Dear SEIU 1991 Members,
Thanks to our members who joined our SEIU Bargaining Team at the Union office and the 200 plus members who joined on Zoom as we opened our 2026 COLA ( Cost Of Living Adjustment) Negotiations.
SEIU has proposed a 4% COLA, an increase that aligns with what all other county Unions have already secured for April of 2026.
In today’s session, management did not present a counterproposal. Instead, they outlined seven major “headwinds,” or potential financial threats, tied to the recently passed legislation in the “Big Ugly Bill.”
These include:
- Shrinking Medicare & Medicaid reimbursements
- Continued cuts to provider payments
- Drug pricing reforms and threats to the 340B program
- Rising compliance and audit requirements
- Changes to Affordable Care Act subsidies
- A projected $27 million annual loss from sales tax
- Increased market competition
Management painted a bleak financial outlook, noting, for example, that Jackson anticipates a $100 million annual loss due to Affordable Care Act cuts, along with millions more in lost Medicaid funding.
We will be going back to the table in late August as we all work to study the threats of so many cuts.
This is when we stand strong and stand together to protect our patients, our hospital and ourselves!
In Unity,
Martha Baker, RN
Chief Negotiator/ President