SEIU-UHW union dues

SEIU-UHW union dues are 2% of base pay, which means no dues on overtime pay or shift differentials. You will not pay any dues until you vote to ratify your first contract — so you’ll lock in your guaranteed raises and benefits before you pay dues. Dues cannot be raised without a vote by the full 100,000+ members of our union.

Why does management keep talking so much about union dues?
Stoking fear about union dues is a common strategy bosses use to try to scare workers about unions. The reality is that management is afraid that when you go union you’ll have the power and the resources you need to take on the big corporate owner of St. Joe’s and win the pay, benefits, and working conditions you deserve.

Strikes

Strikes are a last resort and only happen if the majority of workers vote to go on strike. About 98% of contracts are negotiated without a strike, and the 19,000 Dignity Health UHW members have never had to go on strike to maintain the fully employer paid health insurance and guaranteed raises in their union contract.

Relationship with management

Without a union, you are on your own when you have issues at work. That benefits management. When you’re part of a union, you’ll still communicate with management about workplace issues, but you and your co-workers will speak directly with hospital administration at the bargaining table to make the improvements you deserve.

Management claims we will lose our “direct relationship” with them
You will still have the right to speak directly to management about workplace issues like scheduling, staffing, and workloads, but you’ll also have the rights and power that come with being in a union and collectively bargaining for the changes you want. You will have the strength and resources of a 100,000+ member healthcare workers’ organization behind you to make sure your voices and concerns are heard and addressed.

Will I lose flexibility after going union?
No, you will gain flexibility and power. When you unite in SEIU-UHW, you are the union. You decide what to address to improve at the bargaining table, and what to keep the same. If scheduling is working fine, no need to change it, but if there is a problem you can bargain to make improvements.

Wages and benefits

Will our wages and benefits change?
St. Joe’s workers are forming your union for the power to win higher wages, stronger benefits, better working conditions, and improved patient care. When you vote to unite in SEIU-UHW, you’ll start collective bargaining with Dignity St. Joe’s over your union contract to achieve these goals. And remember, your union contract is only official if workers vote to ratify it. So you decide whether to accept whatever wages, raises, benefits, and working conditions are negotiated in your union contract.

Our right to form a union

Is Dignity Health / St. Joe’s legally allowed to fire us or cut our wages or benefits before we win our union and bargain our contract?
No. Management cannot fire you or cut your wages or benefits to retaliate against you for forming your union. If anyone from management threatens you for unionizing, report the incident to your SEIU-UHW union leader right away.

Professional development

What will SEIU-UHW do to protect our licenses / support professional development?
SEIU-UHW members in California won investment from Dignity Health in an education fund that supports nurses in continued professional development to not just maintain their license but improve knowledge and skills.

Through bargaining — including winning a $1 million investment from Dignity Health — SEIU-UHW also established Futuro Health, a program to provide tuition-free healthcare education opportunities to recruit and grow the healthcare workforce needed to fix staffing shortages. As a member of SEIU-UHW, you will be able to invite your loved ones to participate in Futuro Health to get the education they need to become a healthcare worker!