University of Washington students protested April 9 against the possible closure of the consolidated laundry facility that serves Seattle-based UW Medicine's UW Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center and Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, reports The Seattle Times.
The protesters, represented by UW United Students Against Sweatshops, took their issues straight to the office of Paul Ramsey, MD, CEO of UW Medicine and dean of the school of medicine. Nearly 20 student protesters occupied Dr. Ramsey's office, expressing concerns about proposed outsourcing of roughly 115 laundry jobs, according to The Seattle Times. The student protestors reportedly stayed inside while about 100 students and labor leaders remained outside the building where Dr. Ramsey's office is located.
Tina Mankowski, spokesperson for UW Medicine, attributed the proposed outsourcing to the outdated condition of the consolidated laundry facility in Seattle, but noted various options are on the table.
"We value the work of our loyal staff and are carefully reviewing all of our options for the consolidated laundry," she said in a statement to Becker's Hospital Review. "Our 30-year-old facility is no longer state-of-the-art and would require significant capital costs to bring it up to current standards."
She said UW Medicine plans to solicit bids from other market suppliers this spring, which will help leadership make final decisions. "In the interim, we are keeping our employees and their union representatives apprised of all developments," she added.
Ms. Mankowski told The Seattle Times UW Medicine would help affected workers try to find other jobs within the system if the laundry jobs were outsourced.
The proposed outsourcing is part of overall cost-savings efforts by UW Medicine. According to the report, the system had a $75 million budget deficit last year, and earlier this year laid off 15 laundry workers after Seattle veterans hospitals and Skagit Valley Hospital stopped sending patients' linens to the consolidated facility.
Students, meanwhile, are lobbying for upgrades to the facility.
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