What’s up with the Samaritan announcement about an affiliation with MultiCare Health System?
As over 800 SEIU members in the Samaritan Health System at Good Sam Regional Medical Center, Albany General Hospital, North Lincoln, & Pacific Communities Hospital we are proud of the care we deliver to our communities. We have been dedicated to working for our Hospitals in good times and in bad. The announcement from Samaritan management about an affiliation with an out-of-state company caught all of us by surprise.
Here are some of the facts about this announcement:
What does the “affiliation” mean for SEIU members at Samaritan?
As union members in SEIU, we have strong protections to our wages, benefits, working conditions and seniority because of our union contract. Our Union contract is legally binding and cannot be changed without our union members’ agreement.
Samaritan Union members are not going to agree to changes or takeaways that are not good for caregivers and our patients.
How long does the affiliation take? Samaritan is talking about as soon as next summer?
That is really optimistic of Samaritan to say an affiliation this important and complicated could happen that quickly.
For an acquisition of health systems there is a lengthy Oregon Health Authority review & approval process where Samaritan employees, patients, and community members have a have a lot of opportunity for input. Our Union is very familiar with the law and we will need lots of members to speak up about what is important to caregivers and patients in the review of the acquisition. We will demand that any affiliation includes high-quality jobs with a secure future. The process could take months to a year or more; in the meantime, all our rights in our union contracts are guaranteed and if your contract opens up for bargaining Samaritan has a legal obligation to bargain with us.
Legacy and OHSU recently went through a similar multi-month exploration process and ultimately decided not to merge.
What happens to our union rights and wages and benefits if the affiliation goes though?
As SEIU Union members, we have the right to bargain over any changes. If the affiliation happens, we will push to make sure we protect our wages, benefits and advocate to make things better. We will bargain over every nickel and dime to advocate for what is best for Samaritan SEIU members.
What can happen to Samaritan employees who are not yet in a union?
Samaritan employees who are not in a union do not have a right to bargain and have no guarantees. That means Samaritan or MultiCare can make cuts, do lay-offs, and freeze pay, and non-union employees don’t have a way to stop it like we do. As always, it makes sense to encourage all our Samaritan coworkers to organize a union and join us.
What do we know about MultiCare?
MultiCare is a Health System based in Tacoma, WA with 13 hospitals and about 20,000 employees. SEIU represents a lot of MultiCare hospital employees in WA state and has many union contracts. Samaritan workers will stay in our Union, SEIU 49, but as always — we are stronger together and will work together with the union members in WA to learn more about what MultiCare is like to work for.
What other questions do you have about the potential Samaritan – MultiCare affiliation?
Let your stewards know so we can get those questions answered or you can also
Call or text our SEIU Healthcare Member Resource Center at 971-314-4550
email at HCMRC@SEIU49.org
Want to make sure you get any updates right away?
Sign up for text and email updates at seiu49.org/hear-from-our-union
