Dynacare Labcorp - Hard at Work But Far From Over
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Over the last week we have had three negotiation sessions with Management to secure a fair successor contact for all our members at LabCorp. Your Bargaining Team has been hard at work and we have passed all our proposals to LabCorp for consideration and have reached an agreement on a few items.
The work is far from over and we hope to get comprehensive responses from the Employer when we meet next month.
“The last three bargaining sessions have gone at a glacial pace. The Employer is dragging their feet for no good reason and the medical benefits are the biggest missing piece.”
Eli Lanzcos,
Bargaining Team Member
We will need your ongoing input and involvement if we are going to secure the contract we deserve! Join our drop-in CAT meeting:
Wednesday, August 26
6PM - 7PM
Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.
The Doctors Clinic - Bargaining Continues
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“We were surprised by the progress, however, the Employer still showed little concern for our safety.”
OUR BARGAINING TEAM: Danilo Dantes, Monique Pyles, Katy Turek
Your Bargaining Team met again with Management on August 14 and significant progress was made towards an agreement. After days of little movement from the Employer, we were surprised by a sudden change in tone as they moved on many important issues.
At this session we were able to win a new certified perioperative nurse premium, increased weekend premium, per diem wage differential increase, increased PTO accruals, and new floating holidays that YOU have the power to schedule. There was also hopeful movement on the Employer’s proposed wage increases that, while still not nearly enough, is a step in the right direction.
While these economics victories are great, they don’t compensate for the Doctor’s Clinic’s failed safety response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week the Union sent out a “Pandemic Safety Survey” to members at TDC and we received many responses that detailed unsafe working conditions. The stories were horrific and ranged from a shear lack of personal protective equipment to people regularly entering the clinic without being screened for COVID-19.
When we shared your stories (anonymously) Management responded by saying they “appreciate the information… but we think we’ve done a good job responding to the crisis.”
We think it’s time for Management to step up to the plate, take ownership for their failures, and work with their employees to create a safe working environment. Having Management resolve these safety issues would be more important than any amount of hazard pay as our health & safety cannot be bought!
The Bargaining Team will meet with Management again this Friday August 21 in hopes that we continue the momentum and come to an agreement soon.
Summit Pacific Medical Center - Proposed Improvement in COVID Protections and Practices
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Our Bargaining Team proposed improvements to our COVID agreement with Summit around:
Paid administrative leave while waiting for COVID test results
Improvements for notification of exposure to COVID
Premium pay for Respiratory Care Unit
Management has been consistently denying our proposals around safety, so we expect them to put up a fight about our health and safety concerns now too.
We need to hear from you about any pandemic safety issues you’ve experienced at Summit!
Please join us at our next contract action meeting on Wednesday, August 19 at 7PM.
Wednesday, August 19
7PM via Zoom
Northwest Administrators - Bargaining Begins
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The Bargaining Team met with Management on Tuesday, August 11 this week to have our first negotiation session. We proposed a COVID-19/pandemic Letter of Understanding to keep our members safe during this time.
Our team is continuing to develop proposals in the upcoming weeks, if you have not completed a bargaining survey, follow this link:
Next Bargaining Date: Sept 1, 2020
Be on the lookout for more dates after each bargaining session!
Conifer St. Joseph - Continuing the Fight
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We have been bargaining for over a year. We have been working very hard to build a contract from the ground up and have secured many of the benefits, rights, and protections that we all deserve.
We have secured:
Grievance process to protect you from unjust terminations
We secured Conifer’s commitment to maintain your retirement and healthcare benefits
Our team continues to fight for fair wage increases, Holiday Pay that compensates us for our time spent away from our family, and proposals that recognize our longevity.
“We’re working hard and headed towards the finish line!”
Tracy Wolfe-Calhoun, Bargaining Team Member
ST. JOSEPH BARGAINING TEAM: Terri Ross, Tracy Wolf-Calhoun, Josie Talavera-Berg
Contact your Bargaining Team to pick up your car signs today!
St. Anne Hospital Pro-Tech - Bargaining Continues
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“We are very disappointed with the lack of movement from the Employer.”
OUR BARGAINING TEAM: Michelle Grennan, Kimberly Matson, and Miroslava Dashkel.
Your Bargaining Team met with Management again on August 5 and 10. Unfortunately, very little progress was made towards an agreement.
Management has begun to drag their feet as they refuse to make any meaningful movement on outstanding issues. They have outright rejected many of our proposals such as reimbursements for maintaining licensure, a clearly defined process for receiving certification pay, and a new COVID-19 hazard premium.
Furthermore, they haven’t moved much on their original economic package that, while generous to some, includes wage DECREASES for others. When confronted about the wage reductions for some members Management claims it was never their intention, however, they continue to include it in their economic proposals!
We will have no choice but to take action if the Employer continues this behavior when we return to negotiations on September 1.
St. Michael Medical Center - Bargaining Continues
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“We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
OUR PRO-TECH BARGAINING TEAM: Judy Shoesmith, Kain Mcleod, Connie Baker, Rob Shauger, Don Szabo, Ona Burkett, Sonja Hammes
Your Bargaining Team met with Management again on August 12 and, thanks to further community support during last week’s action, we were able to once again make significant progress towards an agreement.
The most notable movement was Management’s willingness to withdraw their new healthcare proposal, which would allow new hires onto the terrible CHI Franciscan plan. While the employer hasn’t officially withdrawn the proposal, they have agreed to withdraw it when we finalize updated language regarding the Sound Health & Wellness Trust. We’re pleased with this development as the Employer’s plan to force new hires onto the CHI Franciscan plan was a serious threat to our affordable healthcare, as it would give the Management leverage to take away our healthcare when we renegotiate in 2023.
Additionally, we have made progress on a new member lead pandemic safety committee, we continue to fight against an attack to the per diem premium and are much closer to an agreement on wage increases. We are still working against some equity issues with the Employer latest wage proposal but are hopeful those issue can be resolved soon.
Your Bargaining Team is looking forward to resuming negotiations on August 19 and 28.
Providence St. Peter Hospital - Providence isn't Listening to Our Demands
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On August 11, we bargained with Providence and discussed non-economic articles like union representative access, workplace committees, and discipline. Although we now have a couple of tentative agreements, Providence continues to propose weak contract language and a reduction to current benefits/policies. Providence is going to continue proposing takeaways until we stand up and fight.
Providence isn’t listening to our proposals about:
Just Cause
Union Access
Due Process
Recognition as Professionals with Professional Expectations
“They say they hear us, but they are clearly not listening.”
Rae Lynn Korpi, RT Bargaining Team member
OUR BARGAINING TEAM: Josh (CT), Shapel (X-ray), Colleen (Cath Lab), Rae Lynn (RT)
Join our online townhall meeting!
Wednesday, August 19
6:00 PM
Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.
Summit Pacific Medical Center - Incremental Progress - Management's Roadblocks Remain
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Management is ready to contractually recognize our union, and we’re making some progress in other areas like having access to union information in our workplaces.
Management is holding fast to proposals telling us how to run our union. They’re pretending to remain neutral but discouraging employees from joining the union. They’d also like to limit how we can fight back when they violate our contract.
We need to hear from you about any pandemic safety issues you’ve experienced at Summit!
“We need everyone’s support in this fight. Please join us at our next CAT meeting to learn how.”
— Our Bargaining Team: Angi Swinhart—RN (Below Left), Clinic; Kristen Frazer—Registration Specialist (Below Right); Barbara Ford—ED HUC (Below Center); Jeff Redmond—ED Tech; Alicia Wood—RN, ED
Please join us at our next contract action meeting on Wednesday, August 19 at 7PM.
Wednesday, August 19
7PM via Zoom
Providence St. Peter Hospital - Providence REJECTED All Our Proposals!!
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On August 6, we met with the Employer and they made it clear that they do not respect our Technical unit like the rest of the unionized units at Providence St. Peter. They refuse to provide annual leave and sick leave banks within our nine departments including: Ultrasound, Echo, MRI, Cath Lab, IR, CT, X-ray, RT, Pharmacy.
They continue to disrespect us with their bare-bone proposals. In addition, the Employer refuses to memorialize several policies such as leaves of absence, PTO, and EIB. They do not believe that we pose a real threat to their operations and continue to undermine and question our requests.
Enough is enough! If we want a FAIR contract with market adjustments and strong workplace protections every union member in every dept. must unite and fight back together! We cannot continue to be strong armed into a less than fair deal! If we agree to that now, it will be difficult to win a stronger contract in the future.
In order to be more united and organized, we will be holding a townhall Zoom meeting on Wednesday, August 19 at 6:00PM.
“If you weren’t upset before, you should be fired up now!” OUR BARGAINING TEAM: Josh (CT), Shapel (X-ray), Colleen (Cath Lab), Rae Lynn (RT)
Join our online townhall meeting!
Wednesday, August 19 6:00 PM
https://zoom.us/join
Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.
Conifer St. Joseph update Some progress but still a big fight ahead
/TO ALL Conifer Patient Access Reps., Patient Advocates, and Union Members: We made some progress this week in negotiations, but we still have a big fight ahead of us. We continue to stand strong for the issues that matter most to ALL of us!
Fair Wages
Maintain PTO accrual
Holiday pay and premiums
“It crucial now more than ever that we get every union member’s input on these important issues. This is your chance to have your voice heard before we start making some very difficult decisions.” – Josie Talavera- Berg
Join our CAT meeting and get updated information on contract negotiations and next steps needed to finally win a fair contract for all of us! In Solidarity, Your Bargaining Team: Josie Talavera-Berg, Terri Ross, Tracey Wolfe- Calhoun
CAT Meeting: August 11, 2020 at 5:30PM
Mason General RN - Bargaining Begins
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We met with Management on Monday, August 3 to begin bargaining. We made proposals for union leave, new hire orientations, and improvements to bereavement leave. We are awaiting the Employer’s response. Management also made some proposals around scheduling that we are carefully considering.
WE STILL NEED YOUR INPUT!
Dynacare Labcorp - Bargaining Update + Contract Action Meeting Today!
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Your Bargaining Team met with Management on Tuesday to continue negotiations. We passed our initial wage proposals and had productive conversations regarding the issues that matter most to you.
“We had a productive day of negotiations. We look forward to seeing how Management will respond to our recent proposals. Most importantly, I look forward to discussing the details with you at our online Contract meeting this Thursday! Hope to see you there!”
OUR BARGAINING TEAM: Shelby Tyner, Eli Lanzcos, Fredel Albritton, Steph Royce, Sherry (Sam) McVay, Tambra Graham, Nancy Paynowski
Hear from your Bargaining Team about negotiations! Join our online Contract Meeting!
Thursday, August 6 - TODAY
6:30 PM
Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.
Next Bargaining Dates: August 11 & 14
The Doctor's Clinic - Bargaining Continues
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“More of the same behavior from Management.”
OUR BARGAINING TEAM: Danilo Dantes, Monique Pyles, Katy Turek
Our Bargaining Team met again with Management on July 29 and were severely disappointed with Management’s behavior. While we work to address current issues, Management has consistently stonewalled any attempt at progress. It’s becoming increasingly clear that The Doctor’s Clinic didn’t come to the table with the intention of bargaining in good faith.
Among the many points of frustration were wages, as the Employer—who originally refused to provide a counter offer until we pushed back—slightly raised their proposal to 1%, 1.5%, & 2% for each year of the contract. This is an insulting proposal that ignores the new hazards we face with COVID-19, would make the Doctor’s Clinic significantly less competitive, and is much less than what other UFCW 21 contracts received this year.
To make matters worse, the employer has proposed new language to weaken the Union and our Bargaining Team’s power to win strong contracts and improve the workplace. We cannot stand for this attack on workers especially as Management proposes ridiculous wage increases and is failing to properly protect us from COVID-19.
We will take to the streets and unmask the Employer’s behavior to a community that has always stood in solidarity with workers under attack. Please bring your friends and family to our “CHI Unmasked Banner Action,” where we will have banners and signs that ask the community to support our fight for a fair contract. This will be a joint action with our fellow members at Harrison Medical Center who are dealing with similar issues in their own contract negotiations.
The action will be held on Thursday August 6 at three roadside locations:
12:00PM – 1:30PM: HWY 305 NE & 7th Ave NE (Poulsbo)
(Near Poulsbo Central Market)
2:00PM – 3:30PM: Greaves Way & NE Waaga Way (Silverdale)
(Near “The Trails at Silverdale”)
4:00PM – 6:00PM: South End of Warren Ave Bridge (Bremerton)
(Near Lower Roto Vista Park)
Summit Pacific Medical Center - Management Sets the Tone for Negotiations
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While we did make progress and come to agreement on some basic contract provisions, it’s clear that there is a lot of work ahead of us.
Management has made some alarming proposals around seniority and our access to union representation. They are also currently rejecting our common sense language around safety and nondiscrimination.
“Management seems more concerned about their rights than ours”
— Our Bargaining Team: Angi Swinhart—RN (Below Left), Clinic; Kristen Frazer—Registration Specialist (Below Right); Barbara Ford—ED HUC (Below Center); Jeff Redmond—ED Tech; Alicia Wood—RN, ED
It’s going to take all of us to win fair treatment and dignity at work. Join us at our digital Contract Action Meeting via Zoom on 8/5 at 7PM!
Wednesday, August 5
7PM via Zoom
RSVP for call-in details!
Conifer St. Elizabeth - Bargaining Update
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Negotiations this week between Conifer and union members at St. Elizabeth was short. No major changes or agreements were made today. We have additional dates planned to resume negotiations.
Your Bargaining Team is still working hard to secure a fair contract that includes:
Fair Wages
Maintains PTO accruals
Fair process to request time off
We must continue to stand and act together to win on these issues that matter most!
St. Michael Medical Center - Join Our Action Plan!
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“Significant progress was made today, however, Management is still trying to divide us on healthcare and wages.”
OUR PRO-TECH BARGAINING TEAM: Judy Shoesmith, Kain Mcleod, Connie Baker, Rob Shauger, Don Szabo, Ona Burkett, Sonja Hammes
Your Bargaining Team met with Management again on July 28 and significant progress was made towards a new contract. At this session we were able to win an improvement on annual leave accruals, received movement from the Employer on pandemic safety language, are closer to an agreement on wages, and fended off management’s attempt to create a new probationary period when moving to a new position.
However, significant issues remain before we can reach an agreement. While the Bargaining Team is agreeable to some of the proposed wage increases, Management continues to propose an unacceptable “lump-sum” bonus for some members in leu of hard wage increases. We strongly believe that ALL members deserve a fair wage increase and will continue to fight until we get an equitable economic offer from the employer that benefits everyone.
The other major issue is the employer’s new healthcare proposal that would enable management to coerce new hires to sign up for the CHI Healthcare Plan instead of our current Sound Health & Wellness plan. We are concerned about this proposal because (1) Management tried to sell the plan to the Bargaining Team by leaving out key information, which they would undoubtably do to mislead new hires and, (2) this proposal would significantly weaken our ability to keep our affordable healthcare in future negotiations.
Management understands they cannot win the healthcare fight this round so, as an alternative, they are strategically working to create weakness in our unit to be exploited in future negotiations.
We will take to the streets and unmask the employer’s behavior to a community that has always stood in solidarity with workers under attack. Please bring your friends and family to our “CHI Unmasked Banner Action,” where we will have banners and signs that ask the community to support our fight for a fair contract. This will be a joint action with our fellow members at The Doctors Clinic who are dealing with similar issues in their own contract negotiations.
The action will be held on Thursday August 6 at three roadside locations:
12:00PM – 1:30PM: HWY 305 NE & 7th Ave NE (Poulsbo)
(Near Poulsbo Central Market)
2:00PM – 3:30PM: Greaves Way & NE Waaga Way (Silverdale)
(Near “The Trails at Silverdale”)
4:00PM – 6:00PM: South End of Warren Ave Bridge (Bremerton)
(Near Lower Roto Vista Park)
Filson - Bargaining Update - July 31, 2020
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Filson Bargaining Update July 31, 2020
Filson Management and your Union Bargaining Committee met yesterday. We made our final proposals around building a bigger stronger union at Filson, and making sure that if Filson is sold to another company our union contract remains in place. We also reviewed the areas where we have tentative agreements.
Filson responded to our proposals by letting us know that 2020 is a bad year for them, and that they are expecting to have a bottom line in the red. The Bargaining Committee understands that these are trying times, but they are trying times for everyone, and so we are requesting more information from Filson about their financial situation. After we have that information, we will be able to better respond to the issues that they have raised.
“If Filson is saying that they can’t afford our proposals, as a union we have the right to verify that, and will base our responses off of those facts.”
—Jared Othieno
TO ALL CONIFER MEMBERS
/TO ALL CONIFER MEMBERS:
The Union does not condone any behavior that can be construed as intimidating or threatening from either side. We expect both sides to be respectful throughout this bargaining process.
The best way to win a fair contract is to stand together by
• Attending CAT meetings
• Talking to your bargaining team members about other ways you can participate
Thank you in advance for your cooperation,
Amirah Ziada Mirziteh
Negotiator
