“Swedish-Providence nurses & healthcare workers are getting ready to picket at @Swedish tomorrow!” — @SEIU1199NW

Broadway between Cherry and Columbia will be filled with around a thousand members of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW in a rush-hour picket “for better staffing and improved investment in caregiver retention” targeting Swedish First Hill. The action is part of a day of pickets against Swedish-Providence campuses in the area including a noontime rally at Swedish Cherry Hill.

Organizers say the “thousand-member picket” at Swedish First Hill is slated to begin at 4 PM and will include a 5:15 PM rally “featuring elected officials, community leaders, and workers among the speakers.” Mayor Ed Murray, Council members Bruce Harrell, Kshama Sawant, and Jean Godden are scheduled to speak while Mike O’Brien and Nick Licata are slated to join the picket.

Swedish-Providence nurses and healthcare workers are picketing on Wednesday, calling on the hospital, which made $110 million in profit last year, to put patients’ healthcare dollars into frontline care.  The 7,000 caregivers, united in SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, are taking action for better staffing and improved investment in caregiver retention in order to give patients the best quality care.

On Wednesday, lunchtime pickets at several Swedish-Providence campuses will be followed with a thousand-member picket at Swedish-First Hill at 4pm.  That rally will culminate in a rally at 5:15 featuring elected officials, community leaders, and workers among the speakers.

WHO: Swedish-Providence nurses and healthcare workers

WHAT: Rally and Picket for Quality Care and Good Jobs

ACTIVITIES:

Wednesday 7/1, 12 noon – 2pm, Swedish First Hill, Cherry Hill, Ballard, Issaquah, Edmonds –picketing.  County Executive Dow Constantine will join the First Hill picket at 12:45pm.

Wednesday 7/1, 4pm – 6:30pm, Swedish First Hill (Broadway between Cherry and Columbia, Seattle) –  Picketing with 5:15pm rally.  1,000+ workers and community supporters.  Featured rally speakers include Mayor Murray, Councilmembers Harrell, Sawant, Godden.  Councilmembers O’Brien and Licata will picket with workers around 4:30pm.

Organizers say Wednesday’s pickets are not a strike and will not affect patient care.

SEIU Healthcare 1199NW is a CHS advertiser. The union has been in contract negotiations with Swedish-Providence since April. Swedish is the largest nonprofit healthcare provider in the Seattle area. In 2012, it completed its merger with Providence joining together “five Swedish hospital campuses and 27 Providence hospitals across five Western states.”