While our initial bargaining sessions were largely positive and relatively low stakes, we now have reached the meat and potato economic proposals that our unit cares about most. This is often the most challenging stage of bargaining – especially when bargaining a first contract. An example from today: in response to our extensively researched wage proposal, the company stated "we don't want to change how we do things" without further discussion.
As 2,500 UFCW 3000 members at MultiCare continue preparations for contract bargaining to begin early next year, there are several upcoming opportunities to gather, discuss and contribute. First off, a big thanks to all who completed the bargaining surveys during August and September. That information will be crucial in our assessing priorities before bargaining.
After holding nomination votes for the Labor Management Advisory Committee (LMAC) from September 21–25, 2026, and then holding nominee votes for Ballard, Central District, and Issaquah on October 21, 2026, we are happy to announce your committee members!
This agreement comes after more than six months of bargaining, an informational picket, federal mediation, a strike pledge campaign, and a strike authorization vote that showed CommonSpirit members were ready to fight for a better contract
After more than a month since our last session, our Union Bargaining Team; Alyssa and Oliver were able to reconvene with the employer on October 19 to receive their economic counter proposal.
Join us via Zoom on Tuesday, October 20, at 6:30 PM to learn more about the tentative agreement reached between our Union Bargaining Team and CommonSpirit.
“At a time when workers are struggling to keep up with sky-high prices for groceries, housing, health care, and other basic necessities, we cannot afford to give a tax cut to the wealthiest people in our state,” said Sam Dancy, UFCW 3000 Executive Board Vice President and Grocery Bargaining Team Member
Our member-led Bargaining Team met with representative from Puzzle Break to lay the foundation for the negotiations of our first union contract. We discussed guidelines around how proposals will be passed, Bargaining Team availability and our desire to have consistent and timely bargaining dates moving forward.
After months of difficult negotiations and a powerful show of solidarity, we have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract! Thanks to our collective strength, we secured significant improvements, including:
Please join us in person at the UFCW 3000 Des Moines office for Contract Action Team meetings on the following dates. We will be meeting in person at the union office, but for those who cannot join in person there will be an online option. During these meetings, will be sharing updates as well as creating picket signs for an upcoming info picket.
After months of difficult negotiations, a powerful informational picket, and an overwhelming strike authorization vote, our Union Bargaining Team fought late into the night on October 8 and reached a tentative agreement on a new contract!
The Nominations are in, now it’s time to vote for who will represent you and your coworkers from Ballard, Central District, and Issaquah PCCs on the newly formed PCC Labor Management Advisory Committee (LMAC). Secure online voting will take place Wednesday, October 21 from 8am to 8pm. Every PCC store elects one LMAC representative, you may only vote on a nominee from your own store.
Following a series of highly attended vote meetings on Monday, October 5, union technical workers at St. Joseph Medical Center voted nearly unanimously to:
Reject CommonSpirit’s subpar contract offer
Authorize a STRIKE
“We set the stage and gave our comprehensive proposal letting the employer know that our priorities are to win wages that we deserve, improve our transportation benefits, win immigration protection language as well as ensuring the safety of our co-workers. We are eager to see what BDA’s response is on the 21. ” -Kota Owens, Bargaining Team Member
For the first time in history, on Tuesday, Sept 29, grocery store workers from across Washington State and North Idaho met at the same table to plan for our upcoming bargaining session with Kroger and Albertsons.
Our team met with the employer again today to continue bargaining. We have finally started discussing economics, focusing on health care and wages, which we know are our members’ top priorities. We've seen very little movement from the employer and know we need to start escalating.
Correcting the Record: Decades after Organizing Her Own Unit, Leslie Ball Is Still Fighting for Her Coworkers
Leslie Ball, a certified surgical technologist at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma and a longtime UFCW 3000 Union Steward, has spent decades standing up for herself and her coworkers.
Her fight for better working conditions began in the late 1990s, when she received a 30-cent wage increase, which ended up only being a five-cent raise after her employer reduced her shift differential by a quarter. With years of experience and a deep understanding of the value surgical techs bring to the table, she knew a nickel wasn’t going to cut it. So she and a coworker, Gail Miller, started organizing their colleagues at St. Joe's despite warnings that previous organizing efforts had failed.
Within a year, they helped Radiology, Respiratory Therapy, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, and other departments form the hospital’s first Technical Unit, which ratified its first contract in 1999.
Please lookout for a vote notice once we can confirm when the ratification vote will take place. Members will all have a chance to review the vote documents and ask questions, we will also hold a meeting to discuss this historic TA very soon. Also, please thank your Bargaining Team! They worked very hard.
We have reached a thoroughly recommended tentative agreement with FCH regarding the new Overtime calculation method, which will be calculated by the minute instead of rounding.
Read More
On the early morning of July 18—following a nearly 24-hour bargaining session—your union bargaining team representing the Technical workers at Providence Everett is proud to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement on our new contract!
Vote meetings have been scheduled, and all PRMCE Techs are encouraged to attend!
Key wins in our new agreement include:
Wages & Pay Scale:
Significant & highly competitive wage increases across all job classifications!
Removed all "ghost steps"
No more minimum hours required to qualify for step increases!
EIB Day One: Access to our Extended Illness Bank on the first day of a qualifying illness or absence.
All new contract language about workers who travel between Colby & Pacific campuses; cases being canceled when we're already on our way to the hospital while on Standby; and addressing a "sunset" period for documented corrective actions or disciplines
"Our union bargaining team worked incredibly hard for this win—and it shows! We focused heavily on wages that will benefit everyone, and secured creative language to try to resolve ongoing workplace issues and address the challenges Techs at PRMCE face every day. We are very proud of the collaboration between our leadership team and members of our bargaining team. This agreement is worth checking out at our vote on July 30 & we unanimously recommend a yes vote!"
— Maria Goodall, Vascular Technologist
Bargaining Team: Maria Goodall, Vascular Technologist; Madison Derksema, UFCW 3000 Union Representative; Maureen Hatton, UFCW 3000 Healthcare Division Director; Brandan Zielinski, UFCW 3000 Lead Contract Negotiator; Noah Holland, Sr. Surgical Tech; Darryl Keffer, Respiratory Care Practitioner; Terryl Smith, Pharmacy Technician; Cris Cassady, IR Technologist; Rodney Powers, Radiology Technologist
Only UFCW 3000 union members in good standing are eligible to vote, and voting will be conducted in person only.
Pavillion:
7:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Classroom
Colby Campus:
10:00 AM - 2:30 PM
Rainer Conference Room
Not a member yet? Apply here >>
With an overwhelming supermajority, Dreamclinic LMTs have officially won our union election. This win was powered by our unity, our courage, and our belief that we deserve better. We stood together across clinics, shifts, and schedules and proved that we are strongest when we act as one.
Winning the election is just the beginning. Now, we come together to build a strong first contract that reflects our values and supports Dreamclinic:
Fair pay
Real breaks
Respect on the job
Safety & voice in our work
If you have any questions or want to get more involved, please reach out to Organizer, Ondrea Shallbetter @ (360) 409-0337 or oshallbetter@ufcw3000.org
Let’s Keep Up The Momentum!
Join Our Signal Chat and stay in touch!
Fill out your bargaining survey once available.
Together, we decide what comes next.
“We’ve Got Your Back!”
"After a unanimous YES vote, your union team at Mount Carmel is happy to announce our contract for 2025-2028 is a go and will be ratified! It wasn't the easiest process, but as a group, we are happy with the outcome."
— Rebecca Landers, Bargaining Committee Member
Congratulations to Mt. Carmel RNs who ratified their new three-year contract. RNs at Mt. Carmel will see an 11.5% wage increase over the next three years, new recognition for being SANE trained, increased premiums, new sleep accommodations for staff who must stay on duty at the hospital, and more. We worked hard with management to improve many aspects of our working lives and feel that this contract is moving in the right direction. We deserve a contract that reflects the hard work we all do every day, and we can only do that by staying involved and informed.
On July 16 and 17, we met again with the Lourdes Management Team and reached tentative agreements on several proposals. We continue to make headway on our economic proposals.
Read MoreOn Tuesday, July 15, healthcare professional workers at PRMCE overwhelmingly ratified our 2025 union contract following a morning of highly attended vote meetings. Our bargaining team is proud of the work we accomplished at the table—and proud to share this win with all of our coworkers.
Finalizing the Contract: Our union and Providence will now work to finalize and sign the new agreement. Once completed, printed copies will be distributed throughout the medical center.
Access in the Meantime: Redlined versions of the fully ratified Agreement (including updated language articles and wage scales) will be uploaded to our union's website so we can review and enforce our new contract in the meantime.
Wage Increases: Our new wages will go into effect two full pay periods following ratification (July 15).
If you have any questions about our new union contract, please reach out to our Union Rep Bruce Le at (206) 436-6614, or contact a member of our bargaining team!
Bargaining Team: Taylor Widener, Sr. Dietician; Holly Gramse, Physical Therapist; Sara Dillon, Sr. Discharge Planner (Case Manager)
Organize, organize, organize: Know a worker who wants to join a union? Send them here.
On July 16, we had our first bargaining session with Recovery Cafe. From the beginning, our intent with organizing was to be one bargaining unit – united in our issues and under one contract together. We’re looking forward to continuing negotiations with the goal of one contract for all of us.
Read MoreAfter many delays and the closure of nearly all the other drug stores on the former Northwest Employee Relations (NERI) multi-employer union contract, an agreement has been drafted between UFCW 3000, Ostrom's Drug, and Katterman's Pharmacy. The Letter of Understanding will allow (with a ratification vote of the members at both pharmacies) Katterman's Pharmacy employees to merge with the Ostrom's Drug union contract. This will replace the now-expired NERI contract and accept most of the terms of the Ostrom's Drug contract.
Most notably, the pension plan will change from the old legacy plan, the Sound Retirement Trust, to the current Sound Variable Annuity Pension. The new plan will allow newer members vesting credit if they have been with Katterman's less than five years so that they do not have to begin their vesting period again, and automatic vesting for those already past the five-year mark on the Sound Retirement Trust.
Most workers on the old pension voted in favor of this change in 2019 and moved over to the new plan in the following year. The variable annuity pension is structured in such a way to allow market trends to not have such dramatic impacts on pensions, as happened with many in the wake of the 2008 global financial crash.
July 23
Ostrom’s Drug, (on site): 10:00 AM - Noon
Katterman’s Pharmacy: 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Your Union Representative Aaron Bailey will be on site with the UFCW 3000 negotiator Daniel Cobb on July 23 to hold this ratification vote and answer any questions you may have. Aaron can be reached at 206-436-6631 if you have clarifying questions.
On Wednesday, July 9, our bargaining team, representing registered nurses at Providence St. Peter Hospital, met with management for the eighth bargaining session of this contract cycle.
After more than a month since our last session, our team came prepared and eager to make meaningful progress. At the start of the day, nearly all outstanding proposals were with the Employer. Over the course of two morning meetings, we received their responses and had productive exchanges.
By the end of the day, we had traded both economic and non-economic proposals and we're encouraged by the progress made. We reached mutually aligned language on several key non-economic issues, including:
Personnel File Protections: outlining a process for when verbal and written disciplines may be removed from an employee's file.
Equal Opportunity Language: Strengthened protections against discrimination and harassment, including a defined process for feedback and accountability when concerns are raised.
As of the end of the session, only a few important non-economic Articles remain unresolved:
Negotiations Release Time: A proposal to ensure that bargaining team members can be released to attend scheduled negotiations sessions; supporting full, effective representation at the table.
Free Parking Protections: Language to preserve free employee parking for nurses at PSPH—reflecting current practice and preventing future rollbacks.
Pre-Meeting Time for Committees: A proposal to allow 30 minutes of paid time for union members to meet prior to important worksite meetings, such as the Labor-Management and Hospital Staffing Committees.
Steward Pay Protections: Contract language to ensure union stewards remain on paid time while attending grievance meetings or representing coworkers.
Workplace Safety Measures: Proposals to enhance on-campus safety, including a weapon detection system at the Emergency Department entrance, and a particular focus on improvements to security in the hospital parking lot; which we feel are long overdue.
On the economic front, the Employer presented their second wage scale proposal, which included:
An increase to wage rates for nurses at Step 25 & above (reflecting around a 1.75% - 3.5% increase for these steps, compared to the Employer's initial proposal)
Removal of additional "ghost steps"—years where there is no wage increase, leaving only one remaining across their twenty-eight step proposal.
While we appreciate this movement, management's second proposal still brought no changes to any of the other components of our compensation; for example there are still no proposed increases to any of our workplace premiums or differentials.
Most concerning, however, was when we inquired about when we might expect a response to the safe staffing article our team presented back on April 29 (which included minimum nurse to patient ratios, the addition of break relief nurses, and an emergency department contingency staffing plan)—the Employer seemed to indicate that they'd forgotten about it entirely. Considering that this is a highly important issue for us and our coworkers—we're hopeful that bringing this article back to management's attention will result in meaningful responses.
We return to the bargaining table with management for back-to-back sessions on July 23 and 24. Despite some concerns about the Employer's responses, we feel that Wednesday's session was a productive step forward. We're proud of the progress made, and remain committed to pushing forward on issues like wages, workplace safety, and protections that honor and respect the work of all RNs at Providence St. Peter.
Thursday, July 10
8:00 PM - 9:00 PM
906 Columbia St SW
- Olympia 98501
ThursdayJuly 24
8:00 PM - 9:00 PM
906 Columbia St SW
- Olympia 98501
"We made strong progress today! While there are still issues to work through, but it was great that we exchanged so many proposals and really landed on the same page as Providence on so many items... I'm excited about the direction we're heading and to keep this going at our next sessions!"
— Darlett Holm, RN
Your bargaining team: Mary Bloomberg, Surgical Acute RN; Jacob Kostecka, PACU RN; Darlett Holm, SADU West RN; Mike Staley, SADU RN; Ashley McBride, L&D RN; Julia Douglas, Sepsis RN; Grace Kraege, ED RN; Kelly Williams, Inpatient Psychiatry RN; Melanie Oakes, ED RN; Andy Dusablon, PACU RN; Haley Sweet, Neurology RN.
Sign the strike pledge card: We need to show Providence we're ready to do what it takes to get what we deserve. Sign the strike pledge card or ask a fellow member to sign it if they haven't already.
Step up! We need department leaders to keep members engaged in the fight. providence united — UFCW 3000
Organize, organize, organize: Know a worker who wants to join the union? Send them here.
A tentative agreement with Providence Saint Joseph’s is in place. Your bargaining committee members, Maegan George and Michelle Fisher, endorse the proposal and recommend a Yes vote. On July 17, we will have a ratification vote.
Read More
After two full months of bargaining, despite challenges and difficult conversations with management, our bargaining team persevered and has reached a tentative agreement with Providence Mt. Carmel. On July 16, we will have a contract ratification vote. Please join the bargaining team at the vote and have any questions you may have answered. All documents will be provided at the time of the vote.
July 16, 2025
4:00 PM - 8:00 PM
HEC
UFCW 3000 members in good standing are encouraged to attend the vote meeting, read the documents, ask questions, and vote on the contract. Reach out to your Union Representative, Lenaya Wilhelm, at 866-210-3000, Ext. 7369, with any questions or concerns.
On Wednesday, July 2, our Bargaining Team met with Saint Michael Medical Center Management for another joint bargaining session. In the morning we worked on responses to nearly all of the economic items on the table.
Read MoreOn July 1, 2025, after a nearly 24-hour bargaining session, your union bargaining committee representing the Professionals at Providence Everett is proud to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement on our new contract!
Read More
We have been bargaining over wages and premiums. Management has proposed a different wage increase percentage for every job, and some jobs have various percentages depending on the step. For some steps and jobs, the increases are significant, and for other steps and jobs the proposed increases are low. We are continuing to propose competitive wages that can retain and recruit, keeping the hospital fully staffed.
Management is claiming (again) that they are interested in being average or "in the middle" for pay as compared to other local hospitals. This has been their stated goal for several contract cycles, but we know how challenging it is to constantly be understaffed. We carry the load as the hospital continues to undercut employees.
Monday, July 7
6:00 PM
Duffys
1605 Simpson Avenue
Aberdeen 98520
For additional information, contact a bargaining team member or Union Representative Kimberly Starkweather at (206) 436-6515.
Bargaining Team: Dan James, Eric Timmons, Janet Byrd, Ana Garcia, Debi Sturm, Bambi Shope.
Bargaining has begun! Fighting for fair wages, premiums, and much more! If we want a strong contract, we must show the employer that we stand together! Now's the time to be unified!
Bargaining Team: Nicole Arnzen, Shanelle Cox, & Joseph Goodman
On Thursday, June 26 and Friday, June 27, we met with the Lourdes management team and made our proposals. The team was receptive and provided us with proposals, counter proposals, and tentative agreements. Our next bargaining session is July 16 & 17.
If you have any questions, concerns, or would like to join your Union, please contact a bargaining team member or your Union Representative, Juanita Quezada at (509) 340-7407.
Our Planned Parenthood Bargaining Team is excited to share that last week, we had our first negotiations session for a successor collective bargaining agreement. After initially proposing dates in April, we were finally able to meet with Planned Parenthood’s management team
Read MoreWe’ve been steadily working through non-economic proposals, going back and forth on contract language that needed cleaning up or clarification. We’ve reached a few Tentative Agreements (TAs) so far.
Read More
On June 26, we met with SMMC management for our eleventh bargaining session, where the hospital presented what they called a "comprehensive counterproposal." While there was some movement on break relief RNs, bereavement leave, preceptor pay, and float pay, management's wage proposal and response to staffing remain deeply disappointing.
The hospital proposed a wage increase of 5.25% upon ratification—a number that still leaves SMMC RNs behind St. Joseph's pay rates. Despite repeatedly hearing from RNs that unsafe staffing is driving burnout and turnover, the hospital offered no real solution on staffing. In fact, when we presented our staffing proposal again, management responded with deafening silence.
They continue to insist that they're "staffing above the matrix" and claim that contractual guardrails are unnecessary. We strongly disagree. Every day, RNs are working below matrix staffing levels due to chronic short staffing, floating to other units to fill gaps, or taking full assignments as charge nurses—sometimes doing both at once. This is not safe. This is not sustainable.
The hospital's message is clear: They're not listening.
Instead of offering meaningful fixes, they've doubled down on targeting specific departments. For instance, their latest proposal would restrict scrub privileges to only Emergency Department RNs—and they've rejected any kind of ED premium despite the high-intensity work and constant short staffing in the ED.
We are at a critical moment in negotiations. While there's been some progress, we are still far from winning what RNs need most: fair wages and enforceable staffing protections. Competitive contracts at Multicare and Providence include understaffing premiums and stronger staffing language—and SMMC RNs deserve no less.
If we want to win the contract we need, we need to show we're ready to fight for it. One way to take action right now:
Sign the strike pledge card >>
Let management know we're united and serious about what's at stake—our safety, our patients, and our profession.
The strike pledge card is to show our commitment to winning the best contract possible—your signature indicates that if we have to reject an offer on the table in the future by a vote, you will also vote to authorize a strike.
Together, we can win the contract we deserve.
Bargaining Team: Kim Fraser, Pre-Op; Janice Brown, FBC; Meredith Francisco, Med Surg; Lindsey Gearllach, Obs; Tammy Olson, ICU
During recent contract negotiations for the Professional Technical, Business Office, Service & LPNs Unit, Mason Health agreed to bargain the inclusion of Surgery Techs into the existing contract.
Read MoreOur union bargaining team met again with Fresenius management on Friday to continue contract negotiations. Fresenius did not make any counter proposals to what we proposed last session, but we pushed forward and made proposals on:
Read MoreWe 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.
Correcting the Record: Decades after Organizing Her Own Unit, Leslie Ball Is Still Fighting for Her Coworkers
Leslie Ball, a certified surgical technologist at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma and a longtime UFCW 3000 Union Steward, has spent decades standing up for herself and her coworkers.
Her fight for better working conditions began in the late 1990s, when she received a 30-cent wage increase, which ended up only being a five-cent raise after her employer reduced her shift differential by a quarter. With years of experience and a deep understanding of the value surgical techs bring to the table, she knew a nickel wasn’t going to cut it. So she and a coworker, Gail Miller, started organizing their colleagues at St. Joe's despite warnings that previous organizing efforts had failed.
Within a year, they helped Radiology, Respiratory Therapy, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, and other departments form the hospital’s first Technical Unit, which ratified its first contract in 1999.
Jenny C., a transporter at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, knows what it looks like when management hopes a problem will just go away.
Jenny has watched the facility's transport elevators malfunction for more than a year, filing report after report after each incident she witnessed. Supervisors did not appear to take these complaints seriously.
