SEIU and UAPD Strike Information

May 12-17, 2025

Update - May 17, 2025

The recent strike involving our SEIU 1199-NW and UAPD-represented caregivers concluded as scheduled today, May 17, at 7 a.m. We are pleased to welcome back all our caregivers.

We want to express our immense appreciation for the professionalism and dedication our onsite caregivers demonstrated as we continued to care for our patients and the community during the work stoppage.

We also extend sincere appreciation to our patients, families and community members for their support.

A few logistics:

• PeaceHealth’s Bellingham Medical Office Plaza and Sedro-Woolley Priority Care clinics will resume normal hours on Monday, May 19.
• The Main Cafeteria at St. Joseph will resume normal operating hours and full menus beginning at 8:30 a.m. today, May 17.
• Grounds & Grains at St. Joseph will reopen at 6:30 a.m. on Monday, May 19, and will resume normal hours and operations.

We are committed to good-faith bargaining and look forward to resuming negotiations in order to reach agreements that are competitive, fair and provide total reward enhancements for our caregivers. We are in communication with SEIU to schedule our next bargaining date, and have sessions scheduled with UAPD on May 28-29.

Our shared focus, as always, remains on delivering the safe, high-quality care our community has come to expect. We thank the community for trusting us with their care.

For more information on PeaceHealth in the community:

PeaceHealth Impact - Whatcom 

Update - May 16, 2025

We are pleased to share that the recent strike involving our SEIU 1199NW- and UAPD-represented PeaceHealth caregivers will conclude as scheduled tomorrow (Saturday), May 17. Beginning at 7 a.m., our caregivers will begin returning to work and continuing the exceptional care and service that our patients and community count on.

We are grateful for the dedication, resilience and professionalism of all our caregivers throughout this past week. We also extend sincere appreciation to our patients, families and community members for their support.

A few logistics:

• PeaceHealth’s Bellingham Medical Office Plaza and Sedro-Woolley Priority Care clinics will resume normal hours starting on Monday, May 19.
• The Main Cafeteria at St. Joseph will resume normal operating hours and full menus beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 17.
• Grounds & Grains at St. Joseph will reopen at 6:30 a.m. on Monday, May 19, and will resume normal hours and operations.

We remain committed to good-faith bargaining and look forward to resuming negotiations in the near future in order to reach an agreement that is competitive, fair and provides total reward enhancements for our caregivers. We are in communication with SEIU to schedule our next bargaining date, and have sessions scheduled with UAPD on May 28-29.

Our shared focus, as always, has remained on delivering the safe, high-quality care our community has come to expect. We thank the community for trusting us with their care.

PeaceHealth Impact - Whatcom

Update - May 15, 2025

This afternoon, the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), which represents PeaceHealth nurses, will have an informational picket from 3:30 – 6:30 p.m. An informational picket is not a strike and the PeaceHealth nurses are not part of the current SEIU and UAPD work stoppage. 

We understand how important our contract is to our caregivers, and we look forward to bargaining on Friday, May 16 with WSNA. We are committed to good faith bargaining to reach an agreement that is fair, competitive and sustainable for our medical center and our community.

During our last bargaining session, PeaceHealth accepted WSNA’s position on wages, which includes:

• $4.25 per hour increase for all WSNA members across-the-board, effective the first full pay period following ratification of the contract. This is an over 7% average increase for WSNA-represented nurses.
• 3.25% increase the second year of the contract.
• 3% increase for the third year of the contract.

In total, an average of an 14% increase for the life of the contract. With this proposal, our nurses would be making between $95,321 and $160,675 in base salary by the third and final year of the contract. There is also additional compensation available in the form of differentials or other incentives.

Knowing that health benefits are important to our nurses, PeaceHealth has agreed that WSNA will have the opportunity to provide feedback on future plan design changes. Our health plan is on a calendar year, and we are unable to make substantive changes to the plan in the middle of this plan year.   

We value our caregivers, their professionalism and their commitment to our patients. We respect their right to participate in this, and other lawful activities.

As always, we thank the community for trusting us with their care and your support.

For more information on PeaceHealth in the community: 

PeaceHealth Impact - Whatcom

Update - May 12, 2025

PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center continues to serve patients and the community throughout the planned work stoppage. We have secured the services of highly qualified, experienced temporary caregivers from a staffing agency to ensure patient care remains uninterrupted. We assure you that  patients will continue to receive the very best care during and after the work stoppage.

During May 12 through May 17 access to St. Joseph main campus will be restricted to providers, working caregivers, patients and patient-visitors only. The Medical Office Plaza Priority Care Clinic and Sedro-Woolley Priority Care Clinic will close on Monday, May 12 and reopen on Monday, May 19.

You may observe picketing outside the hospital by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD). On Thursday you may also observe the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), which represents our nurses, having an informational picket in the afternoon. Our contract negotiations with WSNA are ongoing and our next session is on Friday, May 16.

We respect the rights of PeaceHealth’s SEIU and UAPD-represented caregivers to participate in this and other lawful activities. However, we are deeply disappointed that the unions have chosen to strike.

We have proposed competitive compensation packages to both unions that ensure our pay rates are at or above market rates. Under our current wage proposal to SEIU, caregivers would receive wage increases ranging from 15% to 36% over the four-year contract. Similarly, our current proposal to our UAPD advanced practice clinicians would provide market-based increases of up to 10% in the first year and maintain top of market positioning for that group of providers. 

We value our caregivers, their professionalism and their commitment to our patients. A planned action will not change that. 

The week of May 12 marks Hospital and Healthcare Workers Week — a time traditionally filled with celebration and gratitude for healthcare workers. PeaceHealth appreciates and recognizes our incredible caregivers who live out our Mission every day. While we had planned events over the week to express our gratitude, we’ve postponed those activities as we remain diligently focused on providing quality patient care during the current work stoppage.

For more information about PeaceHealth in the community, please go to: https://peacehealthimpact.org/
 

Update - May 12, 2025

Preparations in place for planned strike at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – In advance of the planned five-day strike by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1199NW and the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD) represented workers, starting at 6 a.m. on Monday, May 12 at PeaceHealth Medical Group clinics and St. Joseph Medical Center, we want to assure the community that we have plans in place to ensure the continued delivery of safe patient care. The striking bargaining units consist of service, technology and laboratory caregivers and advanced practice clinicians, such as physician assistants. This strike does not include nurses. 

Additionally, Sound Physicians, who contracts with PeaceHealth to provide in-patient hospitalist services at St. Joseph Medical Center received a strike notice from their union for their physicians. Sound Physicians have made arrangements for replacement hospitalists to serve the healthcare needs of our patients.  

We respect the rights of PeaceHealth’s SEIU and UAPD-represented caregivers to participate in this and other lawful activities. However, we are deeply disappointed that the unions have chosen to strike. We have proposed a competitive compensation package that ensures our pay rates are at or above market rates. Under our current wage proposal to SEIU, caregivers would receive wage increases ranging from 15%-36% over the four-year contract. Similarly, our current proposal to our advanced practice clinicians would provide market-based increases of up to 10% in the first year and maintain top of market positioning for that group of providers.  

We will be posting regular strike updates here.  More information about PeaceHealth in the Community can be found at https://peacehealthimpact.org/. 

General Strike Information

During the planned strike that involves our Service, Technical and Laboratory caregivers at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center and Advanced Practice Clinicians at PeaceHealth Medical Group clinics, St. Joseph Medical Center and United General Medical Center, our community can continue to count on the safe, high-quality care it has come to expect.

Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents approximately 900 service and tech and lab caregivers, and the Union of American Physicians and Dentists PeaceHealth Medical Group Advanced Practice Clinicians (UAPD), which represents approximately 100 advanced practice clinicians, have notified us of their plan to conduct a strike beginning on May 12. SEIU will strike starting at 6 a.m. on May 12 and end at 7 a.m. on May 17. UAPD will strike starting at 7 a.m. on May 12 and will end at 7 a.m. on Saturday, May 17.

Additionally, Sound Physicians, who contracts with PeaceHealth to provide in-patient hospitalist services at St. Joseph Medical Center and United General, also received a strike notice for their physicians.

PeaceHealth has secured the services of highly qualified, experienced temporary caregivers from a staffing agency, as well as existing care partners, to ensure patient care remains uninterrupted during the strike. This is a standard practice in the healthcare industry. Nursing, represented by WSNA, is not impacted nor part of this strike.

PeaceHealth respects the rights of our caregivers to participate in these strikes and other lawful activities. However, we are deeply disappointed the unions have chosen to strike. PeaceHealth remains committed to good faith bargaining to reach agreements that are competitive and fair.

We had been eager to get to resume bargaining with both SEIU 1199NW and UAPD to focus on reaching an agreement. Considering their decision to initiate a work stoppage, our full attention will turn to ensuring smooth and continuing operations in caring for our community and prioritizing excellent patient care. We will be glad to reengage and continue bargaining at the conclusion of the work stoppage.