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.
Following just over a month since our last bargaining date with the Employer, we started off our third session ready to continue working with Management on our 2026 – 2029 contract.
Read MoreOur team got to work right away and began evaluating where this would leave Mason RN’s wages at the end of our three-year contract in comparison to these other hospitals- but we also had a number of other proposals to evaluate and discuss as management’s wage scale proposal was part of a “package” offer (which is not uncommon and used by both the Union and Employer throughout negotiations)- meaning the proposal must be accepted or rejected in its entirety.
Read More“Roll up your sleeves. While we are early in the process- we are feeling organized, prepared, and united in our goals to achieve the best contract possible for our fellow nurses. Stay involved and help us build a strong network of nurses in every unit ready to take action.” - Your Union Bargaining Team: Juan Stout, Terry Pierce, Kristen Crowder, Carrie Rimel, Stephanie Sausman, Amanda Chinnick, Scott Ryan, Kimball Conlon, and Tulena Lammers
Read MoreOur Bargaining Team met with Management and continued working through proposals that matter to members. There was movement on both sides, and while we are still working through key priorities, our team is slowly moving toward an agreement that reflects the value and experience we bring to Evergreen Kirkland every day.
Read MoreOur Bargaining Team is excited to have reached a tentative agreement. Priorities included adopting the SRH wage table and improving working conditions in general, We are proud of a contract that includes:
Read MoreAfter months of bargaining, we have come to a tentative agreement with the Employer for the Mary Bridge Transfer RN accretion process. Through the agreement, we have placed everyone on the wage scale. The employer will have 30 days to review the placements to make sure they are accurate.
Read MoreOn Monday, April 20, and Tuesday, April 21, we met with Management to continue negotiations for our first union contract. During these back-to-back sessions, we continued the productive exchange of the non-economic articles proposed for our contract, and reached tentative agreements on sections like:
Read MoreCONTRACT ACTION MEETING: April 28 from 6:00-7:00pm at Oak Harbor Library: 1000 SE Regatta Drive, Oak Harbor WA 98277
Read MoreOur bargaining session on April 20 was very productive. At the beginning of the day, we separated out into our bargaining units to have discussions about the remaining open issues in each contract
Read MoreWe have started bargaining and have given Management both economic proposals and proposals that will update and elevate contract language. Although we have received some responses from Management, we anticipate responses to our economic proposals at our next session.
Read MoreOn Friday, April 17, healthcare workers at Skagit Regional Health, with a 98% acceptance rate, ratified their new contract. The new contract was ratified after a day of well-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.
Read MoreYesterday we held a vote on the Memorandum of Understanding surrounding the Respiratory Therapist Career Ladder and it was voted down. We are currently reaching out to the Employer to figure out next steps and will update everyone as soon as possible.
If you have any questions, please reach out to your Union Representative David Trujillo.
Read MoreOur Union has been in negotiations with Recovery Cafe for over 8 months. While first contracts can take time to ensure existing benefits are secured and to build upon important issues, our Union Bargaining Team is eager to get to a contract as soon as possible. As prices rise, each week without meaningful wage increases or improvements on healthcare costs is felt deeply by our coworkers.
Read MoreWe met with the Employer on March 17 and March 31, both half days. We have tentatively agreed to several more Articles during these sessions, and we are scheduled to meet with the Employer, virtually, on April 28 & 29 for full days sessions. We are hopeful to achieve many more Tentative Agreements during our first two full back-to-back bargaining sessions and look forward to the Employer coming to the table and bargaining in good faith with us.
Read MoreOur session on April 10 was very productive. Our Bargaining Committee started the day meeting with a subcommittee of Kristina and Rachel to work on the caseload calculator. The Employer acknowledged that they heard us about how important a caseload maximum was and worked on integrating it into their proposal. It was very beneficial and while there are still some adjustments we would like to make, we are very close to closing the gap on our proposals and finalizing the section. After that session, Management presented their proposal and TA’d inclement weather, without making movement on much else. In an attempt to identify places we would be willing to move without sacrificing our position, we passed across package proposals (proposals that need to be accepted in their entirety or rejected). We hope this signals to the employer where our outstanding issues are and help them create proposals that could move in similar directions.
Read MoreManagement gave us a presentation of their current financial situation and we were able to ask questions to determine how we move forward and make improvements to our wages and working conditions. This included a discussion about how they are dealing with debt. They acknowledged that they had debt and talked about how they were reducing it.
They discussed the need to increase the amount of patient care within Olympic Medical we are currently giving to increase the amount of money coming into the organization.
Read MoreOur bargaining team is excited to have reached a tentative agreement. Priorities included adopting the SRH wage table and improving working conditions in general,
We are proud of a contract that includes:
· Across the Board Wage Increases every 6 months
· Robust Market Adjustment
· A contractual commitment on moving into a improved OT system
· Ratification bonus
· And much more
Read MoreAfter eight months of Bargaining and the recent Tentative Agreement at the Skagit bargaining table, we are confident that a Tentative Agreement may be reached at the next bargaining session on Monday, April 13. To ensure that all the pieces are falling into the right place, we have tentatively scheduled a ratification vote for next Friday, April 17, concurrent with the Skagit vote. It is important to understand that this vote will happen only if an agreement is reached. We also have a backup bargaining day schedule for April 27.
Read More
Our Bargaining Team met with the Employer on April 8 to kick off negotiations. We are confident the Employer heard our priorities about retaining and recruiting Registered Nurses. We reached several non-economic tentative agreements. We are tentatively scheduled to meet again on April 17 to continue our economic proposal.
“Unity is strength… when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.”
— Mattie Stepanek
Bargaining Team: Sophia Rubalcava, RN; Hilda Torres, RN; Carina Gonzalez, RN
Please reach out to our Bargaining Team or your Union Rep, Juanita Quezada, (509) 340-7407, if you have any questions or concerns.
During our first joint bargaining session, our Bargaining Team focused on the nuts and bolts of the contract—reviewing and cleaning up outdated language. We made progress with the employer on improving member access to union information and updates, including movement toward better use of information boards. By the end of our second joint bargaining session, we had presented most of our proposals, both language and economic. Our goal is to work efficiently and reach an agreement we can all be happy with.
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.
