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On May 18, 1983, Group Health's 1,200 nurses vote to replace the Washington State Nurses Association with District 1199 Northwest as their bargaining agent. District 1199 Northwest is a unit of the National Union of Hospital and Healthcare employees.

In August, the new union and Group Health peacefully negotiated a new contract with a 5 percent pay increase that year. However, 1199 leader Diane Sosne signaled that Group Health nurses would take a more assertive stance on financial and workplace issues in the future.

Sources: Walt Crowley, To Serve the Greatest Number: A History of Group Health Cooperative of Seattle (Seattle: GHC/University of Washington Press, 1995), 181.

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