Employees at Grays Harbor Community Hospital in Aberdeen, Wash., will demonstrate outside the hospital next week as they seek a new labor contract, reports The Daily World.
The workers, represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 21, plan to demonstrate Dec. 13. The event will include informational picketing and a candlelight vigil.
They workers are reportedly displeased with the progress of contract negotiations, as efforts to obtain a new labor deal remain stalled, according to the report. Insurance coverage remains a key point of contention.
The union wants the hospital to change the UFCW's insurance carrier to a state program as a way to reduce costs, such as the Public Employees Benefits Board Program, according to the report. However, hospital administrators didn't include this in their latest proposal, John Warring, unit representative with UFCW Local 21 and a microbiologist at the hospital for nearly 40 years, told The Daily World.
In response to the union's plans to demonstrate, the hospital said, "Grays Harbor Community Hospital respects the rights of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 21 to engage in an informational picketing. We remain optimistic that an agreement can be reached and all parties can continue to bring the best possible services to the Harbor. GHCH will continue to provide excellent care for our patients and their families."