WhidbeyHealth - Bargaining Begins

Bargaining Team: Jennifer MacNeill, LabRosalie Nguyen, Pharmacy

Bargaining Update—Day One

April 19, 2023

On Wednesday, April 19, our bargaining team met with management for our first joint negotiation session. We provided management with non-economic proposals on a myriad of topics including, part-time employees, shop steward, Job descriptions, Termination Notice, Nondiscrimination, and much more. We were eager to hear the management’s responses to our initial proposals at our next meeting on June 1, where we also planned to propose more improvements to our union contract. Our team will continue to work hard at the table to get us a strong new contract, but we can’t do it alone. We need the support of all of our coworkers behind us if we are going to get real solutions to the big issues we face!

Bargaining Update—Day Two

June 1, 2023

In the second day of bargaining, the Union proposed language on non-economic issues. Once the non-economic issues are resolved, the Union will propose economic proposals. Bargaining this time around with Whidbey Health is moving quicker than before, as they have hired a new lawyer to represent them. This has allowed us to have multiple proposals and counter proposals passed back and forth. We hope this continues through this bargaining process.

On June 1, we got Tentative Agreements on language around:

• Semi-annual seniority roster updates

• Job Postings

• Masterlists/ Status Reports

• New Employee Orientation

• Bulletin Boards

• Political Action Fund Deductions

• Bargaining for new Collective Bargaining Agreement and Unpaid Time Off

Our bargaining team continues to fight for language on non-discrimination including changing your badge and email names, over-time for innovative work schedules, Internal Equity, Definitions, Work week and work day language, Labor management committee, Equity Review, and ensuring you only have to give 14 days notice to resign and more. We are hoping to quickly move to resolve the rest of these articles so we can move onto the economic portion of the bargaining.

Please join us for one of our upcoming Virtual Contract Action Team meetings on Wednesday, June 7 at 1PM and 6PM.

We’ll discuss what we can do in the field to help support our team at the table! RSVP below:

If you have any questions about the bargaining process, please contact Union Rep Celia at (360) 419-4678.

Macy's - Contract Action Team Meeting

Contract Action Team Meeting

Monday, June 5 @ 12—3PM
Southcenter Mall - Food Court, 2800 Southcenter Mall, Seattle

Tuesday, June 6 @ 3—4PM
Alderwood Mall - Elemental Pizza, 3000 184th St SW #948, Lynnwood

Join your coworkers to prepare for upcoming negotiations and how to win a fair contract! If you have any questions, please contact a Bargaining Team member or Union Rep.

EvergreenHealth Kirkland - RSVP - Stand up for fair wages

YOU’RE INVITED!

Join our Bargaining Team to plan and prepare upcoming actions that will pressure Management into offering a serious wage proposal.

Wednesday, June 14 @ 5:30pm
EvergreenHealth Kirkland - Room Tan 100

To RSVP, scan or go to: bit.ly/432v1ct

We have told Management that they need to address wage disparities and staffing! After nearly two months of bargaining Management said,

“NO WAGE INCREASE THIS YEAR!”

It is time to show Management that Evergreen workers won’t stand for this disrespect and are ready to fight for a FAIR CONTRACT.

READY TO GET MORE INVOLVED? Join your union today and go to: join.ufcw.org/join/3000

QUESTIONS? Talk to a member of the Bargaining Team or call Union Rep Jack Crow @ 206-436-6614

Sunrise Dental CONTRACT RATIFIED

On Wednesday May 31 members voted overwhelmingly to approve a new union contract!

This contract includes:

• Wage increases for all employees,

• including those paid above the wage scale.

• $900 Bonus

• One additional personal day for a total of five days.

• Additional employer contribution to the 401K.

• NEW Meal and Rest Periods language.

• Extended time for Bereavement Leave.

Reach out to your Union Representative for additional information or if you want to get more involved.

PCC Forming our proposals

On Friday, May 26 our Union PCC Bargaining Committee met together to discuss many of the topics members suggested during the May CAT meetings, as well as the bargaining priorities collected from the Union Bargaining Surveys. We began the process of reviewing the major recurring topics and have started to formulate contract proposals for our first bargaining session with the Employer.

Top Union Bargaining Survey priorities included:

• Winning better pay

• Increasing retention

• Safety at our stores

• Keeping good affordable healthcare coverage

• A democratic process for Members on the Board

• Maintaining strong retirement

• One wage scale for the same type of work at all stores

• Addressing scheduling issues and building more power in the co-op industry

Our Union Bargaining Committee meets again for our first bargaining session with the Employer on June 6. We have confirmed bargaining dates with PCC for June 8, 20, July 26 and August 10. New button designs coming soon!

Our Union Bargaining Team also discussed the plan to win the best PCC contract possible, including how we can take collective action starting with asking our coworkers to sign a Pledge of support by adding your name to the PCC Workers Declaration of Demands and sign on to do whatever it takes to achieve these demands.

Don’t miss out on important bargaining updates, action alerts, and contract information: Make sure your personal contact info is up-to-date! Go to: ufcw3000.org/update-your-information

PCC contract page >>

Macy’s Retail / Macy’s Furniture Gallery - Macy’s Initial Economic Proposal is Unacceptable

“Our Union Bargaining Team is disappointed and outraged by the employer’s insulting initial economic proposal, which blatantly disregards the skyrocketing cost of living and the value of long-term employees.”

— Curtisy Bryant

Bargaining Team: Azia Domingo, Curtisy Bryant, Emily Hunter, Liisa Luick.

Our Union Bargaining Team met with the employer on May 31, 2023 to receive their initial economic proposal.

Macy’s initial proposal included:

• An insulting $0.35 wage increase per year

• Elimination of all wage progressions/scales

• Rejection of all the Union’s commission proposals

• Plan to replace our holiday language with the employer’s non-union holiday program

The Employer’s proposal for a lousy $0.35 wage increase is totally unacceptable and insulting. And to make matters worse, they don’t seem to care about our years of service by wanting to scrap wage progressions altogether. It’s a slap in the face to long-term employees who won’t be able to move up the ladder compared to new hires. This is already a big problem, and their proposal would only make it worse, making it clear they don’t value our experience and dedication.

To make matters worse, the Employer intends to replace our holiday language with their non-union program. Under this program, holiday pay (1.5x pay) would only be provided on Thanksgiving and Christmas (one of which we are already been closed), and potentially on “Key Business Days” that will be determined solely by management.

The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that the Employer’s holiday proposal includes loopholes that would possibly allow them to schedule no Key Business Days or even completely eliminate the holiday program. It is worth noting that the employer scheduled four Key Business Days last year, but there is no guarantee that they will continue to do so in the future. Our Union Bargaining Team firmly stands against any language that grants the employer the discretionary power to cease the holiday program at their own whim.

Take action for a fair contract NOW! Sign the strike pledge card today in solidarity against the employer’s insulting initial economic offer.

We, the workers at Macy’s, demand that Management agrees to a fair contract that offers:

• Fair wage increases that keep up with skyrocketing inflation,

• High quality affordable healthcare,

• Significant safety improvements for both workers and customers.

MFused - Strong start to bargaining our first contract

Our MFused Bargaining Team met with Management on May 30 for our second day of negotiations.

Our t-shirt and button action was a huge success! We stood together and demanded the day off and full sessions for each bargaining day and WON! We reached agreements around the ground rules regarding frequency and length of bargaining sessions, and we passed our initial non-economic contract proposals to each other.

Management is proposing to change everyone’s schedules to start and end later in the day.

They also want to eliminate the ability to have water bottles at our workstations. We discussed the hardships that these changes would cause to members. We look forward to their responses and to have productive sessions going forward.

Next Bargaining Dates:
June 13 and July 14

Questions? Reach out to a Bargaining Team member or Union Rep Chris Arellano @ 360-409-0241.

Our Bargaining Team: Ariel Simmons, Kimberly Greenside, Jennifer Wade, Robert Elkins, and Diba Kamayo

PRMCE RNs - We have NOT reached a tentative agreement

Our last bargaining session with PRMCE was on May 11. Since that session we have not received a response from PRMCE for new bargaining dates. We are committed to continuing negotiations as soon as possible! Every day our staffing assignments get harder due to nurses resigning and hundreds of vacancies. Since the start of bargaining we have told the Hospital that we need to resolve this staffing crisis through competitive wages and better staffing language. The contract that our Union Bargaining Team proposed attempts to address retention and recruitment of nurses. We recognize the staffing issues we face at PRMCE need to be addressed with a comprehensive multi-action approach.

Below are a few of the proposals the RN team made in our last session. Some of these proposals the Hospital agreed to or proposed a lesser version of:

1. Hazard pay of $12 for emergent circumstances (like declared state of emergency)

2. Staffing: if a unit is staffed less than 90% of the unit’s staffing plan, the nurses on that unit will receive $5/hour premium

3. Break relief nurses for every unit

4. Internal equity: if a new employee is hired into a pay level greater than the  employee’s experience the entire pay range will be adjusted to reflect the placement of the new hire. Example: if the new hire should be on Step 4, but is placed on Step 8, Step 8 will become the new Step 4 and all nurses will have their wages increased to reflect the adjustment.

5. $3.00 Evening shift differential and $6.50 Night shift differential

6. For night shift nurses: after working on night shift for 24 months nurses would receive an additional $5.00 on top of the night shift differential. This is proposal is to recognize the longevity of night shift nurses.

7. $7 Standby pay

8. Increased premium for preceptors to $2.00 to train the nurses we desperately need.

9. Double time for standby on holidays

10. Added Veteran’s Day, Juneteenth, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day to holiday list. PRMCE proposed cutting Presidents Day to allow Juneteenth.

11. Expanded holiday pay for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for night shift nurses. Consistent with other contracts in the area we proposed expanded hours for holiday pay on Christmas eve and Christmas day from 7pm on 12/23 to 7AM on 12/26.

12. $800 Standby Bonus for nurses who work more than 500 standby hours each calendar year, $1100 standby bonus for nurses who work more than 800 standby hours in a half year, $1250 for nurses who work more than 1100 standby hours in a half year.

13. Proposed improvements to health insurance by reducing out of pocket cost.

14. Allowing union rep into employee lounges and to remain member of staffing committee

15. 40 hours (pro-rated by FTE) for education hours and increased education money

16. Additional PTO to honor longevity of nurses over 15 years

17. Wages

• Step increments between steps would be an average of 2.5%. Currently the step increments vary between step

• Increase base to Swedish’s base rate of $42.22 on June 1, 2023. The new wage table would range from $42.22 (Base)  80.55 (Step 35)

• November 1, 2023 8.25% increase

• 2024 5% increase

• 2025 6.5% increase

To clarify, we do NOT have a tentative agreement. These proposals have not been fully agreed to by the Hospital! As you can see, there are some areas that we have some agreement on, but differ drastically on wages, staffing, and other contract language. We need Providence to come back to the bargaining table immediately! Nurses deserve better NOW!

Planned Parenthood - Bargaining Begins

Planned Parenthood
Bargaining Begins

“Hopefully Planned Parenthood still cares about their employees No Matter What.”

– Monalisa Bauman, Medical Assistant, Bargaining Team

Bargaining has kicked off with Planned Parenthood! On day one of bargaining, we talked about non-economics (language pieces that have no monetary value) and will get into economics (pay, benefits, etc.) in future bargaining sessions.

We discussed the following language:

• We proposed non-discrimination language, including ensuring the contract is gender neutral, access to all-gender bathrooms, respect for pronouns, chosen names on badges and emails.

• We proposed language that ensures you do not have to give 30 days’ notice of resignation, yet the Employer wants to only be able to give you 7 days’ notice of termination. We want to ensure all job positions have the same requirements for resigning or facing termination.

• The Employer proposed a one-year contract and cited that they are worried about funding through the election-cycle, but we are holding strong to a three-year agreement to ensure you are protected throughout the upcoming election cycle when Planned Parenthood is in the news even more and your safety and patient safety is at higher risk.

• The Employer proposed language in the contract stating if an emergency happens whether it be a natural disaster, pandemic or as they stated “Acts of God” that the contract would be suspended. We wholeheartedly REJECT that proposal. You deserve to be protected through all cases of emergency including the offensive language they proposed “Acts of God”.

Bargaining Team: Michel Avery, Alison Deboise, Melissa Grindstaff, Monalisa Bauman, Mollie Overby

Ray's Meats Contract Ratified!

Kennewick Winco Meat Contract Ratified!

Highlights Include:

• Above area standard wage increases

• Added Retirement Security

• Affordable Health & Welfare

If you have any questions, please contact your Union Rep Rob Roundy at 509-943-8923.

Olympic Medical Home Health - Tentative Agreement Reached!

Olympic Medical Home Health
Tentative Agreement Reached!

Our Bargaining Team has reached a tentative agreement on a new three year contract and recommends a YES vote!

We are excited to announce that the new agreement includes:

• Wage scale increases totaling 18.5% for all positions over three years

• Additional market increases of 2.0-26.0%

• $1500 bonus prorated by FTE

• Weekend differential increased to $4 per hour

• On-call pay increased to $75 per night

Join your coworkers and vote on the new contract!

Port Angeles
Tuesday, June 6 @ 1—4pm
Olympic Medical Home Health - Conference Room
801 Front St. Suite D
Port Angeles, WA 98362

Sequim
Tuesday, June 6 @ 8—11am
Sequim Medical Plaza - Conference Room
777 N. 5th Ave, Suite 102
Sequim, WA 98382

MHS Covington Medical Center Bargaining Continues

After seven months of bargaining and mediation we finally met with Management in person. This really allowed us to have productive dialog regarding our proposals. We hope Management will now listen and take our concerns seriously.

Due to Management’s lack of respect and movement we were forced to bring a mediator into bargaining. She has been helpful in bringing us closer to a fair deal, but Management says we are still pretty far apart. If Management actually listened and respected the concerns of their workers we wouldn’t be so far apart. It is time for Management to Respect us, Pay us and Protect us!

In order to keep the hospital running well and efficient, people have to have joy in their work! That joy comes from the service we provide to patients. However, if our service is not valued or recognized by management the joy we get from our service to our patients dies out... in healthcare we can refer to it as burnout. What we are asking for is not a lot, if the hospital is small and not growing administrators should look at themselves - it doesn't fall on employees! If they want to retain staff then they need to value people, if they are in the process of growing they need to value the great staff they currently have, so that when the growth comes we all provide excellent care. It almost feels like we are begging for safety nets just to fulfill our FTEs. Management constantly low census us and many of us lose out on pay. The cost of living is way to high for people to not be able to meet their FTEs and get a full pay check. We have proposed language to limit Low Census and to help us secure our pay checks and Management continues to ignore our needs. It was great having dialog but its time for Management to take action and give us what we need! They say they want to recruit and retain workers but they don’t want to make the actions to make it happen. Wages are only one part of retention working conditions and the ability to work to make the wages are the other part of retention.

“Meeting in person allowed for a freer flow of bargaining ideas across the table. We still haven’t reached a deal but we had great discussion.” — Ken Ferrell

“Today we were able to express that union members are as valuable as nonunion workers and we are entitled to guaranteed FTEs and full paychecks just like travelers and system float!” — Faith Soriano-Miller

“Management said that float pool is the future of staffing, but we know Core staff are the present, future and backbone of staffing.” — Luz Martinez

Join us our Contract Action Team meeting via zoom!
Thursday, May 25 @ 1pm-2pm or 6pm-7pm

If you have any questions, please contact our Rep Ian Jacobson 206-436-6550.

EvergreenHealth Hospital - Fighting for changes in our workplace

EvergreenHealth Hospital
Fighting for changes in our workplace

We had four full days of bargaining and made countless proposals. Management finally responded to some of our proposals but were unwilling to accept many that are important to us:

• STAFFING: We proposed staffing language which would empower workers to collaboratively address the big staffing issues we face every day. Management failed to address the obvious need for a dialogue on this urgent issue.

• EQUITY: We proposed contract language that promoted equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism. Management responded that they see no need to exceed the minimum protections required by law.

Our next bargaining date with Management is Wednesday, May 31. We anticipate Management will respond to our economic proposals at the next session.

We are ready to have an extensive conversation with them about what is important to workers at Evergreen.

For additional information, contact a Bargaining Team member or Union Rep Jack Crow @ 206-436-6614.

STAY IN THE LOOP! It is very important that your personal contact information is correct with your Union to be sure you receive updates on bargaining with your Employer, union benefits, bargaining surveys, as well as contract vote information.
https://ufcw3000.org/update-your-information

Macy’s Furniture - It’s Time to Take Action

Bargaining Team: Azia Domingo, Curtisy Bryant, Emily Hunter, Liisa Luick

Our Union Bargaining Team met with management again on May 11 to continue negotiations for our next contract. After winning stronger safety language earlier in the week, our Bargaining Team decided it was finally time to submit our initial economic proposal.

Workers at the furniture galleries have reported concerns about the effect of minimum wage on sales associates draws, longer operating hours during times when customers are not shopping, and frustration with the current deficit wipe off process.

In response, our Bargaining Team proposed:

New language that establishes a cap on sales associates draw rate, regardless of the actual wage rate.

• ...A significant wage scale revamp for non-sales associates that ensures wages keep up with the cost of living and honors our years of service,

• ...Commission increases to each tier (i.e. standard, premier, elite),

• ...Bimonthly deficit wipe-offs for all sales associates,

• ...and a new high-quality and affordable Union healthcare option.

We know that Macy’s will not give into any of our demands without a serious fight, but we are willing to do what it takes to earn the respect that we deserve from our employer.

Show Macy’s that you are willing to join the fight and do whatever it takes to win a fair contract by SIGNING THE STRIKE PLEDGE CARD!

We, the workers at Macy’s, demand that Management agrees to a fair contract that offers:

• Fair wage increases that keep up with skyrocketing inflation,

• High quality affordable healthcare,

• Significant safety improvements for both workers and customers.

Macy’s - It’s Time to Take Action

Bargaining Team: Azia Domingo, Curtisy Bryant, Emily Hunter, Liisa Luick

Our Union Bargaining Team met with management again on May 11 to continue negotiations for our next contract. After winning stronger safety language earlier in the week, our Bargaining Team decided it was finally time to submit our initial economic proposal.

Workers reported on the bargaining survey that new hires are being paid nearly the same as long term employees, draw vs. commission deficits are pilling up, and our current healthcare options are eating away at our paychecks.

In response, our Bargaining Team proposed:

• A significant wage scale revamp that ensures our wages keep up with the cost of living and honors our years of service,

• ...Increases to all commissions,

• ...Bimonthly deficit wipe-offs for all draw vs. commission associates,

• ...and a new high-quality and affordable Union healthcare option.

We know that Macy’s will not give into any of our demands without a serious fight, but we are willing to do what it takes to earn the respect that we deserve from our employer.

Show Macy’s that you are willing to join the fight and do whatever it takes to win a fair contract by SIGNING THE STRIKE PLEDGE CARD!

We, the workers at Macy’s, demand that Management agrees to a fair contract that offers:

• Fair wage increases that keep up with skyrocketing inflation,

• High quality affordable healthcare,

• Significant safety improvements for both workers and customers.

Northwest Center - in the Right Direction

Northwest Center
Steps in the Right Direction

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)

Join your coworkers for the next Contract Action Team meeting on Zoom!
Monday, May 22 @ 12:30—1:30pm

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.

Tri-Cities Community Health RNs Bargaining Continues

Our Union Bargaining Team has finished an additional three sessions since last week. We have been able to get tentative agreements on most of our new contract which include; a grievance process, seniority language, improved working conditions secure union representation and membership but will continue to work on compensation and protect the benefits we currently have.

“We continue to work hard on behalf of our co-workers to make sure that we secure a contract that will be a solid foundation for building on in the future.” — Karen Engel RN, Auburn campus

“We are securing and locking in language in many areas, but we still have to work hard to come to an agreement on wages.” — Hilda Torres RN, 515 Court St. campus.

Our next bargaining session will be June 6, 2023. Please reach out to one of our Bargaining Team Members or our Union Rep. Juanita Quezada at 509-340-7407 with any questions or concerns.

LabCorp Bargaining Begins!

LabCorp Bargaining Begins

Earlier this week, our Union Dynacare/LabCorp Bargaining Committee met to continue preparing for upcoming negotiations. Our bargaining team has been working hard red-lining the contract, addressing departmental concerns, drafting proposals to resolve issues with scheduling and staffing, and collecting wage comps to ensure fair compensation for us all. We're confident in our strong position and are eagerly awaiting Management's readiness to meet. Get ready for an exciting win as we fight to secure the contract we all deserve!

We’re collecting stories to share about who we are, why we’re committed to improving our working conditions, and continuing to provide vital—outstanding patient care. If you have a story you think Management or our communities need to hear, reach out to a Steward, our Union Rep, or a member of our Union Bargaining Committee.

Update your contact information and make sure you’ve opted in to email and text communications! ufcw3000.org/update-your-information

Join our first Contract Action Team meeting next week!

Wednesday, May 24 at 7pm via Zoom

Keep up the Slack!

Join our Union Slack channel, Lab Force 3000, for bargaining updates, office hours with your Rep, training and education resources, and more!

If you have any questions, you can contact our Union Rep Christie Harris at 206-436-6606 or you can call the MRC at 1-800-219-3000.

Planned Parenthood: Bargaining Starts Soon - Get Involved Now!

You're likely already aware that our current contract was set to expire on June 1. We agreed to extend the contract by one month to the end of June to allow more time for negotiations. Your bargaining team will meet with PPGNHAIK leadership to bargain on May 24 and then again on June 6. As with bargaining sessions in the last decade, HR has been slow to agree to the many dates we have proposed. Their stalling tactics have only emboldened our team to become more united in our demands.  We look forward to getting these negotiations started and fighting for the contract we all deserve!

Meet Your Bargaining Team!

L to R: Michel Avery, Clinical Trainer - Monalisa Bauman, MA Certified - Alison DeBoise, Insurance Biller - Melissa Grindstaff, Patient Access Rep - Mollie Overby, Capacity Building Specialist

Get Involved

How can you help us win the contract we all deserve?​

1. Fill out the bargaining survey. Thank you to those who have already made your voice heard.

2. If you prefer to spell out concerns by phone or email, please reach out to Charlie at (206) 436-6518 or a union Shop Steward or Bargaining Team member.

3. Join a Thursday night Zoom check-in at 7pm and let us know what’s important to you.

4. PP Leadership has posted the GAHC Coordinator position, but is still vague on the timeline of the return of new patients.  If you have not already signed the petition demanding transparency on the GAH pause, please do so here.

5. Finally, let’s cheer on our fellow Planned Parenthood and UFCW Local 324 on filing for an election to unionize!