Six out of the Seven Bargaining Committee members had never sat at a bargaining table before, and this is only the second contract fight for the workers at Twin City Foods (TCF).
Seis de los siete miembros del Comité de Negociación nunca se habían sentado en una mesa de negociaciones antes, y esta es solo la segunda lucha contractual para los trabajadores de Twin City Foods (TCF).
Read MoreAs a twenty-nine year Safeway employee in Spokane Washington, who has been a shop steward for twenty of those years, Vanessa Evans has seen that consolidation over decades of work in the grocery business.
Read MoreREI workers from around the country joined together yesterday to show our power and unwavering solidarity to fight for a fair first contract, marching on REI headquarters to invite CEO Eric Artz to sit down with representatives from the worker bargaining team—in person, right in the parking lot. REI management was a no-show, so the group of green vests delivered a letter to the Employer's locked front door, surrounded by cheering friends and allies there in solidarity!
REI has unilaterally changed their longstanding past practice and took away merit raises and 2024 Summit Pay at union REIs. Our union has joined other REI union locals around the country to file an Unfair Labor Practice against REI for breaking labor law.
Hear directly from our coworker Sue about why yesterday was so important:
“REI has a list of values and one of them is the ‘co-op way’. One of them is that we start from a place of respect. We acknowledge and resolve our differences of opinion because it helps us tackle problems, learn faster, do better, and go further.”
Has REI lived up to the co-op way? Union workers yesterday went to HQ to say NO! and to demand REI stop union-busting and negotiate with union workers in good faith. The way we win a fair contract is by being engaged and being ready to exercise our right to fight for it! Reach out to anyone on your bargaining team to get more involved in negotiations and upcoming actions.
Feel free to reach out to your union rep Dominick Ojeda at (206) 436-6586.
You can find more about the national campaign here: ourrei.com
View more from the action yesterday at the REI Union Twitter
Kyle Chrisman
Kyle Chrisman has been working at LabCorp for almost 18 years on Capitol Hill as a phlebotomist. Kyle is dedicated to his patients and coworkers, which is why he fights so hard to build collective power on the job. Kyle is currently serving on the LabCorp union bargaining committee. Phlebotomist union members at LabCorp have often had their concerns ignored by their employer and Kyle is ensuring that LabCorp hears them loud and clear during negotiations.
LabCorp is having trouble staffing and retaining workers and union members know why, LabCorp needs to provide competitive wages and benefits. The City of Seattle recently announced that the minimum wage within city limits would be going up 6.85%, which helps workers keep pace with the increased costs of living and working in the city. Instead of proposing a wage scale based on the percentage, LabCorp simply bumped all positions that were under the new minimum wage rate of $19.97. This compresses the scale so that several of the steps are at the same rate. LabCorp then maintained their offer of below-market raises, decreased percentages between steps above minimum wage, and higher health care costs.
Kyle and his fellow bargaining committee members know that is simply not realistic when it comes to making ends meet and safely caring for patients. That is why the bargaining committee updated their proposal to reflect the effects of the new minimum wage throughout their wage instead of just meeting it like LabCorp.
Stay tuned as Kyle and his fellow union members fight for a better contract and better patient care, they have already held one info picket are prepared to take further action to ensure a fair contract!
Early Supports union members with UFCW 3000 bargained yesterday with local nonprofit employer Northwest Center (NWC), and the Early Learning workers at NWC who recently organized with SEIU 925 are standing in support and solidarity for a fair contract!
Workers at Northwest Center, whose “Big Blue Trucks” have been seen around the Northwest for more than 50 years, offer therapy, early education, employment services, and advocacy opportunities for people of all ages with disabilities. At Northwest Center Kids, Early Supports workers provide birth to three therapy services, and Early Learning workers run two inclusive childcare centers in Seattle. In both departments, organizing a union is about more than wages and benefits—it’s also about ensuring the best possible environment for all kiddos and clients.
– UFCW 3000 Bargaining Team: Jenica Barrett, Speech Language Pathologist; Cassie Villarreal, Speech Language Pathologist; Kimmy Burns, Physical Therapist; Julia Szilard, Physical Therapist
NWC Early Supports became the first agency of its kind in Washington State to unionize, and one of the first in the country. Since few workplaces like theirs are unionized, these new members—physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, infant mental health therapists, family resource coordinators, dietitians, special educators, and administrative staff—are excited to help set historic workplace standards. The early childhood educators, custodians, kitchen staff, and specialists at NWC Early Learning just won their union this month, and can’t wait to get started on the process of coming together to bargain with the employer for their contract as well.
Working together, our two unions comprise more than 67,000 workers across the region, with members in early learning, health care, nonprofits, education, and many other industries. We bring the experience, solidarity, and power of all our members to the bargaining table and look forward to working together for equitable contracts at NWC!
You're likely already aware that our current contract was set to expire on June 1. We agreed to extend the contract by one month to the end of June to allow more time for negotiations. Your bargaining team will meet with PPGNHAIK leadership to bargain on May 24 and then again on June 6. As with bargaining sessions in the last decade, HR has been slow to agree to the many dates we have proposed. Their stalling tactics have only emboldened our team to become more united in our demands. We look forward to getting these negotiations started and fighting for the contract we all deserve!
L to R: Michel Avery, Clinical Trainer - Monalisa Bauman, MA Certified - Alison DeBoise, Insurance Biller - Melissa Grindstaff, Patient Access Rep - Mollie Overby, Capacity Building Specialist
How can you help us win the contract we all deserve?
Fill out the bargaining survey. Thank you to those who have already made your voice heard.
If you prefer to spell out concerns by phone or email, please reach out to Charlie at (206) 436-6518 or a union Shop Steward or Bargaining Team member.
Join a Thursday night Zoom check-in at 7pm and let us know what’s important to you.
PP Leadership has posted the GAHC Coordinator position, but is still vague on the timeline of the return of new patients. If you have not already signed the petition demanding transparency on the GAH pause, please do so here.
Finally, let’s cheer on our fellow Planned Parenthood and UFCW Local 324 on filing for an election to unionize!
Our union Bargaining Team met with the Employer on May 16.
Our Bargaining Team member, Hannah Corprew, from the University Way location was representing her colleagues and coworkers at the bargaining table.
During a long and productive bargaining day, the Employer responded to our first proposal from April 21 with a counter proposal, including on noneconomic issues such as union recognition and representation, employment practice, and more.
Our Bargaining Team worked to draft proposals on holidays, seniority and hours of work and overtime.
We agreed to continue our bargaining meetings later this summer when the Employer will be available to meet again.
Meanwhile, our Bargaining Team will be working on drafting more bargaining proposals, including our opening economic proposal.
“As we complete our first full day of bargaining with Deep Roots I feel hopeful that we will be able to win a good first contract that respects all parties and helps make Deep Roots a better company.”
- Hannah Corprew, Bargaining Team Member
Susan Mayer, Pamela Reese, Vanessa RosaDino, and Christy Sammons
The bargaining team at Saint Michael Medical Center has been meeting with the Employer for over a month to negotiate a new contract working conditions for themselves and their coworkers. The bargain is now well into the economic parts of the agreement, and the committee is learning fast that their employer, Catholic Health Initiatives, needs to not just hear from them, but from everyone working at St. Michael Medical Center.
So, Susan, Pamela, Vanessa, and Christy are talking to their coworkers and collecting stories to share at the bargaining table about what would make their workplace better, and what effect of management’s proposals would have; because an injury to one is an injury to all.
Health care workers, faith leaders, labor unions, and community allies in Pierce County planned a car caravan around MultiCare-owned Tacoma General and Mary Bridge Children’s Hospitals today, in support of a fair contract for MultiCare’s essential workers. Workers who risked their lives to show up for patients during a yearlong global health crisis are now having to fight for pay that respects their work, for their own access to affordable health care, and for safe staffing in their hospitals and clinics. Workers have been bargaining since January with little movement from MultiCare in agreeing to fair wages and working conditions, and the Tacoma and Pierce County community is ready to step up and support their health care workers.
But before the caravan could begin, MultiCare sent a last-minute cease and desist letter to block it from taking place, saying they consider cars with signs to be unlawful picketing activity and threatening legal action if it continued.
We thank the Tacoma NAACP, Tacoma DSA, Union of American Physicians and Dentists, Tacoma Ministerial Alliance, Political Destiny, Unite Here Local 8, and SEIU 1199NW for joining us today and for committing to this fight for health care workers’ rights and for safe, quality patient care in Tacoma and Pierce County. MultiCare workers have taken care of our community through a traumatic year, and it’s time for MultiCare to take care of its workers.
As you may know, a fully recommended tentative agreement was reached in negotiations on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. See the information below for times, dates, and locations for union members to review the tentative agreement, get questions answered, and vote. You may vote at whatever location is most convenient, at any time when polling is open at that location.
These votes are open to UFCW 21 grocery store workers in King, Snohomish, Kitsap, Mason and Thurston Counties at the big chains as well as the independent stores. This includes all workers at Safeway, Albertsons, QFC, and Fred Meyer (including CCK and General Merchandise), as well as workers at stores with an interim (or “me too”) agreement, such as Metropolitan Market, Town & Country and other independent stores.
You can come by at any point during the scheduled times and take as long as you like to review the contract offer and ask questions before casting your vote. You must be present at a vote and a current union member in order to cast a ballot.
Bellevue
Meydenbauer Center
Rooms: 404-406, 11100 NE 6th Street, Bellevue, WA 98004
Everett/Lynnwood
Lynnwood Convention Center, Rooms 1DEF
3711 196th St SW, Lynnwood 98036
Sea Tac
Seatac Hilton
Emerald Ballroom, 17620 International Blvd., Seattle 98188
Bremerton
Kitsap Convention Center
Ballroom D, 100 Washington Ave, Bremerton 98337
Seattle
Best Western Executive Inn
Seafair Ballroom, 200 Taylor Ave N, Seattle 98109
Olympia
Southsound Manor
Logan Room, 455 North Street SE, Tumwater 98501
We are the Union. The members of UFCW 3000 are over 50,000 members working in grocery, retail, health care, meat packing, cannabis, & other industries across Washington state, north-east Oregon, and northern Idaho. UFCW 3000 is a chartered member of UFCW International with over 1.4 million workers in North America.
To build a powerful Union that fights for economic, political and social justice in our workplaces and in our communities.
