contract and fair bargaining process.

Even if it’s the right thing to do, going on strike is a sacrifice and it can create hardship for workers and their families. Today, we ask for your solidarity with these health care workers, in whatever way you can help:

Donate to this GoFundMe, which supports the UFCW 3000 Membership Assistance Fund and the workers on strike. UFCW 3000 has an established program where members can request assistance on unexpected hardship caused by reduction of hours due to extended illness, housefires, natural disasters, and domestic violence support. Funds raised through this GoFundMe will prioritize hardship requests from members on strike, and any excess funds will be housed in the UFCW 3000 Membership Assistance Fund for future hardship needs of UFCW 3000 members.

Sign on to the community support pledge for striking workers

Join workers on the strike line! Go to ufcw3000.org/strike for the location and other details. This unfair labor practice strike runs from 2pm April 22 to 8:30pm April 30.

Attend the sunset solidarity rally on Wednesday, April 24 at 7pm in Cowley Park.

These UFCW 3000 members’ steadfast commitment to their hospital, their patients, and each other is inspiring, and it's time for Providence to do the right thing. The only way to address ongoing understaffing and relieve hardworking but exhausted health care workers is through recruitment and retention of staff, but to achieve that requires Providence to respect labor law and the bargaining process.

Let’s show workers that this community has their back!