Mfused: L&I Investigation Results

Since the introduction of the new mylar zippered bag packaging at Mfused, members in production have been vocal about the pain and injuries caused to their wrists and hands from constantly opening and pinching these bags closed. Management had attempted to address the situation by ordering bags that supposedly come opened or outsourcing the task to other workers, but they still were not able to find a harmless solution. This led to multiple injuries and claims with Labor & Industries (L&I.) Meanwhile, L&I’s Department of Safety & Health (DOSH) had opened an investigation into a complaint made about the safety of this work. 

After some months and in-depth review from Occupational Hygienists, an Ergonomist, and (unlike most cases,) the head of DOSH, it has been determined that it is unsafe to open bags by hand and pinch bags closed by hand, even for part of a shift. The company has been given multiple serious citations, with one penalty, of which the amount has not been disclosed. Mfused must post a notice of their citations in the workplace for 7 days after it is received in the mail. L&I will not be checking on this, so if it is not seen or comes down early, please notify your shop steward or union rep.  

Employees, whether union members or not, should not be opening product bags by hand at all for any reason. If a batch of bags comes in sealed or partially sealed, please notify your manager and do not open them by hand. It is up to the employer to provide a safe way to get the job done, L&I has recommended finding a tool that can open and seal the bags without harmful repetitive motions. Do not open or seal bags until the company has provided a tool or machine that will help you do it harmlessly. Please notify your union rep when a tool or machine for opening/sealing bags is made available, or if you or another employee are asked to open or seal bags by hand. 

This is a win for members who have been saying that this work has been harmful to them all along, with injuries to show for it. Their voices have now been validated by safety regulators who have the authority to make management listen. 

If you have questions, reach out to your Union Rep.

MFused - Contract ratified!

MFused
CONTRACT RATIFIED!

On December 29, after months of negotiations with Management, UFCW Local 3000 members at MFused voted to ratify OUR FIRST UNION CONTRACT! Our Union contract is now in full force and effect, including benefits and protections such as:

• JUST CAUSE: Our contract protects against unfair discipline, ensuring workers cannot be disciplined or terminated arbitrarily, only for legitimate and evenly enforced violations of established policy. Going forward, call the Membership Resource Center at 1-866-210-3000 if you believe you have been unfairly disciplined.

• LOWER MEDICAL COSTS: The Employer is now responsible for 65% of our total medical premium, up from the former 50%.

• HIGHER VACATION ACCRUAL: Employees with over one year of service will now accrue more vacation time compared to the previous company policy.

  • Up to 1 year (0-1) years employment 80 hours

    One to two (1-2) years employment 96 hours

    Two to four (2-4) years employment 128 hours

    Four or more (4 +) years employment 144 hours

• WORK CANCELATION PAY: If Management needs to cancel your shift with less than forty-eight (48) hours’ notice then you will be entitled to pay for no less than half of your regular shift.

• WAGES & BONUS: All wage increases, including our $750 ratification bonus, will take effect in the first full pay period after today's ratification vote.

Our MFused contract sets a new standard for the cannabis industry, not only in Washington State but nationwide, as workers seek to unionize to improve of their workplaces.

However, our journey is far from complete. We must now enforce our contract, address new issues that arise over its duration, and advocate for improvements in cannabis legislation within our state and beyond.

The achievement of our first contract stands as a testament to the strength of our union and the transformative power of our collective power in creating positive change in our workplace.

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Legislative Day of Action in Olympia

Take action with us this next month by coming down to Olympia for our upcoming Legislative Day of Action to advocate for improved worker and cannabis legislation.

Monday, January 29

RSVP now! Go to: mobilize.us/ufcw3000/event/595097/

Mfused - Tentative Agreement Reached

Mfused
Tentative Agreement Reached

Our Bargaining Team unanimously recommends a “YES” vote!

Last winter, we came together to improve our workplace, our industry, and our lives by forming our MFused union. Less than a year later, we’re proud to say we’ve won a tentative agreement that raises the bar for cannabis workers in Washington. On December 29, all of us in the bargaining unit will vote “yes” to ratify our contract.

• Industry-leading wage increases for all union positions

  AR/AP Clerk $ 26.00

  Packager I – Generalist $ 21.50

  Packager II – Filler $ 22.50

  Packaging Lead $ 23.50

  Distribution Associate $ 21.50

  Distribution Lead $ 24.00

  Distribution Supervisor $ 27.00

  Formulation Technician $ 23.50

  Lead Formulation $ 26.50

  Drivers $ 23.50

• 3% guaranteed annual increases

• $750 ratification bonus

• Lower monthly healthcare costs: $127.01 for Employee-only coverage

• Increased PTO accrual & 120 hours yearly carryover

  Up to 1 year (0-1) years employment 80

  One to two (1-2) years employment 96

  Two to four (2-4) years employment 128

  Four or more (4 +) years employment 144

• 2 additional paid holidays

• New Year’s Day, MLK Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day

• Just cause for discipline and grievance and arbitration procedures

• Union security, stewards, bulletin board, new hire orientation

• Additional safety and anti-discrimination protections

Our MFused Bargaining Team: Ariel Simmons, Diba Kamayo, Robbie Elkins, Jenn Wade, Kimberly Ramzan

Join your coworkers and vote “YES”!
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29
8am – 9am and 1pm – 2pm
MFused, Breakroom - 9369 8th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98108

Mfused - Finally Making Progress

Mfused
Finally Making Progress

We met with Mfused Management and a mediator to continue bargaining our first contract on November 3 and November 17. After months of slow and volatile negotiations, we feel like we’re finding more productive ways to communicate at the table and at work.

We have tentatively agreed to have:

• A union-only bulletin board at work

• Labor/Management and Safety Committees

• Excused attendance due to unsafe commuting conditions

• A 72-hour notice of required overtime

• Eight paid holidays a year (including MLK Jr. day & Juneteenth)

• One week Management deadline to respond to vacation requests (otherwise automatic approval)

• Membership administration language

• Plus other provisions

In one of our previous sessions, we proposed switching from the current Employer-provided healthcare provider to a Union Trust Plan. Mfused declined to change healthcare providers, but proposed improvements to their current plan including decreasing the monthly out-of-pocket cost to employees and offering an alternative plan at a different price.

We are holding strong for living wages and pay equity, and continuing to negotiate for the benefits, raises, paid time off, and just cause that we deserve.

Mfused has signaled they would like to reach a full tentative agreement (TA) by the end of the year. We are not against this; in fact, we welcome expediency but not at the cost of unnecessary compromise. We expect the Employer to make their best offers at our next bargaining session on Friday, December 15.

QUESTIONS? Reach out to your Steward Robbie Elkins or Union Rep Chris Arellano @ 360-409-0241.

Mfused DISAPPOINTMENT DESPITE MEDIATION

Last week, we had our first union contract negotiating session with a mediator from the Federal Mediation & Conciliary Service (FMCS) present. Both sides agreed to request mediation, so that we could try to find some common ground and make progress towards an agreement despite ongoing mistrust and miscommunication.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have the productive session that we were hoping for. We came with comprehensive non-economic counters and tentative agreements on some significant proposals (such as Labor/Management Committees, samples policies, and non-discrimination policies), but we didn’t even get a chance to present these to management. Mfused left the table after not receiving a redline counter to their management rights’ proposal. We’re disappointed, but hopeful that we can actually move forward at our next session with mediation on September 19.

Keep an eye out next week for upcoming action planning.

HOURS CUT FOR PRODUCTION

As we all know, Mfused management has been sending Production workers home early without pay or asking us not to come in on extremely short notice. At the start of our session, we asked for more information so

that we could try to get a clearer picture of why these changes in hours and workload are happening, if these changes are temporary or not, and what we can expect staffing levels and scheduled hours to look like in the future.

Management told us that supply chain issues, industry decline, and other uncontrollable circumstances led to work declining this summer, even though the summer typically sees an increase. We were told to expect work to decline again this winter, as production is historically slower at the end of the year. What we know is that Mfused has reduced the size of Production by declining to fill positions after workers have left, increased the Production workload for the workers remaining, stockpiled inventory, and then cut scheduled hours without bringing these changes to the negotiations or giving us enough time and information to plan for our financial security. We have filed Unfair Labor Practice charges to address this.

Everyone who has had their hours reduced should apply for partial unemployment benefits as soon as possible at: https://esd.wa.gov/unemployment.

Please reach out to one of us on the bargaining team or our Union Rep, Chris Arellano at 206-436-6526, if you have any problems when applying or questions about the process. We are here to support each other.

MFused - Management Low Balled us on Wages

MFused
Management Low Balled us on Wages

Our Union Bargaining Team met with Management on Tuesday, August 8 to continue negotiations. After over 3 months of meetings, Management finally gave us their economic proposals. They did nothing in their proposals to address equity pay, cost of living, and inflation in the city. In Seattle, while inflation is at 5.0%, they are only offering 3.0% wage increases. We know that pay rates are unequal and are currently all over the place for any given position and that needs to be fixed.

Lastly, Management outright rejected our proposal to separate vacation and sick time and countered with only 2-3 additional PTO days. They are proposing that 2 weeks total for sick and vacation time is more than enough for us all.

In the next few sessions, our Team will have to start making difficult decisions about our wages, benefits and working conditions that will last for years. We need your input before our next session on Tuesday, August 29!

Our bargaining team will be sending out a poll for the best time to discuss priorities and how we can win together!

MFused - Disrespected by Management

MFused
Disrespected by Management

On July 25, our Bargaining Team met with Management to continue negotiations. We presented our economic proposals today and Management laughed in our faces! Our proposals included:

• Guaranteed wage increases each year of the contract based on length of service

• A production tech II and Driver II positions – (opportunity for advancement)

• Profit sharing and bonuses

• Additional Holidays and Holiday pay

• Separate Vacation, Sick leave, and Personal day banks

• Other types of Paid and unpaid leaves

• Funeral and Bereavement leave

• Safety Committee

• Respect for workers (FREE of cost!)

• Guaranteed Weekly samples of all current products.

• Successorship provisions

We plan to give them a health care proposal before our next session and look forward to a full contract proposal response from Management so that we can continue negotiating a fair contract. Though the laughing was very disrespectful and unprofessional, we remain steadfast in putting forward your demands and fighting to win the best contract possible.

At the next session, we plan to have a Federal Mediator present at the table to assist in the process and help us reach a fair deal as soon as possible! Keep an eye out for any upcoming Negotiations all staff update meetings and future field actions.

Next Bargaining date: August 8

Bargaining Team: Ariel Simmons, Production Lead; Robbie Elkins, Production Tech; Jennifer Wade, Production Tech; Kimberly Greenside, Accounting Clerk; Diba Kamayo, Driver/Distribution

Questions? Contact a Bargaining Team member or Union Rep Chris Arellano @ 206-436-6526

MFused - Management: “Frankly, I Don’t Care!”

Our Union Bargaining Team met with Management for the third time on July 14. We made progress on uniforms and our right to have cell phones on us for emergencies. We plan for a deep dive on workflow and scheduling at our next session and hope to make headway.

We shared concerns about the new shift times proposal. Although we came prepared with full proposals and explanations, Management chose not to respond to our contract language proposals and deferred addressing previous issues until they receive all our economic proposals. This delay tactic is unacceptable!

Despite this, we remain prepared and ready for action as we head into our next two negotiations sessions in July. Keep an eye out for our next action!

Our next bargaining dates: July 25 and August 8

Our MFused Bargaining Team: Robbie Elkins, Production Tech; Ariel Simmons, Lead Production Tech; Jennifer Wade, Production Tech; Kimberly Greenside, Accounting Clerk; Diba Kamayo, Delivery Driver

MFused - Bargaining Continues

Want to learn more details and find out how we can work together to win a fair contract? Join our negotiations update meeting!

Wednesday, June 28 @ 3PM
Round Table Pizza, 15730 1st Ave S, Burien WA, 98148

Food will be provided.

On June 13, our Bargaining Team met with Management to continue negotiations. Management saw our sticker action around water bottles, and we are happy to announce that we maintained the right to keep water bottles at our workstations! Although that was resolved, we still have a long way to go on other issues.

We presented our proposals around:

• Fairness in the disciplinary process

• Process to resolve workplace grievances

• Application of seniority

Management is insistent on:

• Not having cell phones at work

• Ultimately changing our work schedules to begin and end later

We agreed to add language around protective gear, and follow state law around product use in the workplace. We listened to all concerns around Management’s proposals and are pushing back to maintain our current schedules and access to our phones.

MFused - Strong start to bargaining our first contract

Our MFused Bargaining Team met with Management on May 30 for our second day of negotiations.

Our t-shirt and button action was a huge success! We stood together and demanded the day off and full sessions for each bargaining day and WON! We reached agreements around the ground rules regarding frequency and length of bargaining sessions, and we passed our initial non-economic contract proposals to each other.

Management is proposing to change everyone’s schedules to start and end later in the day.

They also want to eliminate the ability to have water bottles at our workstations. We discussed the hardships that these changes would cause to members. We look forward to their responses and to have productive sessions going forward.

Next Bargaining Dates:
June 13 and July 14

Questions? Reach out to a Bargaining Team member or Union Rep Chris Arellano @ 360-409-0241.

Our Bargaining Team: Ariel Simmons, Kimberly Greenside, Jennifer Wade, Robert Elkins, and Diba Kamayo

MFUSED - Bargaining Begins—Management Starts By Dragging Their Feet!

On May 3 your Bargaining Team met with Management for our first bargaining session. We started out hopeful that it would be productive and had a federal Mediator join us for joint training. Unfortunately, it appears that Management intends to draw out the process, proposing to meet only once a month for a maximum of 4 hours. It was a struggle to even get them to agree to future dates!

“Management said that eight hours of work (negotiating) is too grueling. They expect us to work a full shift and then negotiate after work. This is unacceptable!”

— Bargaining Team  

We need Management to take us seriously and meet with us at reasonable times and dates to address our issues and negotiate a Fair Contract Now! 

Want to show Management we are united? Stand in solidarity with us by wearing our new buttons and T-Shirts on May 23 and May 30. Reach out to your Bargaining Team to get yours!

Next Bargaining Dates: May 30 and June 13

Our Bargaining Team: Ariel Simmons, Kimberly Greenside, Jennifer Wade, Robert Elkins, and Diba Kamayo 

Have questions? Reach out to a Bargaining Team member or Your Union Rep Chris Arellano at (360) 409-0241

Mfused: Our Union Bargaining Team has been formed!

Our Union Bargaining Team has been formed!

Welcome Diba Kamayo, Ariel Simmons, Jennifer Wade, Kimberly Greenside and Robert Elkins! Make sure to reach out to a Bargaining Team member and let them know you support them and are willing to get involved!

We have taken the first big step in our campaign to create a democratic workplace and negotiate a fair contract. By now you may have noticed some Bargaining Surveys going around. These surveys are how our Union Bargaining Team understands the key issues that matter most to us and our coworkers in the workplace and are how our Bargaining Team set goals during Negotiations. The very last day to turn in Bargaining Surveys is Tuesday, May 2 by 5pm. Scan the QR code or follow the link below to get started!

Union Bargaining Survey: bit.ly/your-voice-contract-survey

Negotiations begin Wednesday, May 3 at 1pm in the Mfused conference room. Our team will be drafting the first proposals based off our Bargaining Survey results, which is why it is so important to get as many filled out as possible.

Welcome to the Accounting Department!

The Accounting Department has filed to join the rest of the membership in our Union at Mfused and we are excited to welcome them!

As always, reach out to our Union Rep. if you have questions, concerns, or if you are facing discipline. Chris Arellano 360-409-0241 or call the Member Resource Center 866-210-3000.