Healthcare workers and their dependents demonstrated at EvergreenHealth in Monroe in hopes of preserving their healthcare plan.
MONROE — Service Employees International Union 1199NW held a demonstration with a picket line and speakers at EvergreenHealth in Monroe on May 24, protesting the increased cost of downgraded health insurance.
SEIU 1199NW healthcare workers have negotiated above the initially proposed 2% wage increase to compensate for the sharp climb in the cost of living. However, after nine months of negotiation and 15 failed meetings, they are still trying to preserve their health benefits.
The union members fear that their current benefits will be lost in the case of a merger, leaving them with a more expensive healthcare plan with less coverage. According to SEIU members, EvergreenHealth’s management team insists on continuing with meetings rather than making progress toward a resolution.
Renee Uribe, an emergency room nurse for 12 years, told the crowd of healthcare workers, their families and supporters about her experience of having a brain tumor. Her health insurance is the only thing that saved her family from the financial ruin of an over $200,000 hospital bill. Uribe said her healthcare and insurance are why she’s alive and can walk today.
Nancy Anderson, a CRNA at EvergreenHealth and member of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW’s negotiating team, said EvergreenHealth’s unwillingness to negotiate over healthcare benefits had “left the workers with no choice but to protest.”
Representatives from EvergreenHealth were unable to respond by the time of publication.
SEIU is the largest healthcare worker union in the nation. Members include nurses, nursing aides, pharmacists, mental health workers and housekeeping among their numbers.
