Optum Care, Inc. — Everett Oncology Clinic - Bargaining Update—Time for Collective Action!

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Optum Care, Inc. — Everett Oncology Clinic
Bargaining Update—Time for Collective Action!

At our ninth day of negotiations on August 11, our Union Bargaining Team met with Optum after nearly two months since our last session. We spent the day exchanging a few non-economic articles back & forth; primarily speaking to parental leaves of absence & agency/traveler (non-bargaining-unit) employees, and on a positive note, we ended the day with two new tentative agreements, respectively.

However, based on the Employer’s provided timeline of “late July/August,” we started our day optimistic that more comprehensive economic counterproposals would be returned to us. Their initial offering on June 10 essentially said they would continue to pay us according to current practice, provide wage increases according to current practice, and hire new workers within their pay ranges according to current practice—all at their sole discretion. The same sentiment was reflected in their health care benefits proposal: They would simply continue doing what they are already doing, with little to no say from our newly formed Union.

But these reasons are exactly why we organized our Union in the first place! Joining together to bargain for our rights and benefits as dedicated oncology workers is not necessarily a testament to the invalidity of Optum’s practices. Instead, it is about securing a voice at the bargaining table and investing in our workplace to make the Everett Oncology Clinic the best version of itself.

All that said, the Employer let us know first thing in the morning that we would not be receiving any additional economic proposals that day, attributing the delay to new internal review and approval processes. While it is worth noting that, in just eight sessions before this one, we made exceptional progress on the noneconomic sections of our new Collective Bargaining Agreement, we all felt that if management had shown up prepared with reasonable wage and benefits proposals, we might even have been able to reach a final deal.

We took the opportunity during our first joint session on August 11 to express this frustration to management. Frankly, we have grown tired of waiting. We determined that, in order to win a strong contract, we would have to show our collective strength and solidarity to Optum. We decided to launch a strike pledge to show Optum that we are ready to take action, if necessary.

Add Your Name to the Strike Pledge >> 
(Your name will be kept anonymous)

Furthermore, to discuss the plan our team put together to continue building collective power, all Optum Oncology workers are strongly encouraged to attend our weekly Contract Action Team meetings through September 2. Details are below.

Weekly Contract Action Team Meetings

Sticker Up and Union Swag Day - August 26

Our Bargaining Team has newly designed stickers that we plan to distribute throughout the clinic.

Wear your new sticker, Union merchandise, and UFCW 3000 colors—blue and gold—on August 26 to show management that we are all in this together!

“I’m unpleasantly not surprised—but we’re all in, and it’s time to get moving!”

— Molly Hugo, RN

Bargaining Team: Janis Laffin, RN; Molly Hugo, RN; Ashley Seidelman, Patient Care Coordinator.

Optum Care, Inc. (The Everett Clinic) - Bargaining Update #2

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On Wednesday, January 21, our Bargaining Team representing the newly unionized workers at Optum Care, Inc met with management for our second session of contract negotiations.

Similar to our initial bargaining day on December 15, Wednesday's session was held virtually with the Employer (our team met together in-person), and was also similar in the number of joint-session meetings and number of proposals exchanged throughout the day. Overall, this resulted in tentative agreements* on nearly 15 individual sections of our Contract! (*A tentative agreement represents mutually aligned language between management and your Union's Bargaining Team—which will be the version of the contract article you will later vote on!)

Tentative Agreements So Far Include:

  • Your rights to Union seniority, which factors into internal promotions, scheduling of time-off, and your rights in a workforce reduction or layoff.

  • A structured Labor-Management Committee, a regularly occurring meeting between management and representatives from the Union which aims to foster improved communication during the term of our contract, and assist in resolving workplace issues that come up while the CBA is in effect.

  • A provision which helps future-proof the contract when, in the circumstance that a change in state or federal law conflicts with any particular article(s)—unaffected sections remain unchanged and in full force and effect, and the parties then re-enter limited negotiations to secure a replacement for the affected section.

While we did not reach tentative agreements just yet on a few of the other articles we exchanged back and forth on the 21st, we again found ourselves positively surprised at the thorough questions and engagement in our proposals we saw from management, and we are nearly at agreement on the equal opportunity language we've proposed, outlining an inclusive workplace culture and related worker protections.

We are looking forward to continuing these discussions and more at our next scheduled bargaining dates—which are in-person and back-to-back on February 10 and 11.

"Considering what we've been able to get done on Zoom—we're looking forward to getting a lot done in-person next time!"

— Elizabeth Reece, CNA

Bargaining Team: Janis Laffin, RN; Molly Hugo, RN; Ashley Seidelman, Patient Care Coordinator; Elizabeth Reece, Certified Medical Assistant