Congratulations 2023 Essential Workers Organizing Academy Graduates!

In April 2023, we began our first Essential Workers Organizing Academy (EWOA) cohort, hiring eight full-time and one-half time “apprentice organizers.” Candidates were drawn from UFCW 3000 members in healthcare and grocery, as well as from external organizing campaigns and a general applicant pool.​

The program was broken up into three distinct phases: training, internal organizing, and external organizing/preparing for strikes. ​Training included exercises and readings about how to conduct organizing conversations and campaigns, learning about the history of unionization and organizing workers, presentations from guest speakers, and visits to both union and non-union worksites. Apprentice organizers supported on campaigns that included Macy’s, Bartell Drugs, Fred Meyer(s), PCC, Providence-Everett, as well as political and community projects. ​

Congratulations to the EWOA class of 2023!

Post-EWOA, our goal is to help every apprentice organizer who wants to continue in the labor movement to find a job either with this union or another movement organization. 

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Kyle Chrisman

Kyle Chrisman

Kyle Chrisman has been working at LabCorp for almost 18 years on Capitol Hill as a phlebotomist. Kyle is dedicated to his patients and coworkers, which is why he fights so hard to build collective power on the job. Kyle is currently serving on the LabCorp union bargaining committee. Phlebotomist union members at LabCorp have often had their concerns ignored by their employer and Kyle is ensuring that LabCorp hears them loud and clear during negotiations.

LabCorp is having trouble staffing and retaining workers and union members know why, LabCorp needs to provide competitive wages and benefits. The City of Seattle recently announced that the minimum wage within city limits would be going up 6.85%, which helps workers keep pace with the increased costs of living and working in the city. Instead of proposing a wage scale based on the percentage, LabCorp simply bumped all positions that were under the new minimum wage rate of $19.97. This compresses the scale so that several of the steps are at the same rate. LabCorp then maintained their offer of below-market raises, decreased percentages between steps above minimum wage, and higher health care costs.

Kyle and his fellow bargaining committee members know that is simply not realistic when it comes to making ends meet and safely caring for patients. That is why the bargaining committee updated their proposal to reflect the effects of the new minimum wage throughout their wage instead of just meeting it like LabCorp.

Stay tuned as Kyle and his fellow union members fight for a better contract and better patient care, they have already held one info picket are prepared to take further action to ensure a fair contract!

UFCW 3000 Member Stories: Shama Ramzan

Shama RamZan (furthest to the left) in The now closed Des Moines Bartell Drugs

Before Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy it had started to close area stores, including the Bartell Drugs stores that they had purchased in 2021. Unfortunately for Shama Ramzan and her coworkers, one of them was the Des Moines Bartell Drugs. Under the union contract, however, workers had rights to severance pay based on their years of service with Bartell Drugs.

Contract negotiations for Bartell Workers had already been underway when the first round of store closures was announced, and so the Union at the bargaining table began to ask questions about the scope and timeline for any planned store closures.

Shama and her coworkers at other locations began to speak up and demanded that Rite Aid be transparent about the store closures and insist that benefits would be paid out on a timely basis. Because of Shama and her coworkers’ advocacy, the Union was able to successfully fight back against Rite Aid’s delays in communication and ensure that Bartell Drugs union members received the severance deserved on a timely basis.

Rite Aid’s failure as a company is not the fault of the employees! Sometimes it is when times are toughest that having a union really counts, and can ensure that even when your store closes, there are benefits to help cushion the blow.

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Vanessa Wixom

Vanessa Wixom and her daughter enjoy some time outdoors

Vanessa Wixom works as a Pharmacy Tech at the Riverfront location for Kaiser Permanente in Spokane Washington.  Vanessa is a fantastic leader in her workplace, and is always very proactive she and her coworkers have concerns by making sure that their rights as union workers are respected by Kaiser.  Outside of work Vanessa is a mom, loves spending time with her family, and enjoying the outdoors with the gorgeous Northwest scenery in Eastern Washington.  Vanessa’s love for the outdoors has led her to be a volunteer for the local River/Park cleanups in Spokane to make sure that others can enjoy them.  Thank you for all of your hard work Vanessa!

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Craig White

Craig White

Craig came to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett (PRMCE) a year and a half ago. Craig might be relatively new to Prov Everett, but he is not new to the staffing labor/management committees required at hospitals. Craig was also on a staffing committee at his last hospital and knows how important it is for nurses to fight for the proper staffing levels to ensure patient safety and nurse longevity on the job. When he quickly joined his staffing committee at PRMCE, he showed how passionate he is about patient care and proactively securing the working conditions that make safety possible.

As we write this, the nurses at PRMCE are less than 24 hours away from an unfair labor practice strike, where the main issue is Providence’s failure to bargain in good faith over safe staffing conditions. Since 2021 staffing levels have deteriorated with 600 nurses leaving the hospital, and Providence failing to attract new staff to replace them. This is a crisis that has put patients and nurses at risk as quality patient care eroded. Providence has so far refused to listen to the nurse-led bargaining committee to fix this problem.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 14th, 2023 at 6 a.m. 1,300 nurses will be going on strike and forming picket lines at both the Colby and Pacific locations of PRMCE. If you are one of the nurses who will be on strike, stay up to date with the latest info on our Strike page. If you are a UFCW 3000 member who works at another employer you can pledge your support here, RSVP to our Candlelight Vigil, or just show up at either PRMCE location to join the picket (coffee and doughnuts are always a plus on a picket line)!

UFCW Member Stories: Juan Stout, Providence Everett Nurse & Activist

Juan Stout

Juan Stout has been a nurse for 15 years and has worked all of them at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett (PRMCE) at the Colby location. As of this writing, November 6, 2023, PRMCE registered nurses are on the 3rd day of a 10-day countdown to an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike. At 6 a.m. on November 14th, nurses will form picket lines at both the Colby and Pacific Avenue campuses of PRMCE to begin their 5-day strike.

Juan has served on four union negotiating committees, including this one. The central issue in these PRMCE contract negotiations is the staffing crisis that began during the pandemic and has worsened since then. Nurses in some departments at the hospital are working under a nearly impossible patient ratio of 6 or 8 patients to just 1 nurse. Juan and the bargaining committee have shown management at Providence that this is unsustainable and has to change.

“Patients and their families have come to us about the quality of care eroding at Prov Everett. This is a problem that must be fixed! But Providence Everett refuses to invest in a contract that will help recruit and retain nurses and other core staff .”

Juan and his coworkers know that this fight affects everyone who lives in and around Everett. They are asking for everyone’s support during the upcoming ULP strike, which unfortunately seems inevitable because Providence has refused to bargain during the 10-day waiting period. Juan and the other PRMCE nurses are prepared and ready to fight for patient safety, and they need our help. You can pledge your support online at our community support page. Juan also asks people to “reach out to hospital management and share their frustration with the poor staffing and sub-standard care they received.”

Juan comes from a family that has always been leaders in their community. He grew up in Lexington Kentucky where Juan’s father was the first African American to head a high school sports athletic association. Juan recently traveled back to Kentucky to accept a posthumous award on behalf of his father when he was inducted into the Lexington African American Hall of Fame.

Juan moved from Lexington when he was 24 to South Carolina and was a teacher for 15 years. Eventually, Juan went back to school to get his nursing degree. He has been a shop steward for 12 years and serves on the UFCW 3000 Executive Board. He loves educating his coworkers about their rights under the union contract and getting them to take action to improve their working conditions and the care that patients receive. He also has his own photography business on the side, “a wonderful hobby that has become a side hustle.”

He continues to educate and organize his coworkers for the strike and whatever it takes to get a fair contract and a better Providence Regional Medical Center for everyone.

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Shop Steward Matthew Kendrick

Shop Steward Matthew Kendrick

Matthew Kendrick has been the shop steward at the Bremerton Fred Meyer for 4 years. As he has gotten more involved in helping and advocating for his coworkers, he decided to get trained to represent union members during investigatory meetings that could lead to discipline. Recently, he put that training to use when a coworker was being investigated around a shoplifting incident at the store.

Union members have the right to ask for representation before they answer questions that the member reasonably believes could result in discipline. This is often called Weingarten Rights (named after the 1975 Supreme Court case confirmed them), and they are key to ensuring that your right to “just cause” (due process) before employers issue discipline to union members.

The most important thing for union members to know is that they have to request representation before, or during, an investigatory meeting, management doesn’t have to. That is precisely what happened when a coworker contacted Matthew to represent them in an investigatory meeting!

Before the meeting even starts, Weingarten Stewards will make sure that the member understands that they have to answer questions, but that if management is asking leading or unfair questions, the steward can step in to object and advise the member on the best way to respond. Stewards and members also have the right to pause the meeting and find a private place to talk. Most of all, the steward takes notes on the member’s behalf and works with union staff to ensure that management is being fair both in its investigation and in any discipline issued.

Matthew did just that for his coworker and then advocated for reducing the discipline from termination to a written warning. Shoplifting policies are often very tough; terminations are often upheld even when the union files a grievance. But because shoplifting has become so widespread, blatant, and sometimes aggressive, UFCW 3000 reached an agreement with grocery store employers that termination is NOT always the right answer.

When discussing the incident with management, Matthew pointed out that his coworker had been with Fred Meyer for decades and had always been a model employee, sometimes spending more waking hours at Fred Meyer than at home. While there was a policy violation, the worker was acting to protect their coworkers and the place where they all spent so much of their lives, and a warning would correct the problem. Management agreed to reduce the discipline to a written warning instead of automatic termination!

Matthew used an important shop steward skill in this situation: negotiation and persuasion. Grievances and arbitrations are important to hold employers to account when there is no other choice when defending union members’ rights, but informally solving problems in cooperation can often get better results more quickly for workers when they are in a jam.

Matthew’s story is a great example of the difference that union representation can make in an investigatory meeting. And it happened because the worker requested representation!

If you would like to find out more about your rights as a union member, are interested in becoming a shop steward, or want to further your steward education, contact your rep or sign up for training here on our website.

Newly elected Executive Board members are sworn in!

UFCW 3000 is a union that runs on democracy. Our Executive Board of over 40 members like you, and our union's top three officers (President, Secretary Treasurer, and Recorder), are all elected by the membership. Similarly, each member gets the opportunity to vote on their contract, which governs their wages, benefits, and working conditions.
 
On Tuesday, October 24, the top officers, President Faye Guenther, Secretary Treasurer Joe Mizrahi and Recorder Maria Milliron, and the rest of the Executive Board were sworn in to a new term. Under their leadership, our union is helping to lead the way in partnering with many other locals, community organizations, elected officials, and others to advance our rights and benefits and improve and enforce laws at the local, state, and federal levels. We are also excited and looking forward to pursuing the goals in our UFCW 3000 Strategic Plan for building a stronger union. 

Kim Cordova, President of UFCW Local 7 was our special guest to help with the swearing-in process. Local 7 and Local 3000 have been staunch allies through many fights and we thank Kim for helping us out! 

Get to know our elected Executive Board members >>

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Marlene Padilla

Marlene Padilla in the Meat Department at PCC Bothell

Marlene Padilla has worked in the grocery industry since 1999, starting at the Foodland stores in Hawaii. “Being a single parent and working close to home with great hours helped me with my decision to work in the grocery industry,” she says. At Foodland, she was promoted to meat wrapper, and when she moved to Seattle she started working for Safeway. After nine years, when one of Marlene’s meat managers left to work at PCC and suggested she come work there, too, she decided to go for it. She respected him because, as she puts it, he “gave me a lot of respect as a female, not just a fixture.”

When Marlene started at PCC in 2014, she knew that it was a risk starting with a new employer and a new group of coworkers: “I had to work harder to prove I had it in me, not because I knew someone. I’m still working in a man's world.” She showed her coworkers how dependable and trustworthy she was and has been working there ever since. She wants coworkers to know: “I always got your back.”

Away from work, Marlene enjoys reading, being a single mother, a grandparent, a Seattle Seahawks fan, and hanging out with her cat Shadow. “My three children and two grandchildren keep me grounded,” she says, “as well as all the meat department guys I work with.”

Negotiations with PCC for a new contract this year have required more workplace actions from PCC workers than ever before. As Marlene and her coworkers have discussed the bargain and taken action, she reminds coworkers about all the important parts of a union contract—the bargain can’t be about “the payscale and nothing else,” she says. Her top priority? ”Maintaining good health benefits.”

Marlene has taken an interest in attending PCC negotiations as an observer. “It’s important for us as members to see how the language in our contract is fought for!” Marlene is a strong woman and union member; her coworkers are lucky to have her standing with them in this bargain. Mahalo, Marlene!

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Mackenzie Weiland

Mackenzie Weiland

Content Warning: This member story mentions abuse, violence, and sexual assault. If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault and need help, call the National Sexual Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.

Meet Mackenzie Weiland, a nurse practitioner who specializes in sexual and reproductive health. Mackenzie and her partner relocated to the Pacific Northwest from Atlanta, Georgia, at the end of 2021. Soon after, she got a job at Planned Parenthood and has been quick to put down roots in their new home:

“My partner and I are building a home in Everett and enjoying every bit of exploration and adventure in this awesome region of the country. We are avid sea kayakers, hikers, triathletes, dog fosters, microbrewery supporters, board game enthusiasts, and big-time foodies!”

Working in reproductive healthcare is more than just a career to Mackenzie—it’s a calling. In addition to being a nurse practitioner, she is a board-certified sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE):

“Sexual violence and advocacy work is my truest passion, and I continue to serve my community in this way. After my busy weeks in clinic at Planned Parenthood, I take call shifts as a full-scope forensic nurse in Snohomish County. In this role, I provide trauma-informed, person-centered, compassionate, and excellent forensic nursing care and services to survivors of all forms of violence including child abuse and neglect, physical assault, sexual violence and assault, domestic and interpersonal violence, and more.

Caring for my community in these ways is both a calling and a gift. The careful culmination of my skills, training, and passion are all in service to uplift others and create a braver, safer world for us all.”

Mackenzie further serves her community by teaching nursing students at Seattle University how to be SANE nurses and speaks at conferences to advocate for better care for victims.

While her work at Planned Parenthood is very rewarding to her, Mackenzie has come to understand how important it is to have a union on the job, although she didn’t always think so:

“In my naiveté, when I was first hired at Planned Parenthood, I was weary of the union aspect of the position. Having been employed for just over 1.5 years, I cannot imagine being a Planned Parenthood clinician without my union. I am lucky to work closely with Charlie King, my union representative, who has always made himself available to me and my coworkers. We communicate regularly, and his efforts to care for me and my team have made the biggest difference. […] Unfortunately, no healthcare center/system is perfect, and just knowing I have the full, unyielding support of my union behind me, and in strong solidarity with the folks I work alongside and for, I am able to continue to show up and provide excellent community care.

It is an honor to be a UFCW 3000 member with all of you rock stars. Thank you, each of you, for all you to do serve one another and our communities.”

Mackenzie is becoming more involved with her union but was unable to be on the bargaining committee for the new union contract because she had no extra time (see all of the above). That’s okay! Being in a union means that when we all step up as much as we can, we don’t have to do everything ourselves.

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Penelope DeMeerleer

Penolope DeMeerleer at the Edmonds’ PCC educating customers about the fight for a fair contract.

Penelope DeMeerleer works at the Ballard PCC and has jumped headfirst into stewardship. She traces her enthusiasm for organizing with her coworkers back to her time working as an advocate focused on empowering children born with disabilities. Penelope has worked as a grocery clerk in the front end of the store checking out customers for over a year now. As contract negotiations started this year she knew that PCC workers had a lot on the line for their future.

Better wages, staffing levels (or a premium for when staff is so low that everyone has to work harder), and transportation options are just some of the issues on the table for these essential food chain workers. While they have made progress on important working condition issues and better leave of absence language, they still have a long way to go.

Penelope knows that workers showing solidarity in PCC stores is the key to winning at the bargaining table and has been eager to talk to her coworkers about getting active. So she is making sure Ballard PCC union members have the latest bargaining updates and are participating in actions such as the leaflet action at PCC Edmonds (pictured above).

UFCW 3000 Podcast Episode 6: Honey, Listen! …To the Rest of Kristina’s Story

Kristina was Michaela’s first interview here on the podcast, but they didn’t get to the full story of Kristina’s union journey. What happens when you become a full-time union rep? And what if it doesn’t work out like you planned? Kristina talks about her time as a union rep, why it was not actually a great fit for her, and how it impacted her returning to work as an even more educated and empowered shop steward.

UFCW 3000 union shop steward Michaela is always ready to answer fellow members’ questions about their union. She’s also a devoted murder podcast listener. Put those interests together, and she decided to start a union podcast to get all her coworkers’ questions and her own questions answered, and to meet as many people as possible who could share what it means to be a part of UFCW 3000. (No murder on this podcast, only solidarity!)

*The information shared on this podcast is offered by rank and file union member leaders of UFCW 3000. There may be inaccuracies or misstatements shared, as members will be speaking from the lenses of their perspectives and life experiences. While members are doing their best to share good information, we can make no claims to 100% accuracy and this podcast should not be construed as legal advice.

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Debby Gibby

Debby Gibby

Debby Gibby is a senior Lab Assistant, steward, and bargaining team member at LabCorp. Debby knows union member voices are crucial to creating better workplaces and better lives and she isn't afraid to use hers to make it happen!  Debby has lots of creative ideas that she shares with her coworkers and her union representatives, and is using these ideas as a member of her bargaining team to win substantial wage increases to recruit and retain staff.  When she's not fighting to improve the lives of workers, she spends her time fighting for affordable housing.

Debby’s been a a strong advocate on affordable housing committees, especially in her First Hill neighborhood, as well as chairing a committee that stopped the removal of over 500 housing units from the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle. Her archival research was rewarded with her work being on the cover of the First Hill's historical society's book.  Debby loves living in one of the oldest buildings on First Hill and works hard to keep her neighbors and her community safe and thriving.

Debby knows that the only solution to organized greed is organized people, on the job and off!

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Phil Gillette & Elizabeth Olson

Phil Gillette and Elizabeth Olson

Phil Gillette and Elizabeth Olson both work at the Bellingham Fred Meyer. But their true passion lies in the rabbit rescue that they started.

Bunanza Rabbit Rescue Ranch and Adoption Center got its start in 2015 when someone dumped a post-Easter bunny on Phil and Elizabeth's property in Lynden WA. Soon after they rescued another bunny running down the middle of a highway. Out of love for those first two rabbits in need, Bunanza has grown to include dozens of volunteers and has helped over 750 bunnies find permanent homes – all of them spayed or neutered, socialized, litter trained and vet verified to be healthy.

Phil and Elizabeth are vital members of their community, both at the grocery store and on the expanse of Bunanza Rabbit Resue Ranch!

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Allison Hanely

Allison Hanley and a canine Friend

It pays to know your rights! Your employer must follow the discipline and termination language in your union contract, and if you’re organizing your union or bargaining your first union contract, you still have federal labor rights to protect yourself from retaliation. When UFCW 3000 member Allison Hanley was terminated from the newly organized Downtown Dog Lounge, she felt sure it wasn’t fair and immediately called her union rep for support. After working together and looking at the facts, Allison ended up winning an $8,000 settlement in compensation from her employer! Congrats, Allison.

“The UFCW 3000 staff showed amazingly strong support for me in helping me fight for my rights, educating me about the settlement, and providing me the resources to get a new job at a unionized workplace!”—Allison Hanley

If you’re not sure what’s happening to you at work is fair, call us and ask to talk to your union rep, or to a union organizer if you’re not yet a member! UFCW 3000: 1-800-732-1188

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Nicole Hardin

Nicole Hardin ready for work at the Clinique Counter

Nicole Hardin has worked at the Alderwood Macy’s for nearly 16 years. Over the years she and her colleagues have fought for their wages, working conditions, and safety on the job (an increasingly important issue in retail). Nicole has been there for actions at her store, leaflets from leaflets to info pickets in front of the store.

As the attacks on working people have increased, Nicole has stepped up to become a shop steward, “I really enjoy being able to help colleagues clarify the [union] contract, and I enjoy being a person that colleagues can come to and address their concerns.”

When this year’s member bargaining committee was being formed, and the committee needed a beauty advisor from cosmetics on the team, Nicole jumped at the chance to represent her coworkers and department. “It’s been a great experience to see the inner workings of the union [member bargaining committee] and how hard they fight for us.”

And the fight is far from over. Negotiations have been going on since February, and Macy’s is still refusing to pay sustainable living wages to their workers and still needs to address store safety. The Bellingham, Alderwood, and Southcenter stores have all had strong-arm robberies and unruly customers getting physical with Macy’s workers during these negotiations.

Nicole and her coworkers are ready to do whatever it takes to win a fair contract. Info pickets have been scheduled for August 11th, and more actions are planned during what is a very Hot Labor Summer!

Info Picket Signs from the 2018 Macy’s Contract Campaign

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Jim O'Brien

Jim O’Brien

Union contracts often have provisions for overtime above what the law requires and additional premium pay for being assigned extra responsibilities and job duties. Unfortunately, employers don’t always pay what was agreed to in the Union contract, so it’s up to rank-and-file union workers and stewards to enforce the contract and hold the employer accountable.

Jim O’Brien works at the Pacific Campus for Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett. Recently Jim and other nurses have been assigned up to 5 nursing students to train (in nursing it is known as “clincal precepting” and nurse trainers are known as “preceptors”) while still carrying full patient loads. Jim and his fellow nurses had concerns about caring for patients while training 5 nursing students at the same time, and while reviewing the RN contract for Providence Everett he discovered that there was a premium clinical precepting that the Employer was not paying.

Jim and his union rep contacted his manager to request the premium for all the nurses in Jim’s unit. Management quickly agreed to pay the premium going forward and is conducting an audit with the Union to make all the nurses whole for the missed pay.

Way to go Jim! When everyone makes sure to enforce our union contract, we all benefit.

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Craig Kistler

Craig Kistler

Craig Kistler is a former Marine Deputy who now serves his community at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center as a Mental Health Counselor.

He joined the union about a year ago. He was happy to join because he saw the union addressing the needs of him and his coworkers. Craig and a co-worker talked about the benefits of the union and that the union started with the members at the work site, which is why he became interested in being more involved in helping build the power of the union.

He is happy to be a shop steward and is excited to be part of the bargaining team for the upcoming contract negotiations.