Group Health workers set to strike this month

SEATTLE – Nurses and other medical workers at Group Health Cooperative will go on strike later this month in a dispute over health benefits, Service Employees International Union Local 1199 announced Thursday.

Nearly 2,200 nurses, medical assistants, social workers, therapists and other front-line health care workers will strike from Monday, Aug. 23 to Friday, Aug. 27.

About 100 Group Health employees in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene are members of the bargaining units that will take part in the strike, Group Health said. But that group of workers won’t take part in the walkout, said Jean Waight, a spokeswoman for the organization.

SEIU Local 1199 spokesman Carter Wright said workers wanted to ensure continuity of care for patients at facilities in the Inland Northwest.

Inpatient care at Group Health’s Eastside Hospital in Redmond also won’t be affected.

Federal law requires health care workers to give employers 10 days notice before striking.

“We’re standing up for affordable family health care,” Wright said. “We understand health care is costing more and we’re willing to pay our share, but the cuts that Group Health is demanding are massive.”

In contract negotiations with the union, Group Health has proposed increasing the cost to workers for health benefits. Group Health employees covered by the union contract now get health benefits with $5 copays for office visits and prescriptions and no premiums.

Scott Armstrong, Group Health’s chief operating officer, said company officials are disappointed that workers plan to strike.

“Regardless of union action, Group Health physicians, physician assistants, nurse supervisors and other team members will be at work caring for our patients,” Armstrong said Wednesday evening.

Group Health Cooperative, a nonprofit based in Seattle, provides health care coverage and services to 540,000 members in Washington and Northern Idaho.