Following our union election victory in August of 2024, we're excited to share that our MultiCare Women's Center bargaining team had its first day of contract negotiations with management on Thursday, February 6!
In preparation for our first meeting with management, we spent this morning finalizing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)—an addition to the union contract—that outlines how Women's Center employees will be integrated into the UFCW/MultiCare Clinics collective bargaining agreement. Our proposal, which we later presented to the Employer, includes key provisions such as:
How union seniority will apply to Women's Clinics employees
Preserving and protecting the vacation/PTO we earned prior to being union, and how we will accrue paid time off moving forward,
And most importantly, how we transition to being paid on the union wage scales!
In simple terms, our position is that the most fair and equitable way to compensate us is by providing full credit for our years of relevant experience—because this is where the true value we bring to MultiCare lies!
After presenting our initial proposal to MultiCare, we were encouraged by the momentum we gained throughout the day, resulting in a total of three productive meetings with management.
Overall, we're optimistic about the progress made, and feel confident that we are on the right path toward reaching an agreement with the Employer.
We're looking forward to our next bargaining session on February 13, where we'll continue working toward securing a strong contract for Women's Center workers!
"Winning our union election was a monumental first step, and today, sitting together at the bargaining table feels like our second major victory. We got here by standing united, and together, we know that even more wins are on the way!"
—Liam Hughes, Medical Assistant
Your bargaining team [L-R]:
Liam Hughes, Medical Assistant @ Sunrise Women's Clinic; Tracey Fleming, Nurse Navigator @ Puyallup Women's Clinic; Carol Krings, Medical Receptionist @ Puyallup Women's Clinic.
