Cascade pushes back
A Service Employees International Union (SEIU) report shows about 70 workers refused to come in to work after the incident and began picketing outside the facility.
Cascade called it an illegal strike because the protesters had not given 10-days’ notice, as required by federal law, and moved to terminate those who participated. The local SEIU chapter, 1199NW, suggested the workers call their walkout a “safety strike,” because it was organized primarily to protest working conditions.
Meanwhile Cascade, which has erected a large fence so that no one in the facility can see the protesters, has said the strike is primarily about ongoing contract negotiations with the facility’s nurses and its union.
“The Union has been trying to apply unfair – and in some cases we believe unlawful – external pressures to this process, including picketing, work stoppages, smear campaigns, and false accusations,” Cascade CEO Christopher West wrote on the company’s website in mid-August.
He said the facility had “ample personal protective equipment” and that the “well-being and safety of our patients and staff always have been and will be our key priorities.”
In response to a request for comment, Cascade said in an emailed statement that physical confrontations had decreased by almost 50% and elopements (unauthorized leaving of the facility) by 80% from 2018 to 2021.
Cascade spokesperson Gretchen Hommrich said in the statement that the workers it has terminated “were let go for cause in violation to their employment agreement” and said the company still aimed to negotiate a new agreement with the union.
The “efforts outside of the bargaining process serve no productive purpose and have only brought harm to the residents they claim to serve,” said Ms. Hommrich.
‘Safety is the sole purpose’
Mr. Yirgu said it was outrageous to suggest workers were picketing over contract negotiations. “Safety is the sole purpose of this strike,” he said.
He noted that his patient care goal is to have a lot of one-on-one time with his patients, helping them navigate back to the outside world. The facility is supposed to be a safe place, Mr. Yirgu added. Violence inside the facility traumatizes the patients and may worsen their condition and delay their progress, he said.
“If I can’t keep them safe, there’s no way I’m going to be able to see them eye-to-eye when I told them I’d keep them safe and then they’re not anymore,” said Mr. Yirgu.
So far, 22 workers have been “terminated,” meaning they received a termination notice, have been taken off the work schedule by the employer, or otherwise been informed that the employer has deemed them to be separated, the SEIU reports. The organization has filed unfair labor practice (ULPs) for all 22.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.