Swedish, nurses union agree on new contracts

Swedish commits $1 million to a labor-management fund

Last updated 4/23/2020 at 1:23pm

Emily Gilbert

Swedish and the nurses union have finally reached an agreement for a contract after a year of negotiations and one 3-day strike.

Swedish Health Services has reached agreements with SEIU 1199NW on new contracts that cover more than 7,700 represented employees of Swedish Medical Center and Swedish Edmonds.

The agreement also contains a first in the nation "Best Jobs, Best Care" Joint Labor-Management Innovation Fund.

The fund will develop work-site innovation leaders, improve recruitment of a multiracial care team, improve the quality of patient care and study new developments in technology. Swedish will commit $1 million over four years to this fund.

Gov. Jay Inslee convened the two sides last month with an independen...

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