On Jan. 29, 186 technical workers at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, Wash., joined UFCW Local 21 for a better life. These workers joined our union family because they wanted the same thing most people want at their job – better wages, better benefits and a stronger voice on the job like the unionized UFCW 21 registered nurses at the hospital.
The unionized registered nurses at the hospital were key to this organizing effort. The registered nurses had just ratified a new contract that was successful because of a coordinated statewide effort of many other Providence workers that resulted in improvements to wages and benefits. These UFCW members shared their stories about the value of joining our union family with their technical colleagues.
“Being union gives us the power to control the future of our profession,” said Brenda White, who is a registered nurse at Providence St. Peter Hospital. “All the evidence for that was put into action by union nurses and service employees these past months. We stood in solidarity, asking Providence to give us a fair contract and we prevailed. You will too. Solidarity is power.”