UFCW 3000 Member Story: Colleen Balestreri
/By day, Colleen works in the Lab at Tacoma General as a Med Tech. Outside of work, she conquers Ironman competitions.
Read MoreBy day, Colleen works in the Lab at Tacoma General as a Med Tech. Outside of work, she conquers Ironman competitions.
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 MoreCheyenne Corneau had been working as a Medical Lab Technician for about a year in 2022 when her and her coworkers Colleen, and Marisa were talking about the need to get their coworkers involved in the union for better representation for lab techs at the next bargaining table.
Read MoreHealth care workers, faith leaders, labor unions, and community allies in Pierce County planned a car caravan around MultiCare-owned Tacoma General and Mary Bridge Children’s Hospitals today, in support of a fair contract for MultiCare’s essential workers. Workers who risked their lives to show up for patients during a yearlong global health crisis are now having to fight for pay that respects their work, for their own access to affordable health care, and for safe staffing in their hospitals and clinics. Workers have been bargaining since January with little movement from MultiCare in agreeing to fair wages and working conditions, and the Tacoma and Pierce County community is ready to step up and support their health care workers.
But before the caravan could begin, MultiCare sent a last-minute cease and desist letter to block it from taking place, saying they consider cars with signs to be unlawful picketing activity and threatening legal action if it continued.
We thank the Tacoma NAACP, Tacoma DSA, Union of American Physicians and Dentists, Tacoma Ministerial Alliance, Political Destiny, Unite Here Local 8, and SEIU 1199NW for joining us today and for committing to this fight for health care workers’ rights and for safe, quality patient care in Tacoma and Pierce County. MultiCare workers have taken care of our community through a traumatic year, and it’s time for MultiCare to take care of its workers.
Joined by community allies, UFCW 21 MultiCare members held an informational picket outside of Tacoma General Hospital to demand a fair contract.
Our ability to have a fair contract that protects us and our patients is connected to having a fair process to join and stay in our union. Hear from two MultiCare workers (Heidi from Allenmore and Fran from Gig Harbor) talk about what having a union would mean to them. There are also some great quotes from Pam Milan (Covington) and Jose Moreno (Allenmore) about why this is so important for current members. Check out the newly released YouTube video:
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.