Zenith America Solutions - Bargaining Update

After three long days of negotiations, our bargaining team has made significant progress toward a new contract, but there remains much work to do. Management has continued to propose increases that we believe would result in more expensive healthcare costs while still not keeping up with inflation in their wage offer.

However, we believe that Zenith is beginning to understand that we will not accept a contract that includes such proposals and have made clear to them that we need better proposals to ensure livable wages and affordable benefits for us and our families. We hope that additional progress will be made over the weekend but are prepared to increase the pressure on them if we have to.

Keep an eye out for additional updates next week, and please reach out to a member of the bargaining team or your rep if you have any questions.

“We’ve made progress, but management needs to realize that when the economy changes, the contract needs to also.”

— Our Bargaining Team: Mitch Longoria, Terra Powell, and Laura Bomengen

TOMLINSON LINEN CONTRACT RATIFIED! ¡CONTRATO DE TOMLINSON LINEN RATIFICADO!

We are happy to announce that the recommended tentative agreement, reached by our union bargaining committee, has been approved by an overwhelming majority of members!

The new contract, effective immediately and lasting for three years, brings several key benefits:

• A wage scale with across-the-board wage increases for all members throughout the life of the contract.

• A guaranteed .50 cent above the minimum wage when the minimum wage goes up (after six months of employment).

• Reduced the amount of years it takes to get the 3rd and 4th week of vacation.

• Increased break times.

• Introduction of new language allowing the union steward and union representative to meet with new employees on paid time to provide information about the union.

• Union leave for up to 3 months for union-related activities.

Thank you to all our members who participated in the voting process.

For any questions or concerns, please reach out to your Union Representative Jose Veliz at 360-409-0615.

¡Nos complace anunciar que el acuerdo tentativo recomendado, alcanzado por nuestro comité de negociación de la Union, ha sido aprobado por una mayoría de miembros!

El nuevo contrato, efectivo de inmediato y con una duración de tres años, trae varios beneficios clave:

• Una escala salarial con aumentos salariales generales para todos los miembros durante la vigencia del contrato.

• Un aumento garantizado de .50 centavos por encima del salario mínimo cuando este se incremente (después de seis meses de empleo).

• Reducción del tiempo necesario para obtener la 3ra y 4ta semana de vacaciones.

• Aumento del tiempo de descanso.

• Los nuevos empleados podran reunirse con el delegado de la Union y representante de la Union en tiempo pagado para recibir información sobre la Union.

• Permiso de ausencia de hasta 3 meses para asuntos relacionadas con la Union.

Gracias a todos nuestros miembros que participaron en el proceso de votación.

Para cualquier pregunta o inquietud, comuníquese con su Representante de la Union, José Veliz al 360-409-0615.

Bartell Drugs contract ratified!

Bartell Drugs members unanimously voted to ratify their new contract yesterday! We’ll carry our momentum into our next negotiations with our fellow Rite Aid members in the fall and enforcing our contract every day at work. Physical and electronic copies of the signed agreement will be available soon. If you have any questions about the new contract, please reach out to union Rep Tae Abraham at 360-409-0603.

“Negotiations were often frustrating, but we’re doing everything we can to ensure a better future for our members. I’m proud of how we’ve supported each other through the bankruptcy and I’m hopeful for what’s to come.” – Dani Fisher, Service Associate & Bargaining Team Member

Soon after we started renegotiating our union contract, Rite Aid declared bankruptcy. While we navigated store closures and reduced hours, our bargaining team worked to reach a 1-year agreement for Bartell Drugs members that maintains our benefits, improves our grievance procedures, and includes raises for those that didn’t qualify for 2024 minimum wage increases. The short-term contract aligns our expiration date with our fellow UFCW 3000 Rite Aid members and lets us go back to the table together after the bankruptcy is settled to continue fighting for the better wages, benefits, and in-store safety we need.

Becoming a union steward is a great way to support your coworkers and enforce your rights on the job. Interested in going through the shop steward training? Reach out to your union Rep!

MultiCare is bargaining in bad faith

On Thursday, May 16, our Union Negotiating Committee met with MultiCare to continue contract negotiations, however, we’re not sure MultiCare showed up for the same reason. We do not believe that Management are bargaining in good faith. They are not taking this process seriously, nor do we feel that concerns about our staffing, our wages, and the well-being of ourselves and our families are being considered in Management’s proposals.

“Three percent is BS. That’s not even enough to cover inflation for this year.” —Rafael Diaz

We feel that MultiCare is trying to drag this out, perhaps to exhaust us, and defeat us, but we are not giving in. We will show MultiCare that we will stand together to win a fair contract.

WE ARE: 2000 WORKERS, 9 CONTRACTS & ONE FIGHT!

SAVE THE DATE: picket sign making party Wednesday, June 5 from 5PM—7PM at IBEW Local 76, 3049 S 36th Street. Tacoma, 98409

RSVP to the Informational Picket here >>

Tomlinson Linen - Llegamos a un acuerdo tentativo | Tentative agreement reached

Tomlinson Linen
Llegamos a un acuerdo tentativo

Nuestro equipo de Negociación: Christina Britton & Arcelia Benavidez

El 13 de mayo, nuestro Comité de Negociación de la union llegó a un acuerdo tentativo con la Gerencia de Tomlinson Linen y recomienda que voten SÍ!

Cuando comenzamos las negociaciones, la prioridad era asegurar una compensación justa por el arduo trabajo que hacemos cada día, el pilar del éxito de Tomlinson.

Estamos contentos de compartir los detalles del acuerdo con ustedes durante nuestra votación en persona:

Miércoles 22 de mayo
9am—11am y 1pm—2pm
Sala de descanso de Tomlinson Linen

Aquí hay algunos aspectos del acuerdo:

• Aumentos salariales competitivos

• Reducción de la elegibilidad para 3 y 4 semanas de vacaciones

• Mejorar el tiempo de descanso

• Orientación de la union pagada de 30 minutos para nuevos empleados

• Garantía de salario mínimo más 50 centavos

Puede asistir a cualquier hora de votación para votar sobre el acuerdo tentativo. El acuerdo tentativo completo estará disponible para su revision. Todos los miembros en regla son elegibles y se les anima a votar sobre el acuerdo tentativo.

Tentative Agreement Reached

Our Union Bargaining Committee: Christina Britton & Arcelia Benavidez

On May 13 our union Bargaining Team reached a tentative agreement with Tomlinson Linen Management and recommends a YES vote!

When we first started negotiations, the priority was to secure fair compensation for the hard work we put in every day — the backbone of Tomlinson’s success.

We’re excited to share the details of the agreement with you during our upcoming vote:

Wednesday, May 22
9am—11am and 1pm—2pm
Tomlinson Linen Breakroom

Here are some highlights of the agreement:

• Competitive wage increases

• Reduced eligibility for 3rd and 4th week vacation

• Improved break times

• 30 minute paid union orientation for new employees

• $0.50 above minimum wage guarantee

You may attend any vote time during the polling times to vote on the tentative agreement. The full tentative agreement will be available to review at the vote. All members in good standing are eligible and encouraged to vote on the tentative agreement.

Northwest Administrators update on system outage

On May 13, many members at NW Administrators were dismissed from work early due to a system outage. UFCW 3000 is currently investigating the situation and has requested additional information from Management to determine the extent of the problem. While we wait for that information, it is important that you are aware of the following:

You are entitled to a minimum of 4 hours pay for any day on which you report to work and are dismissed early. If you were dismissed before completing 4 hours of work, you should be paid for a minimum of 4 hours.

Management cannot compel you to use annual leave to cover the time lost following dismissal. If you already put in for annual leave for the lost hours and would prefer to take the time as unpaid, you should inform your manager as soon as possible in writing of this decision.

Likewise, you cannot be compelled to work “make up” time later in the week as a result of this early dismissal. The contract allows for simple leave without pay in these situations, and the absence cannot be counted against you for attendance purposes. If you feel that Management is pressuring you to work additional hours, please contact your Rep Jack Crow at 206-436-6614.

Finally, it appears that some impacted union members were allowed to continue working on tasks which were not directly impacted by the outage. If you were dismissed despite notifying your Manager that there was available work which you could complete, please reach out to your rep so that we can assess the situation.

If you have questions, or have additional information you would like to share, please contact your Rep Jack Crow at 206-436-6614.

MultiCare Time to turn up the pressure

On Thursday, May 9, our Union Bargaining Committee was eager to meet with MultiCare Management to continue negotiations on our nine contracts. We kicked the day off feeling refreshed & confident from the overwhelming support we’ve seen from our coworkers over the last week —a highly attended Union Family Day on May 4, and outstanding participation in Union Solidarity Day on May 8 (we gave out around 1,000 MultiCare Workers United buttons!)

And it seems that we may not be the only ones who noticed the growing solidarity in our workplaces…

At Thursday’s bargaining session, MultiCare came to the table and moved closer to our positions on a few of the proposals we’ve been passing back and forth- for example, discussions on Extra Shifts, and making a very reasonable counter proposal on Changing Time (donning/doffing)- which we later agreed to add to the contract!

While this exchange of proposals with MultiCare was encouraging (and felt like we were really bargaining!), it did not extend to many of the items that matter most to us, such as our wages and our health insurance benefits. In fact, we agreed that it is nessessary to remind Management, once again, why the proposals we’ve continued to put forward on the Health Insurance Plan are so important. We made it as clear as we could by breaking down the issues we’re facing into “categories” like affordability, access, and network. We broke down these categories further by sharing personal stories about how MultiCare’s benefit plans have negatively impacted us and our families.

Management’s movement on Thursday was a good start, but to win the wages, benefits, and workplace protections we need, we have to turn up the heat!

Mark your calendars:

INFORMATIONAL PICKET: Wednesday, June 12 4PM—6PM at Tacoma General Hospital (on MLK Jr. Way) >>

Join our next Contract Action Team Meetings: Wednesday, June 5 9AM (via Zoom), 12PM (at Tacoma General Hospital Bunker Conference Room), and 5PM (via Zoom) >>

Continue to stay up to date! on our contract bargain, future union actions, & more on our MultiCare Linktree. >>