Hundreds of nurses lined the sidewalk outside MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup on Wednesday, staging an informational picket and accusing hospital leaders of pushing contract terms that would roll back staffing protections and ignore concerns about racial bias. The show of force was the latest turn in months of tense bargaining between the Washington State Nurses Association and MultiCare over nurse-to-patient ratios, staffing roles and pay.
The 1,039 nurses represented by the Washington State Nurses Association scheduled picketing from 7 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 5:30 p.m., with a 5 p.m. rally, according to a Washington State Nurses Association news release. Union leaders say MultiCare’s latest proposals would strip contract language that guarantees dedicated charge nurses, flex nurses without patient assignments and formal break relief coverage, protections that nurses fought for in 2023. The union also points out that Good Samaritan has the fourth-busiest emergency department in the nation per capita, arguing that staffing safeguards are not a luxury in that environment.
MultiCare, for its part, told local media the hospital would remain open through the action and that management “has been bargaining in good faith to reach a fair contract,” according to the company. In a statement to The News Tribune, MultiCare spokesperson Scott Thompson said the system values its Good Samaritan nurses and looks forward to continuing negotiations.
Allegations of racial bias
Union officials say staffing is not the only flashpoint. They point to an April 23 conference-committee agenda that included the phrase “colored nurses,” wording the union described as “associated with segregation and racism.” According to the Washington State Nurses Association, nurses of color at Good Samaritan have reported being singled out for discipline and subjected to disparate treatment by management.
On the floors
Nurses on the line painted a picture of heavy patient loads and high turnover inside the hospital. Savanah James, co-chair of the bargaining unit, told The News Tribune that her progressive-care unit often runs with about four to five patients per nurse. Fellow co-chair Nicole Mandeville said clinical assistant nurse managers are being tapped to perform charge nurse duties, a responsibility the union maintains should belong to bargaining-unit nurses.
Broader labor push and legal context
The Puyallup picket is part of a broader spring labor push within the MultiCare system. SEIU-organized workers held informational actions earlier in April at Good Samaritan, Navos and Yakima, the union said. At the same time, a representation petition filed in late March with the National Labor Relations Board covers some Good Samaritan RN units, underscoring that both organizing and bargaining activity are in motion at the hospital.
Union leaders say they intend to keep up public pressure until they see firm contract language on staffing and movement on the racial bias concerns, while MultiCare maintains that both sides are still talking. Nurses say they are banking on the visibility of the picket, and the public attention that comes with it, to nudge negotiations toward concrete staffing protections that they believe could ease turnover and burnout on the floors.
