Members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 49 at Legacy Emanuel Hospital, Randall Children’s Hospital, and Unity Behavioral Health Center voted 238-31 on Nov. 6 to ratify a new three-year union contract. The agreement was reached Nov. 1 as workers prepared to walk off the job for a two-day strike that was slated for Nov. 8 and 9.
The contract provides raises totaling 7.75 percent over three years for the 750-member unit, which consists of certified nursing assistants, emergency techs, housekeepers, cafeteria workers and other support workers. It also gives the most senior workers an additional $1.10 an hour.
Legacy also agreed to a system of personalized financial assistance for members who are unable to pay their medical bills. That comes as Legacy was embarrassed in a Nov. 1 Willamette Week story about a Local 49 member at Legacy Emanuel who was sent to collections for lymphoma treatment — at Legacy.
The deal also comes as Legacy faces a record-busting fine of $276,680 from the Oregon Bureau and Labor and Industries for 4,439 instances in which surgical and housekeeping employees at Legacy Emanuel failed to be given legally mandated meal breaks.
The new contract runs through June 30, 2020, three years after the previous contract expired.
