Group Health strike date set for Aug. 23

By Kyung M. Song
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Related stories GHC's Aug. 12 letter to members (427K PDF) SEIU handout on GHC (158K PDF) Other links Group Health Cooperative Service Employees International Union

Members of the Service Employees International Union District 1199NW (SEIU) gave notice yesterday for what could be Group Health's first strike in the Seattle area since 1995.

The strike would affect nearly all Group Health-operated facilities in Western Washington, including 18 medical centers, 12 urgent-care clinics, six specialty clinics and the Group Health Central Hospital on Capitol Hill, which focuses on in-patient maternity services and outpatient surgery.

However, the union said it will not strike at Group Health Eastside Hospital in Redmond, where 300 to 400 SEIU members work, because it wanted to avoid disrupting the 50 or so patients hospitalized there. An additional 100 Group Health nurses, service workers and team assistants in Spokane and in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, also will not strike.

Group Health said all of its medical facilities and pharmacies would remain open during the strike. But a strike may force Group Health to reschedule some routine medical appointments. The nonprofit company wants to keep all its maternity services open at the Capitol Hill hospital but has not decided whether it will be able to do so, said Laura Query, a spokeswoman for the co-op.

"Patients are going to continue to receive care," Query said.

Group Health provides health-care coverage and services to 540,000 members in Washington and northern Idaho.

More information To contact Group Health: Patients who want more information should contact customer service, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1-888-901-4636.

Union leaders said a contract, not a strike, remains their goal.

The union believes both sides should use the time between now and the strike deadline "not to prepare for a strike but to settle the contract," Diane Sosne, president of SEIU District 1199NW, said during a news conference yesterday. "Ten days should be ample time" to reach an agreement.

Group Health nurses have twice walked out for one day over contract disputes, in Spokane last year and in Seattle in 1995. Seattle-area nurses went on strike for 38 days in 1989.

Group Health and the SEIU have been bargaining since May 6 for a new contract covering half of the union's 2,000 members at the co-op. Those contracts expired a week ago. The remaining half of the union, which includes licensed practical nurses, medical assistants and custodians mostly in Western Washington, has been working without a contract since September.

Contract talks stalled over Group Health's attempts to start charging SEIU members monthly health-insurance premiums, which half of the co-op's 8,500 employees already pay.

The company's last offer included annual premiums equal to 1 percent of base pay for individual coverage and up to 3 percent a year for family coverage. For someone earning $50,000 a year, that is $41.67 a month for the worker and $125 a month for the employee, spouse and children. Group Health also wants to charge $100 a month for a spouse eligible for health coverage through his or her own employer.

According to Group Health, its nurses in Western Washington earn an average of $68,800 in base wages before overtime or other extra pay. Custodians earn an average of $28,870 a year.

Scott Armstrong, Group Health's chief operating officer, said the co-op can't continue to provide union workers with "virtually free health care." He contends that even with higher insurance costs, wages and benefits for Group Health workers would remain among the highest for local health-care workers.

The union counters that the benefits changes, which include raising annual deductibles to $600 from zero, could cost some of its members thousands of dollars a year. Union leaders said they are willing to accept modest increases in co-pays and deductibles but said Group Health's demands go too far.

"This employer does not need to do this," Sosne said.

Kyung Song: 206-464-2423 or ksong@seattletimes.com