Nurses, hospital workers hit the picket line

11:25 AM PDT on Tuesday, August 16, 2005

By MIRTHA VACA / KING 5 News

SEATTLE - Nurses and hospital workers at Swedish Hospital in Seattle, who are members of the Service Employees International Union, picketed the hospital Tuesday to protest proposed changes in retirement and health care benefits.

Swedish officials say the current pension plan is outdated and expensive. They want to move to a 401k plan where employees choose how much they want to contribute to their retirement. Under the proposed changes, employees would also have to pay a monthly premium on health care, something they haven't done in the past.

KING

Members of the Service Employees International Union, picketed Swedish Hospital in Seattle to protest proposed changes in retirement and health care benefits.

Hospital officials say it's the only way they'll be able to stay competitive.

"What we want to do is we want to talk about it today, not three years from now or five years from now. If we wait that long, what we'll end up in is a situation where we'll be much more pressed to do something more drastic and we really don't want to do that," said Ron Sperling, Swedish Hospital, CFO.

Union members say the proposed cuts would make it more difficult for Swedish to attract and retain nurses and caregivers as hospitals face ongoing shortages of nurses and health care workers.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, by the year 2012 there will be more than 1 million new and replacement nurses needed.

"I’m very concerned. It's a huge recruitment and retention issue," said emergency nurse Stanalee Reisinger. "If we don't have the benefits and wages to pull nurses in, there is a large nursing shortage starting."

Celeste McAloon, who has been a nurse at Swedish for 19 years, is worried about the future. The hospital's proposed cuts to her pension benefits and new premiums for her family's health care will put a major strain on her part-time budget.

"If this was to go through I would probably have to work more and that would take time away from my family," she said.

Swedish officials say they want to avoid a United Airlines repeat. In May, a federal judge allowed United Airlines to default on $9 billion in pension obligations as it attempts to emerge from bankruptcy.

"We have the time to make the changes today and allow them to take affect over a 5- or 10-year period," said Sperling. "What we think happened in the United Airlines situation is they didn't act soon enough."

McAloon said any costs added to healthcare would be tough, especially for lower-wage workers who could be completely priced out.

"I just don't think that Swedish is United Airlines so I'm just not buying into that," she said.

The two sides have met twice with a federal mediator and the hospital has made concessions. For now, all current employees have a choice: They can stay with the old pension program or switch over the new 401k plan.

The union has a right to picket as long as it doesn't interfere with patient care or operations.

Swedish officials say bargaining should be done on the negotiating table and not on the street.