Founded in 1972, Group Health Cooperative has until recently been something of a progressive’s dream: a democratic, cooperative model of health care where a racially and otherwise diverse membership of consumer-owners could call the shots in a nonprofit dedicated to affordable patient care.
But the GHC of 2025 has called into question this hard-earned reputation. Since December, GHC has been fighting its workers’ right to form a union of their choosing.
Why are GHC’s primary and urgent care staff organizing? They believe in GHC’s progressive mission and want to address serious patient care concerns. They are fighting burnout, high turnover and chronic understaffing, unclear and unfair wage systems, unfair discipline and a lack of fair pay for extra hours and duties…