Our bargaining team met with the employer on July 28 and 29 to start the process of building our first contract. We voiced our concerns on several issues and gave them some of our proposals.
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On July 30 and 31, our rank-and-file bargaining team met with management and successfully reached a tentative agreement! We voiced our concerns regarding economic issues. The employer heard us, after 12 hours on the 31st, and we're excited to share how these historically significant wage increases will improve recruitment, retention, and safe staffing!
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
— Helen Keller
Now, it's time for us to come together and make our voices heard!
Say goodbye to a five-year contract and hello to a better future! We're taking action to ensure a brighter future for all workers.
August 8, 2025
6:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Lourdes Counseling Center, Cafeteria Room
All vote documents will be available at the vote
UFCW 3000 members in good standing are encouraged to drop-in the vote meeting, ask questions, read the proposal, and cast their vote.
Not a member yet? No problem! You can:
Reach out to our bargaining team
Contact your Union Representative
If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to your bargaining team or Union Representative, Juanita Quezada (509) 340-7407.
Bargaining Team: Marilyn Pritchard, Shanelle Cox, Joe Goodman, and Nichole Arnzen
Since late May, your RN bargaining team has been at the table fighting for real solutions to short staffing and unsafe conditions. We've put forward proposals that reflect your priorities—better staffing, competitive pay, and stronger protections. Instead of engaging in meaningful dialogue, management has dismissed our proposals and violated key parts of the contract we already have.
We've filed grievances to address the Hospital's repeated violations of our current CBA:
"Flex Time": Management is low censusing RNs, then expecting them to remain on-call without providing on-call pay. Article 7.6 is clear: RNs are not required to be on-call for all or part of a shift they were scheduled for and then low censused from. Changing start times or forcing nurses to wait by the phone—without compensation—is a contract violation.
In-House Registry Pay: Under Article 12, nurses working in-house registry shifts beyond their FTE are owed 1.5x pay—no 40-hour condition applies. Management is withholding that pay and claiming they can revoke it at will. That's not how our contract works—and we're fighting back.
These issues all point to a pattern: Capital Medical wants more out of nurses—more flexibility, more hours, more patience—without paying more. That's unacceptable.
Capital Medical Center is expanding services and asking more of RNs every day, yet refusing to invest in staff. We've proposed:
Double pay for all extra and vacant shifts
Premium pay increases
Competitive wage increases and removal of ghost steps
Break relief RNs for every unit
Safe staffing ratios and enforceable staffing language
An additional holiday and expanded holiday pay for night shift nurses
Increased PTO and EIB usage from day one
Capital Medical rejected these proposals—while claiming they want to compete with Providence St. Peter. If they're serious, they need to invest in nurses.
Instead, nurses are being told daily about how to take breaks on time—without enough staff to cover those breaks. We've been clear: no break relief RNs and short staffing = no missed and untimely breaks.
Nurses are stretched thin. Morale is low. And instead of investing in the workforce, Capital Medical is rejecting commonsense proposals.
We are continuing to push management to take these issues seriously. Our next bargaining session is August 6 and our contract will expire September 30, 2025.
If you have any questions, please contact your bargaining team or Kimberly Starkweather, Union Rep (206) 436-6515.
Bargaining team: Dennis Verellen, ICU; Bonnie Verellen, L&D; Holly Bruckner, ED; Cindy Dixon, PCU
On Wednesday July 23, & Thursday, July 24, our bargaining team representing the registered nurses at Providence St. Peter Hospital met with management for our ninth and tenth sessions. We began the week with cautious optimism, as management indicated they would finally respond to our proposed Staffing Article, which we first presented on April 29. After months of silence on this critical issue, we were ready to engage in meaningful dialogue.
Unfortunately, the employer's response did not meet the urgency or seriousness of the staffing concerns we've raised throughout this bargain. Rather than offering meaningful improvements or new ideas, their proposal largely repackaged existing language already in our current contract, which outlines existing committees currently operating at our hospital.
Providence's response consisted of various revisions to the existing Nurse Practice and Staffing Committee Letter of Understanding (LOU)—a committee whose operation predates the 2022 Hospital Staffing Committee legislation. Management proposed separating some current contract language related to the Unit Based Council and Professional Governance workgroups into two distinct LOUs. These changes do little—if anything—to improve what we see as the structural causes of unsafe staffing, or give us any feedback on the staffing language our team put so much hard work and critical thinking into.
The lack of direct feedback on our Staffing Article, which would provide our team with the opportunity to appropriately consider and modify our proposal to aim for actionable solutions, prompted us to request this directly when we met with management later on July 24.
Staffing Ratios: Minimum RN-to-Patient ratios that must be maintained at all times, including during meal and rest breaks. The proposal includes flexibility to adjust the number of RN staff to exceed minimum staffing levels to account for acuity and intensity, consistent with the unit's staffing plan.
Enforcement: When ratios are not satisfied, nurses will be paid a premium of $5.00/hr for that specific shift and unit.
The Employer will send a quarterly report to the union of total premiums paid under the above.
Float Pool: The Employer will maintain a dedicated float pool equaling 5.0% of the total RN workforce at Providence St. Peter.
Emergency Department Contingency Staffing Plan: When there are greater than 20 boarded patients in the ED, and greater than 20 patients in the ED waiting room for longer than one hour, the contingency staffing plan goes into effect. The employer will make all reasonable efforts to assign five additional RNs to patient care. This plan remains in place until both numbers fall below 20 for no less than a continuous hour.
Break Relief Nurses: The Employer will post job openings for and make reasonable efforts to hire the equivalent of 13.0 FTE Break Relief nurses within 21 days of contract ratification. Break Relief nurses will assume patient care assignments for another RN so they may take an uninterrupted meal and/or rest break. Break Relief RNs will not have a patient care assignment of their own so they can appropriately cover the assignment. Furthermore, Break Relief RNs shall only be assigned to take patients that they have the appropriate qualifications and competencies to care for.
A "break buddy" model (or otherwise similar but differently titled system) will not be considered an appropriate substitute or replacement for staffing unencumbered break relief nurses.
Management's feedback on our Staffing Article suggested concerns that a few elements of our proposal—namely the minimum staffing ratios and Emergency Department Contingency Staffing Plan—might be too restrictive, implying that such standards could limit their flexibility to address staffing issues proactively, or to add nurses before the triggering conditions are met. Our team remains open to dialogue that ensures solutions are both safe and workable, and so we appreciate this dialogue. However, our stated goal is to set a standard for the minimums on safe staffing—and the capacity for management to act sooner if they see fit is written plainly in our Staffing Article's opening paragraph.
As a follow up to this discussion, we compiled a number of the studies, articles, and other resources we referenced while drafting our proposal and provided them to management in the hopes of substantiating the contents. These included Washington State Public Policy, which compares and contrasts different state hospital staffing plans; Nurse-to-patient staffing ratios from California State Law; staffing laws in effect in other nearby states; the American Nurses Association, who conclude that costs to individual hospitals can be higher when it is understaffed; and regional collective bargaining agreements which directly state minimum nurse-to-patient ratios.
We look forward to continuing the conversation with management on solutions to staffing.
"We have a duty to advocate for our patients; we feel like once again, the responses we got from management come with no immediate action, no new concepts, and overall, just fell flat."
— Julia Douglas
"Our team put a lot of work and thoughtfulness into our approach to the staffing language proposal, and what we presented to Providence takes into consideration things we can do outside of the Hospital Staffing Committee—to be proactive while scheduling nurses ahead of time, but also having a plan of action when staffing reaches critical levels; like the Emergency Department Contingency Staffing Plan. If their concern is that this mechanism might go into effect too late, we wish they would incorporate that into their counter, rather than just reject it entirely..."
— Ashley McBride
"The lack of an appropriate number of staff to care for patients on other units impacts the entire hospital—even units that aren't themselves suffering from a staffing issue, and because then RNs are being floated."
— Andy Dusablon
August 7
8:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Meeting ID: 858 1875 0093
Passcode: 3000
Washington State Labor Council Building - Olympia
3rd Floor Conference Room
906 Columbia St SW #330, Olympia, WA 98501
Front door code: 3413
On Wednesday, July 30, following a series of highly attended vote meetings at both the Pacific and Colby campuses of Providence Everett, we're thrilled to announce that our Technical union contract has been ratified with overwhelming support!
Our union 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 contract (including updated language articles and wage scales) have been added to the contract page on our union's website
Wage Increases: Our new wages will go into effect two full pay periods from ratification (July 30!)
If you have any questions about our new union contract, please reach out to our Union Rep Madison Derksema at (206) 436-6603, or contact a member of our bargaining team!
Fresenius bargaining team is not amused with the wage proposals made by management (from left: Maria Lucas, PCT 2; Jovona Trevino, PCT 2; and Krista Smith, PCT 2).
We met with Fresenius management again on Friday to hear their long-awaited response to our economic proposals. We were excited to learn management agreed to add the GO4RN program to the contract so that any PCTs participating in the program will receive a 5% wage increase for each quarter of the program completed. They also made progress toward agreeing to add the PCT 3 position and its higher wages to the contract.
The excitement quickly faded when we learned that they rejected our longevity bonus proposal outright and, in terms of wage increases, are proposing a measly 1.5% raise on ratification, then a 1.5% raise in 2026 and another 1.5% raise in 2027. Even as management's very first wage proposal, 1.5% feels like a slap in the face. They also wholly rejected our reasonable proposals on safer patient scheduling and worker protections from harassment by difficult patients.
The fight is far from over. If you too are frustrated reading this, then join us at our next CAT meeting this Sunday, August 3 at the University Place branch of the Pierce County Library from 3:30-4:30pm and on Zoom. Your team will be there to talk about our last bargaining session and what we plan to do between now and the next bargaining date, August 18. We will be debuting a petition to demand that management take our bargaining proposals seriously on real wage increases and on safe patient scheduling. We'll also discuss actions we can take individually and as a team to show Fresenius we're united and we're not backing down. Reach out to your Rep Charlie or a bargaining team member with any concerns about the meeting or Zoom link. We'll see you there!
August 3
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
University Place Branch of the Pierce County Library
3609 Market Place W., Suite 100
University Place, WA 98466
"A 1.5% raise is just not going to cut it considering they just passed the highest tax increase in history. We deserve better."
— Krista Smith, PCT 2, bargaining team
Fresenius Puyallup team shows solidarity (From left: Tami Gordon, PCT 2; Anabelle Moran, PCT 2; and Susie McAlpine, PCT 2)
On Monday, July 28, our Bargaining Team met with Management for our fourteenth joint bargaining session. We were given an economic proposal that would put our wages below those of St. Joseph Medical Center, an idea we were underwhelmed by. Other pieces they responded to were:
Retirement: they continue to offer a continuation of the existing 401K match and the potential addition of their cash balance option pension proposal as an alternative to the 401K, but have rejected our proposal to add Saint Michael to the Sound Variable Annuity Pension Trust.
Holidays: Management continues to reject adding Juneteenth to our existing holidays.
Contract Ratification Bonus: While they put a ratification bonus on the table this week, it was $500 for .9 FTEs and above, with this amount pro-rated for lower FTEs (per diems would be classified as .2 under their proposal).
Other items we traded continued proposals on were:
Mandatory call.
A workplace violence memorandum to address safety in the workplace.
Our next Contract Action Team Meeting will be on July 31 at 6pm. Please join us to discuss how we can keep the pressure on Management to get a fair contract soon!
Meeting ID: 893 9273 5171 Passcode: 798196
If you haven’t already, please sign our community support letter and share with friends and family.
Your bargaining team met with management for a two-day session and we got all proposals on the table including wages. Management responded to language pieces, but not to wage proposals yet.
Read MoreOn Thursday, July 24 our Bargaining Team had a joint bargaining session with Management. We have continued to push them on our need for a wholistic approach to break relief.
Read MoreLet's start talking about RN Contract Bargaining! Join UFCW 3000 union reps and nurses from Prov Everett for a ZOOM call and get an update on current hospital grievances, the upcoming contract bargaining campaign, and best practices on how to get involved to set nurses up for success!
Read More"We at St. Joseph Hospital ratified our contract unanimously. We are delighted with our new contract!"
— Maegan George, Bargaining Committee Member
Congratulations to Saint Joseph's RNs who ratified their new three-year contract. RNs at St. Joseph Hospital will see an 11.5% wage increase over the next three years, as well as increased premiums and other benefits. 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 Tuesday, July 16, your bargaining team met once again with the hospital for another joint negotiation session. As we move deeper into bargaining, we've begun identifying our top priorities—but we can't win the contract we deserve without nurses stepping up. We'll be discussing these priorities at our next Contract Action Team (CAT) meeting (date will be announced next week), and we need more nurses to get involved and show the hospital that we're united, organized, and ready to fight.
Incremental increases to charge/resource nurse premium pay over the life of the contract
New language confirming the intent that charge nurses should not carry patient loads—with a commitment from leadership to exhaust all other RN options first. This is a direct result of nurses demanding safe, manageable assignments.
Preserving our current PTO and EIB accrual rates—a win in the face of the hospital's push to move RNs onto a PTO/Sick bank with less accruals.
We also pushed the hospital hard on issues they continue to sidestep:
Establishing a break relief system that complies with the law and guarantees nurses real, uninterrupted breaks.
Basic safety measures to protect RNs on the job. Nurses deserve a workplace where their safety isn't up for debate.
Real incentives for mandatory call shifts that establish a more equitable system for call and incentives to cover vacant call shifts.
We're also preparing to launch a community action campaign—and we need your help spreading the word. Share our message with your friends, family, and neighbors. The more voices we have behind us, the louder we'll be.
| Hospital Proposals | UFCW 3000 Proposals |
|---|---|
| Wages: 5.25% two pay periods after ratification, 3.25% in 2025, 3.50% in 2026 | Wages: 13.75% in 2025, 5% in 2026, 5% in 2027 |
| Hospital Base rate: |
St. Joe's Base Rate: $46.02 (2025), $47.86 (2026), $49.77 (2027) |
| Rejected longevity and retention bonuses | Proposed longevity and retention bonuses |
| Rejected pension proposal and did not propose improvements to the 401k plan | Proposed that RNs maintain current CHI's 401k plan and Employer make contributions to a variable annuity pension plan, like the one St. Joe's Pharmacy and Jefferson Healthcare RNs currently have |
| Rejected understaffing premium | Proposed $5/hour understaffing premium |
| Rejected float premium for non-float pool nurses | Proposed float premium for non-float nurses floating within the hospital |
| Rejected staffing ratios | Proposed safe staffing ratios aligned with national nursing standards |
| Rejected incentive for picking up vacant shifts; offered 1.5x pay only for .9 FTEs+ picking up a shift on their day off | Proposed incentive for all vacant shifts that fall below 80% of the staffing plan |
| Rejected premiums for covering surgical tech or CV tech roles; proposed only $1 certification pay for RCIS or RCES. NEW Will be paid the higher wage rate if performing work of a higher paid classification. | Proposed $2–$5 premium for RNs covering surgical or CV tech shifts |
| Proposed security systems installed by May 2026 in new tower units | Proposed security systems by December 2025, aligned with the tower's expected opening |
| Rejected weapon detection systems in the Emergency Department | Proposed installing weapon detection in the Emergency Department |
| NEW Proposed mandatory navy blue scrubs $100 stipend | Rejected mandatory navy blue scrubs |
| Proposed mandatory call shifts and a $15–$20/hour bonus only after the final schedule is posted | Proposed $15/hour for picking up before the schedule posts, $20/hour after, and limits on mandatory call |
| Proposed 1.5x pay for .9 FTEs+ picking up shifts on days off | Proposed incentive 1.5x or 2x for all vacant shifts that fall below 80% of the staffing plan |
| NEW Proposed a 1-year pilot break relief assignment (not a position) for inpatient units only, including OR and ED | Proposed four dedicated break relief RN positions for all units within 21 days of ratification |
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Tentative Agreements:
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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.
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.
