Judge puts workers’ schedule changes on hold at Providence St. Peter Hospital

A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order sought by a union on Thursday, blocking a proposed Providence St. Peter Hospital plan that would have altered the work schedule of some employees and possibly resulted in layoffs.

Providence denied Thursday that layoffs were part of the plan. The union countered that seven jobs were at stake.

The affected workers, known as health unit coordinators, are represented by Service Employees International Union 1199NW. After union officials learned of the plan, they filed a complaint Monday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to “maintain the status quo.”

Judge Ronald B. Leighton granted the temporary restraining order Thursday, and now hospital and union officials are set to meet in court about the injunction on Dec. 26.

The union first learned of the hospital’s plan in November when it proposed restructuring “certain health unit coordinator employee positions from eight-hour to 12-hour shifts,” court documents read.

SEIU responded that proposal was a violation of the collective bargaining agreement.

The union says the hospital employs about 80 health unit coordinators. As many as seven positions would have been cut with the change in hours, union spokeswoman Julie Popper said. According to a union news release, those cuts were set to take place Dec. 16.

Providence disputed that Thursday. The hospital also expressed disappointment that the judge granted the order without an opportunity to present the facts of the proposed changes.

“The court granted the temporary restraining order based solely on SEIU’s version of events, including the union’s mistaken belief that the planned restructure would result in layoffs,” spokesman Chris Thomas said in a statement. “To clarify, these shift changes would align the schedules of some health unit coordinators to those of nurses, to help provide better care for our patients. Also, shift changes were never proposed to take place until at least January of 2018.”

Health unit coordinator Debbie Lang, 62, said Thursday that she loves her job and wants to hang onto it.

“It’s hard to find a job you like,” she said, adding that her fifth-floor hospital duties include office work and keeping an eye on telemonitors.

Health problems have forced her husband to retire, which means she will no longer be covered under his health insurance. So, Lang went back to school to become a health unit coordinator.

She already works a 12-hour schedule, she said. Her concern is that she has been at the hospital for less than a year and doesn’t have seniority among the health unit coordinators.

Not knowing what’s going to happen has been hard, she said. “I’ve been in tears.”

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Judge puts workers’ schedule changes on hold at Providence St. Peter Hospital."