Providence St. Peter Hospital Professionals First Contract Ratified!

Providence St. Peter Hospital Professionals First Contract Ratified!

Following yesterday’s highly attended vote meetings, members of our union Bargaining Team tallied up the ballots received- the results of which were nearly unanimous- and are proud to announce that our first Collective Bargaining Agreement is officially ratified!

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Sunrise Dental - Unity Is Strength

The Employer has tentatively agreed on several great items; however, they are not hearing us on wages. Our team is still going strong and actively countering to work towards a fair agreement that includes a wage scale that will recruit and retain our skilled labor.

What's Next

Contract Action Team Meeting

Thursday, November 20
6pm - 7pm
Join Zoom Meeting >>

Please join our Bargaining Team for a virtual check-in. Let's talk about the bargaining process and find out how it is going.

Sticker Day

Wednesday, November 26

Please support our Bargaining Team by wearing your sticker on Wednesday, November 26! Please reach out to a Bargaining Team member or your Union Rep for your sticker and to share your solidarity photos.

Trainings

Steward Training: How to Represent Co-Workers in Investigatory Meetings (Online) · UFCW 3000 >>

Bargaining Team: Jacqueline "Jaqi" Tang, Bellevue Office; Linda Thomas, Olympia Office

Providence Sacred Heart Service and Maintenance Bargaining Update

Providence Sacred Heart Service and Maintenance Bargaining Update

On November 12, our Bargaining Team had a fourth bargaining session with Management. We have made improvements on differentials and premiums, tuition reimbursement, required call out times, diversity and inclusion, workplace violence, and language addressing AI.

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Recovery Cafe - Worksite Closure Update

On Monday, Recovery Cafe announced it was considering the future of its SODO location. This comes after reassurances from the Employer that they had no plans on closing one of their worksites when we brought it up earlier in the bargaining process. The pace of negotiations alongside this new announcement shows why it is vital that we come together and organize—organize to win the contract we deserve, preserve our jobs, and fight for what's best for Recovery Cafe members.

Thursday, November 13 at 7pm our Union is holding an online meeting to discuss how we're feeling, what we know, and how we plan to organize and win what we want.

Recovery Cafe Union Membership Meeting

Thursday, November 13
7pm
Join Zoom Meeting >>

Meeting ID: 856 6584 3592
Passcode: 102822

If you have any questions before our meeting, you can call your Union Rep Allison Hanley: (206) 436-6586.

MultiCare Capital Medical Center Professionals Bargaining Update

MultiCare Capital Medical Center Professionals Bargaining Update

On Thursday, November 7, our Bargaining Team met with Management for our second formal session with MultiCare! With the end of our second bargaining day behind us, we have now presented the Employer with the entirety of our proposals and have now started to receive responses from management on a number of the non-economic articles.

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Providence St. Peter Professionals Tentative Agreement Reached!

Providence St. Peter Professionals Tentative Agreement Reached!

Following a nearly seventeen hour bargaining session with Management- beginning Monday, November 10 and concluding after midnight on Tuesday the 11- our union Bargaining Team representing the Professionals at Providence St. Peter Hospital are proud to announce that we have reached a fully recommended tentative agreement on our first union contract! 

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Providence St. Peter Hospital Professionals - Bargaining Update

On Tuesday, November 4, our Professionals Bargaining Team met with management for the seventh session of union contract negotiations.

At Wednesday's session, we continued the productive exchange of the remaining sections of our contract, reaching a handful of new agreements including language around Per Diem workers (more specifically regarding the wage differential in lieu of retirement and health care benefits), increased job protections for workers facing layoffs or workforce reductions, outlining the order in which workers will be placed on low census, and we even reached agreement on a handful of position's wages!

While progress was significant for a number of newly represented positions at PSPH, there were also a couple of positions whose Employer-proposed rates we strongly felt did not meet the wages that nearby Union professionals are earning. As such, our team continued to hold firm that Providence increase these scales to reduce staffing shortages and to meet the demand of the highly competitive market. As such, our team felt that it was beneficial to provide management with the wage scales we're referencing to inform our position. While we did not receive management's response to our proposal before negotiations concluded for the day, we are dedicated to making sure all Professionals at Providence St. Peter Hospital are paid fairly for the lifesaving work we perform every day.

We're looking forward to hearing back from Providence on Monday, November 10—when we are scheduled to be back at the table!

If you have questions about ongoing first contract negotiations, please reach out to a member of our Union Bargaining Team or call our Union Rep Madison Derksema at (206) 436-6603.

Bargaining Team: Rita Palmquist, Case Manager MSW; Elise Steinmetz, Physical Therapist; Sydney Lobdell, Dietitian; Kristine Pepper, Clinical Pharmacist; Brenda Arend, Speech Language Pathologist; Diana Herr, Senior Medical Laboratory Scientist

Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy - Bargaining Update

We are still bargaining nationally over wages. Although KP nationally has proposed wage increases that bring some positions closer to other Washington Employers, we are still fighting for wage equity for ALL workers.

Locally, we continue to bargain over market increases, which allows for consideration of jobs that have fallen below the market. KPWA management has made it clear that they are not considering what other health care competitors are paying when making proposals. Instead, they want to wait and see if there is a future problem hiring certain job classifications and may consider paying higher wages. NOT RESPECTFUL!

Kaiser is proposing that all wage adjustments, differentials, and premiums be effective the first full pay period 120 days after ratification. This means that increases would not go into effect until at least April. NOT ACCEPTABLE!

Kaiser just officially announced that Capitol Hill is expanding their hospital services and will be doing more acute care. We anticipate that this means higher acuity patients and more surgeries, in addition to workflow changes for many positions that fall under the Pro Tech/Optical and Pharmacy contracts. We have been asking for information regarding these changes for several months and Kaiser has just officially notified us. NOT PARTNERSHIP!

KAISER—FOLLOW THE VALUE COMPASS. BE THE BEST PLACE TO WORK

For additional information contact a Bargaining Team member or:

Aisha Womack Union Rep 206-436-6584

JJ Benson Contract Specialist 425-306-1357

Lenaya Wilhelm Union Rep Spokane 509-340-7369

If someone you know isn't getting updates: Update Your Information >>

Bargaining Team: Cesar Galloso, Jason Lindquist, Kay Halverson, JJ Benson, Krystal Krotzer, Mark Stewart

Kaiser Permanente Pro Tech Optical - Bargaining Update

We are still bargaining nationally over wages. Although KP nationally has proposed wage increases that bring some positions closer to other Washington Employers, we are still fighting for wage equity for ALL workers.

Locally, we continue to bargain over market increases, which allows for consideration of jobs that have fallen below the market. KPWA management has made it clear that they are not considering what other health care competitors are paying when making proposals. Instead, they want to wait and see if there is a future problem hiring certain job classifications and may consider paying higher wages. NOT RESPECTFUL!

Kaiser is proposing that all wage adjustments, differentials, and premiums be effective the first full pay period 120 days after ratification. This means that increases would not go into effect until at least April. NOT ACCEPTABLE!

Kaiser just officially announced that Capitol Hill is expanding their hospital services and will be doing more acute care. We anticipate that this means higher acuity patients and more surgeries, in addition to workflow changes for many positions that fall under the Pro Tech/Optical and Pharmacy contracts. We have been asking for information regarding these changes for several months, and Kaiser has just officially notified us. NOT PARTNERSHIP!

HAVE YOU FILLED OUT THE STRIKE PLEDGE CARD? >>

For additional information, contact a Bargaining Team member or:

  • Aisha Womack, Union Rep: 206-436-6584

  • JJ Benson, Contract Specialist: 425-306-1357

If someone you know isn't getting updates: Update Your Information >>

Pro Tech Optical Bargaining Team: Nicole Merriam, Sarah Lau, Ashleigh Aufort, Chandra Allen, Vicki Kobeski, Juli Bell, Bryana Kolppa

Skagit Regional Health - Creating a Better Future for All SRH Workers

Skagit Regional Health

Creating a Better Future for All SRH Workers

Bargaining Team: Marilyn Faber, Union Rep; Cindy Tjaden; Isabel Contreras; Kalisa Dolph; Britney Myers-Fuller; Ashley Price; Briana Hovsepian; Graydon Hingey; Michael Koenig; Annalise Pasillas; Elizabeth Mayor; Alina Delano; Micheal Schwartz

On October 24, we met with the Employer briefly and drafted the plan for the subsequent bargaining sessions. We will have a private meeting on October 30 to put together all the economic proposals. On November 6, we will present all the economic proposals to the Employer. This is the stage where we need to act together and show the Employer that we are committed to fighting for a contract that will carry all the benefits we deserve. If the SRH CEO does not have financial concerns about making ends meet, we shall not have that concern either. They have heard our committee over and over that we are striving for fair adjustments to all the contract language.

The Employer has inquired about an MOU on the tentative agreed-upon new language regarding Meals and Breaks, and has spread false statements that our Union is holding this matter. We have maintained our position that any tentative agreements are not official until the whole membership has had an opportunity to ratify the new contract.

On November 6, for the first time, the Employer is coming to our house to have the bargaining session. This is a healthier step towards building a stronger relationship and ensuring the pillars for a better future. We appreciate that the Employer has taken this initiative, and we hope this is a game-changer on our path to a better future.

Some Tentative Agreements Reached Include:

  • Beginning bargaining sessions 90 days prior to expiration

  • Language that will make us a stronger Union, with access to the right information

  • Modified language to acknowledge Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

  • Improved language that will allow Shop Stewards to carry out their duties around the hospital and clinics

  • Workers will have access to their CBA through the hospital intranet

  • Language to bargain over job descriptions changes

  • Language to protect workers going through immigration

  • An email from the Employer acknowledges that the discipline has been removed and is no longer considered

Our subsequent bargaining sessions will be on November 6 and 14. There are possibilities of more bargaining days in December (if necessary); we will let you know in the next bargaining update. We encourage all members to keep wearing your Union colors in the workplace and join us for our CAT (Contract Action Team) meetings.

Contract Action Team Meetings

  • November 10

  • 6pm - 7pm

  • UFCW 3000 Union Hall

  • 1510 N 18th St

  • Mount Vernon, WA 98273

Moving forward, CAT meetings will be every other Monday until the contract is ratified, same time, same location unless otherwise noted: November 24, December 8, December 22, etc.

“Narrowing our non-economics down so that we can prioritize economics”

— Ashley Price

“The best way to predict your future is to create it.”

— Abraham Lincoln

If you have questions or would like to get more involved in organizing a fair contract, please reach out to your Union Rep, Marilyn Faber, at 1-866-210-3000, EXT. 4678.