In 2022 Early Supports workers at Northwest Center decided to form a union and contacted organizers at UFCW 3000. Northwest Center is a not-for-profit organization that provides assistance and support to people with disabilities or those who care for them.
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“We did it!!! It was so awesome to see everyone in person together today and we look forward to future conversations together about how we can make NWC the best place to work and serve families.” —Our Bargaining Team: Jenica Barrett, Kimberly Burns, Kaylee Ainge, and Kirsten Syberg
Today we overwhelmingly voted in favor and ratified our first Union Contract—and one of the first Union contracts for Early Supports workers in the country. We are excited about the foundational language and groundwork this sets for the next 3 years- and hope that it will help us retain and recruit staff, improve working conditions, and advocate for ourselves and the families we serve.
If you did not complete your Union membership application today, please take a moment to join your coworkers by completing the application online: https://join.ufcw.org/join/3000
Next Steps: As of today, our new contract, rights, and benefits go into effect. Within the next week, NWC Leadership will release a survey to gather information regarding wage enhancements. Please respond as soon as possible, so that the process of determining wage placement can move forward in a timely manner.
Please join us for our first Know Your Rights Meeting! We will discuss our rights to representation, new job protections, scholarship opportunities, other benefits, and how we would like to meet going forward.
If you have questions or would like to get more involved, please reach out to Union Rep Ian Jacobson @ 206-436-6550.
Contract page
https://ufcw3000.org/find-your-contract/2023/6/13/northwest-center
Follow us on our social media!
Facebook: Early Supports Union & Twitter/X: @earlysupportsunion
“We are amazed by our colleagues every day and are excited for the future. We look forward to answering your questions and continuing to advocate together for ourselves and the families we serve.”—Our Bargaining Team: Jenica Barrett, Kimberly Burns, Kaylee Ainge, and Kirsten Syberg
Next Wednesday February 14 we will hold an in-person meeting during work hours to review and vote on our first Union contract.
We organized our Early Supports Union to address pay inequity, the rising costs of living in our region, and the goal of retaining staff and not having the high turnover that we were experiencing. This is historic-we are the first Early Supports Agency to unionize in Washington and one of the first private agencies to organize in the country! Our bargaining team is unanimously recommending a YES vote.
Please take time to review the Highlights, Full version, and Wage Scale. Copies of all vote materials will be available at the vote.
If you have questions or would like to have someone walk you through how your wage placement and future wage increases will work, please reach out to a member of the bargaining team or Union Representative Ian Jacobson, 206-436-6550.
Contract Vote: Wednesday, February 14 from 11:00am – 3:00pm
In-Person at Northwest Center South Park Office: 7272 W Marginal Wy S, Seattle, WA 98108
Team meetings will be adjusted so that we can participate in the vote. If you are sick or unable to attend due to remote work, please email Kvaldez@ufcw3000.org, to receive a zoom link to ask questions. Voting will only be conducted in-person.
This week we are working with NWC Leadership diligently to finalize the editing and review of the Early Supports Union contract. We expect to have the final vote documents available by no later than Friday morning and will email those out to everyone to review prior to the Contract Vote on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
We encourage you to join us tomorrow February 7 at 8:30am for a joint Q&A with our union Bargaining Team and Northwest Center Leadership, to answer questions you have prior to reviewing the tentative agreement.
We hope to see you at the Q&A tomorrow and at the in-person vote next week!
Team meetings will be adjusted so that we can participate in the vote. If you are sick or unable to attend due to remote work, please email Kvaldez@ufcw3000.org, to receive a zoom link to ask questions. Voting will only be conducted in-person.
If you have questions, please reach out to Union Representative Ian Jacobson, 206-436-6550.
Follow Early Supports Union on Facebook and Instagram: @earlysupportsunion
After almost 9 months of bargaining, we have reached a tentative agreement on our first union contract and will hold an in-person meeting during work hours on Wednesday, February 14 to review the details and approve by a democratic vote.
We organized our Early Supports Union to address pay inequity, the rising costs of living in our region, and the goal of retaining staff and not having the high turnover that we were experiencing. This is historic- we are the first Early Supports Agency to unionize in Washington and one of the first private agencies to organize in the country!
Highlights of the tentative agreement include:
Compassion Leave improvements for all employees at NWC
Establishment of a weighted caseload system
Transparent wage scale with wage increases each year of the contract on our employment anniversary date and anniversary of contract ratification
Maximum Capacity and Over Capacity Bonuses
Increased PTO accruals
Access to meetings via zoom and limits on in-person requirements
Health and Safety rights/protections
Increased Breaks/Time off Work
Continuing Education
Wage differentials for skills: multilingual, CHERISH, medically complex feeding
Wage differentials for: education levels/degrees, previous job experience, tenure with Northwest Center for current employees
New Employee Orientation process
Labor Management Committee
Definition of Service Teams and process for allocating new families outside your Team
Protection from unjust discipline
Fair process for layoff and reduction in overall hours
Reimbursement of up to $500 for accident or damage to vehicle
Remote and in-person positions
Overtime for all employees
and more!
Voting will only be conducted in-person. If you cannot attend because of remote work or are sick, please email kvaldez@ufcw3000.org. A zoom option will be available to answer questions and review the vote documents.
Questions? Please contact the Bargaining Team or Union Representative Ian Jacobson, 206-436-6550.
Facebook: Early Supports Union, Instagram: @earlysupportsunion
On November 27, our Bargaining Team met with Northwest Center leadership and presented a full economic counter, making significant progress towards reaching an agreement on a contract. We stressed the importance of providing market competitive wages and breaks and time off work. Two important tentative agreements reached include outside employment and on our Grievance Procedure - which is the process that will enforce our legally binding Union contract. For example, if a member is disciplined unfairly, terminated without just cause, or paid incorrectly, our grievance procedure will allow the Union to fight for back pay or challenge unjust discipline.
“Leadership has agreed to a lot of our language and even shared that some of the policies they may consider implementing company wide. It feels wonderful to have an impact far beyond our department. We’re not running out of steam yet and plan to keep pushing for wages that meet market standards and make us competitive! We’re so close to the finish line!” — Our Bargaining Team: Jenica Barrett, Kimberly Burns, Kaylee Ainge, and Kirsten Syberg
Our next bargaining session is on December 12, and our Team is prepared to negotiate until we reach an agreement that can be recommended for a Vote.
This is a great opportunity to learn more about our Early Supports Union and meet with your Bargaining Team. We will share updates on what happened in negotiations (give a live update if we are still at the table), discuss next steps, hear feedback, and answer questions. Hope to see you there!
December 12 • 7pm
Contact a Bargaining Team member or Union Rep Ian Jacobson for details to join.
OR call in at 253-215-8782 and use the same Meeting ID and Passcode
Questions or to get more involved, please contact a Bargaining Team member or Union Rep Ian Jacobson @ 206-436-6550.
On October 23, a majority of members voted and approved a Mentorship Program memorandum of agreement negotiated by the UFCW 3000 Bargaining Team.
Thank you to everyone that participated in the voting process!
Highlights of the onboarding Mentorship Program include:
Designated mentors for new employees
Required shadowing, co-treating, and observations
A time period to accomplish the mentorship requirements
Compensation for onboarding mentors of $1750.00
Compensation for Clinical Fellowship Mentors in the Speech Language Pathology discipline of $2,000.00
The final signed agreement will be available on our website soon and will go into effect as soon as implementation is possible. Our next bargaining sessions are on November 6 and 9. Our team is prepared to negotiate until we reach an agreement that can be recommended for a vote.
Questions or want to get more involved? Please contact a Bargaining Team member or Union Rep Ian Jacobson @ 206-436-6550.
We worked together with NWC leadership over the last two sessions to negotiate a paid Onboarding Mentorship Program memorandum of agreement that includes:
Designated mentors for new employees
Required shadowing, co-treating, and observations
A time period to accomplish the mentorship requirements
Compensation for mentors
Compensation for Clinical Fellow mentors
This is language that will ultimately be part of our final contract, but that NWC has agreed to start implementing now.
Union members have the right to democratically vote on any changes and/or improvements at our workplace- and that is why we are holding an online vote on Monday October 23 to review and approve this new program.
*On Monday, October 23, at 5:00am, you will receive a secure email from “Simply Voting” with your unique log-in credentials. If you don’t receive an email, please double check your junk/spam folder and email filters- and reach out to Union Representative Ian Jacobson at 206-436-6550.
Other topics discussed during our bargaining sessions include management rights, the duration of our contract, and how we bargain over changes in policies and working conditions mid contract. NWC Leadership has committed to giving us a full economic counter at our next bargaining sessions on November 6 and 9. Our team is prepared to negotiate until we reach an agreement that can be recommended for a Vote.
“We are excited that new coworkers will be more supported and that the mentors will be compensated for their time. We hope that this will make the Onboarding Process for Early Supports more cohesive and consistent for all new hires. Please join us in voting YES!”- Our Bargaining Team: Kirsten Syberg, Kimberly Burns, Kaylee Ainge, and Jenica Barrett
Our team is staying in close contact with our Union siblings at SEIU 925 Early Learning- please stay tuned for future solidarity actions we will take together!
Follow us on our social media to stay up to date with bargaining!
Facebook:Early Supports Union& Twitter/X:@earlysupportsunion
We are excited to share that this week our Union bargaining team presented a full Comprehensive Economic Proposal to Northwest Center. We feel proud of the unique and intentional language that we crafted that represents our workplace and the type of healthcare and services we provide to families in our community.
Our Economic Proposals include:
Market competitive wage scale, annual longevity increases, and cost of living increases
New premiums: mentorship, multilingual pay, certification and non-required licensure pay, wage premium in lieu of healthcare insurance, and more
Increases to PTO and scheduled breaks/holidays
Current healthcare plan with lowered premiums and more accessibility
Current retirement plan with increased Employer match contributions
Improvements to leaves of absence including parental Leave, compassion leave, family leave, jury leave, and more
Professional development including paid expenses for continuing education, educational leave time, tuition reimbursement program, and continued student loan contribution program
Grievance procedure to protect our rights and careers
“As we’ve been making proposals, we’ve learned so much about current policies! If you’ve never read the Employee handbook- you should read and learn about the benefits available to us now. One of things we are most proud about crafting is improvements to Compassion Leave at Northwest Center. We have proposed adding “Chosen Family” as a category of bereavement, to recognize and honor that we have meaningful relationships outside of the traditional family structure.” —Jenica Barrett and Kimmy Burns, UFCW 3000 Bargaining Team
Welcome to the Bargaining Team, Kaylee Ainge and Kirsten Syberg, Family Resource Coordinators! They will join the next session on September 19. We are excited to have Family Resource Coordinators perspective and voice at the table.
Our team is staying in close contact with our Union siblings at SEIU 925 Early Learning- please stay tuned for future solidarity actions we will take together!
Many of the improvements we are fighting for could positively impact other workers at Northwest Center! Pass the love and solidarity- Share our Social Media pages with five friends, family, or other coworkers at NWC!
Questions or to get more involved, please contact Union Rep Ian Jacobson @ 206-436-6550.
This week our Union Bargaining Team met with Northwest Center and continued important discussions on schedules and flexing hours, assignments to different teams, and the use of coaching and Performance Improvement Plans. We received counter proposals from leadership on remote work and caseloads and hope to be able to reach agreements on these topics at our next bargaining session on September 12.
We appreciate all of the feedback from coworkers during our Union meeting this week! It helped us to finalize our full Economic proposals to present in future sessions. We heard broadly that people are happy with the current healthcare plan and we will be prioritizing trying to make it more financially accessible for adding spouse/children/family and accessible for part-time employees.
Welcome to the bargaining team Kaylee Ainge and Kirsten Syberg, Family Resource Coordinators! They will take turns participating in future bargaining sessions on September 12 and 19. We are excited to have Family Resource Coordinators perspective and voice at the table.
Our team is staying in close contact with our Union siblings at SEIU 925 Early Learning- please stay tuned for future solidarity actions we will take together!
Monday September 5, 11am – 2pm at Angle Lake Park in SeaTac, Join UFCW 3000 and our community at the annual MLK Labor Day Picnic! Bring a friend, your family, and kids. There will be food trucks with free food for union members, kids games, and a splash park. Hope to see you there!
Questions or to get more involved, please contact Union Representative Ian Jacobson, 206-436-6550.
Follow us on our social media to stay up to date with bargaining! Facebook and Instagram: Early Supports Union @earlysupportsunion
Over the last two bargaining sessions, we have focused our energy on the right to work remotely, caseloads, and our assignment to different teams.These issues have been at the heart of many proposals, and by collaborating in-person we were able to finally reach a common understanding on the role of Teams. We pushed for team assignments to be listed on job descriptions and confirmed at the time of hire. We know that working in North versus South Seattle impacts where we choose to live and our commute time. These differences are not small and we made significant progress in defining a process for allocating new cases and how people may be assigned to other teams. We also made gains in outlining what is considered remote work and in-person work.
“As an organization that promotes inclusion of people with disabilities, we strongly believe that many positions within our department can function remotely and that should be an option that is promoted and offered to people. This allows our department to continue to diversify in terms of candidates that are outside of Seattle city limits as well as those that may not have the ability to drive and therefore were previously excluded from working with us. We are proud that we are very close to an agreement on remote positions!”-Jenica Barrett, Kimberly Burns, Cassandra Villarreal
Our bargaining team returns to the bargaining table on August 30, where we will present all economics.
We want to say a special thank you to our coworker and Union leader Cassandra Villarreal for all her contributions to our Early Supports Union- and wish her the best in her new career opportunity! Starting in September, we will welcome Kaylee Ainge and Kirsten Syberg, Family Resource Coordinators, to the Union bargaining team.
Please join us on August 28 for a virtual meeting to learn more about health care proposals our team is considering. We will share plan comparisons and want to hear from you about what is most important to you and your family.
“Many changes have been announced recently without much input from those of us providing care. The MOU on office spaces we won provides a process that feels empowering and gives us a voice.”
— Our Union Bargaining Team
Our Northwest Center UFCW 3000 Bargaining Team: Jenica Barrett, Speech Language Pathologist; Cassie Villarreal, Speech Language Pathologist; Kimmy Burns, Physical Therapist; Julia Szilard, Physical Therapist (not pictured)
We reached tentative agreements on many of the foundations of our first Union contract! These include who is covered by our contract, what happens when new positions are created, Union membership, Union Orientation for new hires, and more.
One of the most vital pieces for us to achieve better working conditions and wages is having the time for union stewards to prepare for negotiations. Management has time to prepare for negotiations during the workday, but previously rejected our proposals that the employees serving on the Bargaining Team be released from work for preparation. Preparing for bargaining is time intensive, and when it is conducted outside of work hours it limits accessibility for employees that have other obligations. We advocated for bargaining participants to be released from work for preparation so that future Bargaining Team members can participate without barrier.
Our team also finalized an agreement on collaboration for office space changes. Our next bargaining date is on July 26 and we will be focusing on jointly crafting language around caseloads and remote work and presenting our economic proposals.
Questions or to get more involved, contact your Bargaining Team Stewards or Union Representative Ian Jacobson at 206-436-6550.
Facebook: Early Supports Union | Twitter: @earlysupportsunion
“Thank you to everyone who shared the Community Letter and has been participating in solidarity actions! This type of unity will help us continue to make progress and win a contract we can be proud of.” — Our Union Bargaining Team
Last week our Union Bargaining Team met with NWC Leadership to discuss questions about the changes in service area boundaries and office closures. It was a deep dialogue- where they shared their commitment to having a structure in place for reassigning West Team providers and new referrals. We agreed that feedback will be elicited from all affected employees before any decisions are made.
NWC shared that they didn’t have a set plan already decided and committed to getting input from providers before making decisions on how to structure our teams and caseloads.
We negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlines a timeline between now and August 18 for sharing information, gathering feedback, a work group process, and democratic voting on the plan moving forward.
Bargaining resumes on June 20 to negotiate over changes in Offices and continue conversations on remote work and caseloads, and on July 26 our Union Bargaining Team will present our Economic proposals.
Questions or to get more involved, contact your Bargaining Team Stewards or Union Representative Ian Jacobson at 206-436-6550.
Facebook: Early Supports Uwnion | Twitter: @earlysupportsunion
We spent the bargaining session on May 17 discussing in depth some of the most important priorities of early supports: caseloads, the right to remote work, geographic location assignments, and onboarding and mentorship.
Northwest Center struck down our language around remote work and geographic assignments and we highlighted that this is a major priority for Union members. The back-and-forth conversation showed us that we do have some shared interests with Northwest Center, but to win the language we want around these topics, we are going to need to show solidarity and take action together.
Our Bargaining Team pushed for clarity around the financial future of Northwest Center. Early Supports Leadership assured us that they are NOT for sale and have no plans to sell in the future. They were not willing to provide any details regarding the purpose of the meeting on Wednesday, May 24. We requested that our Union Rep Ian Jacobson be included in the meeting.
Bargaining resumes in June and we will continue conversations about caseloads and remote work. Our team will be meeting with SEIU Early Learning Union members to support one another in our fights for fair first contracts. Stay tuned for information on next steps and solidarity actions!
“We are excited about the progress we made with Onboarding, Orientation, and Mentorship Program. Our team spent a lot of time crafting these proposals and Management responded positively to our ideas. There is still more work to be done, but language is moving in the right direction.”
- Our Northwest Center
UFCW 3000 Bargaining Team
Jenica Barrett, Speech Language Pathologist; Cassie Villarreal, Speech Language Pathologist; Kimmy Burns, Physical Therapist; Julia Szilard, Physical Therapist (not pictured)
Contact Bargaining Team or Union Rep for meeting details
Read our Join Solidarity Statement with SEIU 925 at:
bit.ly/NWC-Solidarity23
For questions or to get more involved, contact your Bargaining Team Stewards or Union Rep Ian Jacobson, 206-436-6550.
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!
Our Bargaining Team:
Cassandra Villarreal, Kimberly Burns, Jenica Barrett
We met with Management for the first time and presented our first set of non-economic proposals that addressed our bargaining priorities, including recruiting and retaining qualified staff through:
Manageable caseloads
Consistent job locations
Supportive time off
Equitable and transparent pay
Supportive onboarding and mentoring
After presenting proposals, Management became very quickly overwhelmed and needed a break. Nevertheless we are committed to working towards a strong and equitable contract for all!
Questions or to find out more about how you can show support, please contact Union Representative Ian Jacobson @ 206-436-6550.
“There were a lot of initial jitters in the room! I’m hopeful we can move to a more natural conversation with Management.”
— Jenica Barrett,Speech Language Pathologist
“It was an exciting first day of bargaining! We’re in for quite an adventure. It’s a privilege to negotiate on behalf of my colleagues and I will continue fighting for the contract we deserve.”
— Kimberly Burns, Physical Therapist
“This was my first time having a space that allowed me to speak equally to someone in a position superior to myself. While it is nerve-wracking, I feel empowered by my union team! I look forward to making progress on a fair contract now that we have a platform to both listen and be heard.”
— Cassandra Villarreal, Speech Language Pathologist
Follow us on our social media to stay up to date with bargaining!
United in our determination to better advocate for ourselves, our families and kiddos, we are excited to join UFCW 3000 union. With an eye toward having a larger voice on issues and ways to deliver the best care to our families and kiddos.
Last week we had our first meeting as a Bargaining Team to commence writing proposals for our very first contract. We worked on language that will help us get higher wages, better benefits, foster a safe and healthy working environment, improve safe staffing standards, and conditions that will reduce burnout and ensure safe, manageable work.
“It’s thrilling to start making this dream a reality! It’s empowering to take all this knowledge we have and finally put it down in a contract that works for us! We’re changing how birth to three services are represented - and being a part of that change is exhilarating!” - Jenica Barrett, Speech Language Pathologist, Bargaining Team
"It’s inspiring to work with such a passionate group of people and I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together!" - Kimmy Burns, Physical Therapist, Bargaining Team
"I’m excited to stand together in uplifting our collective voice and making a positive change!" - Cassie Villarreal, Speech Language Pathologist, Bargaining Team
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.
