At the end of our second session on the Friday, we’re feeling optimistic about the progress we’ve made so far. Up to this point, we’ve been exchanging Articles that do not include economics with the Employer (however, we do anticipate an economic response will be coming from them within our next few dates!) and we’ve already come to agreements on a few new Articles:
Read MoreOn Wednesday, September 11 our Union RN bargaining team & RN Case Manager bargaining team met with MultiCare to continue negotiations on our successor CBA, & to introduce the Case Manager RNs into our union!
Read MoreBillie Thomas stepped up to become a workplace leader at Tacoma General for this years MultiCare contract campaign. Find out what inspired him to do so and how he and his coworkers stood together for a historic contract.
Read MoreRegarding the economic proposals for the main RN contract, because we’re still awaiting MultiCare’s response we decided it was best to hold off on addressing a few of the other Articles we’ve been discussing with Management; an approach that allows us to carefully weigh all our priorities as a team. While this decision was challenging, we believe that receiving strong compensation proposals from MultiCare will better inform our evaluation of our top priorities. Our goal is to maximize benefits for the greatest number of nurses, and we are committed to achieving that.
Read MoreWe have watched as union workers at MultiCare across Washington State spent the last nine months of this year achieving huge wins through determination and solidarity at the bargaining table, and we’re all eager to keep the wins coming in Olympia!
Read MoreWe had aimed to present our proposals up front hoping that it may inspire Management to do the same; the sooner we get to a final tentative agreement, the sooner we get the union protections, premiums, and wages we negotiate! Not to mention this expedites the Case Manager RNs transition from being non-union, to being official union members!
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“Disappointed, but not surprised- now it’s time to take collective action.” -Brent
After more than ten months of negotiations, the patience of our Bargaining Team with MultiCare is wearing thin. While we have come to negotiations ready to work hard and fight for a contract that supports all of us, it increasingly feels that the Employer may not be matching our commitment. August 21 marks the third consecutive session with Management where we have left feeling that despite our earnest efforts and the tough decisions we’ve faced, MultiCare has come unprepared to make tough decisions themselves.
We know that as dedicated hospital workers, our years of experience make us the most valuable asset that MultiCare has, and while we recognize that progress is being made on wages and credit for experience—numerous delays and proposed wage take-aways have us feeling like our work at the bargaining table is not enough to push our Employer to finalizing our first union contract.
We can no longer allow MultiCare’s delays to hold us back from getting the wages and union benefits we deserve. Now is the time to show-off our collective power and make MultiCare hear our voices!
All Union Professionals need to stand together and fight for a strong first contract! Signing-up helps our Bargaining Team get updates and details out as early as possible. Talk to your coworkers! https://www.mobilize.us/ufcw3000/event/668217/
*If your collective bargaining agreements do not permit joining our informational picket while your contract is in effect, You can support our Professional co-workers by wearing union swag and showing solidarity in the workplace!
RSVP here to work together before our informational picket to build signs, build solidarity, and get ready to rally! https://www.mobilize.us/ufcw3000/event/674068/
Please reach out to your union representative Ian Jacobson with any questions at 206-436-6550
Our Auburn Medical Center Professionals union Bargaining Team met with Management on Friday, August 2, ready to work hard, and get to an agreement on strong first union contract with MultiCare.
Read MoreOn Tuesday, July 30 MultiCare Auburn Medical Center registered nurses kicked-off union contract negotiations with MultiCare. We’re feeling energized and ready to keep the momentum going; recognizing wins achieved by our union siblings in other contract negotiations at MultiCare recently.
Read More“It was a collaborative effort with experienced shop stewards who advocated tirelessly. Reaching out to coworkers, building new relationships, and being creative throughout bargaining was key. Having my coworkers participate inspired us on the bargaining team and scared MultiCare! Our strength comes when we fight together. I wanted my coworkers and I to be heard at MultiCare and it was eye opening to see what it takes.” - Rafael Diaz – Cardiovascular Tech
Read MoreFriday night, after more than twelve hours of negotiations, our union Bargaining Team has come to a fully recommended tentative agreement with MultiCare for a strong new contract. We began the day with the understanding that our collective power and perseverance would culminate in a win for a strong new agreement for our co-workers. Our union Bargaining Team is fully recommending a YES vote on the contract offer.
Read MoreOn Monday, July 8, 2024, we kicked-off what we anticipate will be a pivotal week with MultiCare in our ongoing negotiations. As bargaining wrapped up today, we left feeling more encouraged that we may eventually reach agreement than we did going into the day. MultiCare’s newest offer includes some movement in both their economic and benefits proposals:
Read MoreOur Union Bargaining Team is preparing for a crucial day of negotiations with MultiCare tomorrow.
As mentioned in last week’s update, our team submitted proposals to the employer during our last session that aimed to create momentum towards a fair agreement. We believe it was a significant step towards resolving our differences, intended as an olive branch to facilitate constructive dialogue.
Read MoreHistoric turnout of members and community has shown MultiCare that our Bargaining Team is serious when they say workers across the system are frustrated and committed to take action for a fair contract. And our team feel even more confident, knowing that so many community supporters, workers from other unions, and elected officials also have our back.
Read MoreJust two days after an email from MultiCare’s CEO announced a new affiliation with Overlake Medical Center, & further confirmed MultiCare’s aspirations to become “the Pacific Northwest’s highest value system of health”- we cannot say we are surprised to learn that the line of a “commitment to invest” stops somewhere between “a network of primary, urgent and specialty care clinics” and us- their dedicated, hard-working, & committed staff.
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On Thursday, May 16, our Union Negotiating Committee met with MultiCare to continue contract negotiations, however, we’re not sure MultiCare showed up for the same reason. We do not believe that Management are bargaining in good faith. They are not taking this process seriously, nor do we feel that concerns about our staffing, our wages, and the well-being of ourselves and our families are being considered in Management’s proposals.
“Three percent is BS. That’s not even enough to cover inflation for this year.” —Rafael Diaz
We feel that MultiCare is trying to drag this out, perhaps to exhaust us, and defeat us, but we are not giving in. We will show MultiCare that we will stand together to win a fair contract.
WE ARE: 2000 WORKERS, 9 CONTRACTS & ONE FIGHT!
On Thursday, May 9, our Union Bargaining Committee was eager to meet with MultiCare Management to continue negotiations on our nine contracts. We kicked the day off feeling refreshed & confident from the overwhelming support we’ve seen from our coworkers over the last week —a highly attended Union Family Day on May 4, and outstanding participation in Union Solidarity Day on May 8 (we gave out around 1,000 MultiCare Workers United buttons!)
And it seems that we may not be the only ones who noticed the growing solidarity in our workplaces…
At Thursday’s bargaining session, MultiCare came to the table and moved closer to our positions on a few of the proposals we’ve been passing back and forth- for example, discussions on Extra Shifts, and making a very reasonable counter proposal on Changing Time (donning/doffing)- which we later agreed to add to the contract!
While this exchange of proposals with MultiCare was encouraging (and felt like we were really bargaining!), it did not extend to many of the items that matter most to us, such as our wages and our health insurance benefits. In fact, we agreed that it is nessessary to remind Management, once again, why the proposals we’ve continued to put forward on the Health Insurance Plan are so important. We made it as clear as we could by breaking down the issues we’re facing into “categories” like affordability, access, and network. We broke down these categories further by sharing personal stories about how MultiCare’s benefit plans have negatively impacted us and our families.
Management’s movement on Thursday was a good start, but to win the wages, benefits, and workplace protections we need, we have to turn up the heat!
Mark your calendars:
On Wednesday, May 1, our Union Bargaining Comittee met with Management and finally received a response to the wage proposal we presented on April 11. Prior to making our proposal, we did extensive research to make sure our wages stay competitive with other regional healthcare employers throughout the duration of our new contract.
MultiCare’s counter, however, leaves our wage rates trailing behind what many of these same regional hospitals are already paying… Offering only 2% across the board raises for most of us.
“Wages have been 2 low, for 2 long, 2 continue moving backwards… But we need 2 move forward!” —Brian Dansereau, Pharmacy Tech
If you feel like we do, and believe that 2% won’t cut it, join these next steps to take action:
Join us for food, games, prizes, and to pick up some Union swag for our May 8 Union Solidarity Day! RSVP: www.mobilize.us/ufcw3000/event/617922/ >>
Show your solidarity on next Wednesday, May 8 by wearing Union stickers, buttons, shirts,
and dress in UFCW Blue & Gold! Let’s show Management that we are united and ready to fight for a fair contract!
Stay up to date on our bargain, and the next steps we believe will move MultiCare to agree to a fair contract for all of us! Join our Facebook Group, & use the following link to look out for more ways to take action throughout our negotiations with MultiCare: https://linktr.ee/mc3000
“MultiCare is holding hostage your present stability for the sake of future uncertainties”—Brian Dansereau, Pharmacy Technician
Our union bargaining team met with MultiCare on Wednesday, March 6 to continue negotiations on our nine contracts.
While responding to our proposals on topics such as concerns with our insurance benefits, or a guarantee that parking will remain free- Management’s unwillingness to agree to these proposals was chalked up to an uncertainty over what MultiCare might decide in the future, or sentiments that the insurance benefits are “system wide”- so we’re left to suspect that means it’s too difficult for them to amend?
We feel it is too difficult to navigate the constant changes in health insurance for ourselves, our families, and our children; we feel it is too difficult to wait longer and longer to see our physicians; and we feel it’s too difficult to get the prescriptions those physicians have prescribed us when we have to navigate MultiCare’s narrowing in-network eligibility!
If MultiCare can’t hear the demands of our bargaining team —they WILL hear the voices of over 2,000 MultiCare employees represented in these nine contracts: we’re here to bargain for our benefits and our working conditions!
Take action checklist:
Sign and share the petition, We Stand United for a Fair Contract at MultiCare
Join the Facebook Group, MultiCare Workers United for a Fair Contract
“They basically showed us that our priorities are not their concern. We feel that we put a lot of thoughtful proposals on the table, and they were just unceremoniously rejected.” —Gregg Barney, Press Operator
Our Union Bargaining Team met with MultiCare on Friday, March 1 to continue negotiations with management on the nine contracts we’re represented in.
When it was the Employer’s time to respond to our evaluations and proposals over necessary changes to our health insurance benefits, it became clear that they had something else in mind entirely —rejecting all initial proposals made on the plan.
Our Bargaining Team has heard on countless occasions, from our union Bargaining Surveys and stories told by our coworkers, that our insurance benefits are not only one of our highest priorities in this round of negotiations —but one of the most consistently challenging aspects of being a MultiCare employee.
We work tirelessly every day to provide health care to our patients, why should we have to work even harder to seek health care for ourselves? Especially while being employed at one of the largest health care systems in Washington State.
While we feel disappointed that this is the response from the Employer, we know that one of the only ways forward is to stick together, and fight for what we deserve out of this process!
Take action checklist:
Sign up for a Contract Action Team meeting on March 5 & April 8
Sign and share the petition, We Stand United for a Fair Contract at MultiCare
Join the Facebook Group, MultiCare Workers United for a Fair Contract
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.
