March 5 Update: Message to members from the President and Secretary Treasurer of UFCW 21:

We have reached out to all members today about the recent outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus, COVID-19, here in Washington State. As many of you have seen in the news or at your workplace, this is a contagious illness with confirmed cases in our area, including at some health care facilities where UFCW 21 members work.

Here’s what we’re doing so far: We have already made comprehensive information requests of our health care employers so we can have a full picture of how they plan to keep people safe at work. This includes information about trainings, protocols, and personal protective equipment. We encourage all health care workers to stay up to date on the Centers for Disease Control’s interim guidance for health care workers to help ensure employers are following these guidelines in your work sites at all times.

We are also regularly in touch with state and local agencies so we can make long-term plans for member safety as this continues, and to advocate for benefits for members who are affected by COVID-19, including those who may be quarantined or otherwise must miss work. We are working together with other health care unions so that we are all sharing information and supporting each other. And we are working directly with other employers as well, to ensure all our members have safe workplaces and access to sick leave during a viral outbreak.

One of the most important ways we can all prevent the spread of this illness even outside health care settings is to stay home from work if you are feeling ill. Our members have fought hard for access to paid sick leave and family leave, and bargained for other leave in our contracts. It is important to know your contract, know the law, and keep yourself, your coworkers, and your community safe. Health care workers and the public will rely on things we have fought for, like access to meal and rest breaks and affordable health care for our families.

If you feel ill, especially if you have a fever, cough, or shortness of breath, you should contact your health care provider to see if you should go in for care. You can also call the Washington State Department of Health coronavirus hotline at 1-800-525-0127, and press #.

You should reach out to your Shop Steward or Union Representative as soon as you can if you have any questions about your rights, concerns about staying home when you are feeling sick, if you feel your workplace is unsafe or you are asked to do something unsafe at work, if you face any discipline related to the impacts of this outbreak, or if you experience a change in your working conditions. You can also report workplace safety concerns to safetyreport@ufcw21.org. If you do so, please include detailed information about where you work, your safety concerns, and how best to contact you.

Much of our union family is on the front lines of this outbreak, whether it’s providing high-quality patient care, offering compassionate customer service, keeping groceries and supplies stocked for the public, or safely cleaning our workplaces and health facilities. Let’s continue to do so without discrimination. As we are sure you’re all aware, there is no basis for assessing a person’s coronavirus risk just because of a their race, ethnicity, language, or nationality, and stigma will only hurt our ability to deal with this outbreak.

Please know that we are committed to ensuring your safety and dealing with the effects of this outbreak for as long as it lasts. Don’t hesitate to be in touch with your rep with any questions or concerns.

In solidarity,

UFCW 21 President Faye Guenther

UFCW 21 Secretary Treasurer Joe Mizrahi

Macy’s Downtown Closure Severance update

On February 20, we signed an agreement with Macy’s over severance for workers laid-off from the Downtown Seattle location. The agreement includes one week of pay for every full year of service with a cap at 26 weeks. Macy’s has begun sending severance paperwork to associates via mail and email that includes the full language of the agreement as well as general release language. In order to receive your severance check, you will need to sign and return this paperwork within 45 days of receiving it. We retain the ability through our union to challenge any miscalculations or issues with payment of severance.

We are also aware that there were schedule changes during the final weeks of February that resulted in a loss of hours for multiple associates. We have an active grievance to remedy the issue.

If you have any questions about the calculation or payment of your severance or vacation cash out, please contact your union representative, Regan McBride at 206-436-6579

March 3 update for Members on Coronavirus

UFCW 21 President Faye Guenther with PCC members Atsuko and Jeanett in Edmonds to talk about their upcoming bargain and discuss how the Novel Coronavirus outbreak is impacting members at work.

• We are in active communication with state and county officials to get the most up-to-date information we need to help keep members safe.

• We have filed information requests with our health care employers to ensure they are following guidelines to keep members safe at work.

• We are in discussions with other employers about best practices for public health and workplace safety to ensure all members are safe at work.

• We are identifying any areas we need to demand to bargain over the impacts of this outbreak, and are making plans for long-term effects of an outbreak in our workplaces.

• UFCW 21 President Faye Guenther visited members this morning to answer questions and discuss how the coronavirus is impacting workplaces.

Remember: utilize the leave language and health care you’ve bargained for, and contact your Shop Steward or Union Rep for any support you need to stay safe and keep your workplace safe, including if you face any discipline related to the impacts of this outbreak.

More information and resources:

UFCW 21 Update for Members on the Coronavirus Outbreak

UFCW 21 Update for Members on the Coronavirus Outbreak

As you have likely heard in the news, there is an outbreak of respiratory disease (COVID-19) caused by a new coronavirus in several countries, including the United States. King County has some confirmed cases of this disease, including at health care facilities where UFCW 21 members work. You can find updated information about the virus at the Washington State Department of Health and the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If you have questions about what is happening in Washington, how the virus is spread and what to do if you have symptoms, please call the Washington State hotline at 1-800-525-0127 and press #. (This hotline can experience high traffic, so try calling back later if it is temporarily unavailable.)

If you are in King County and believe you were exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19, or if you're a healthcare provider with questions about COVID-19, contact our novel coronavirus call center: 206-477-3977. The call center will be open daily from 8 AM to 7 PM PST.

One of the most important ways we can prevent the spread of this illness is to stay home from work if you are feeling ill. If you have any questions about your right to stay home from work, contact your Union Rep or the Rep of the Day immediately. You can look up your contract and your Union Rep here. Our office number is: 1-800-732-1188.

We are communicating the importance of following the CDC’s public-health guidelines to our employers, which include actively encouraging sick employees to stay home, being flexible with sick leave policy, educating workers about respiratory etiquette and hygiene, providing resources including tissues and hand sanitizer, and routinely cleaning the workplace.

More information is below:

1. Basic Information about the coronavirus

2. What to do if you feel sick

3. What to do if you work in health care (patient care and EVS)

4. What to do if you work with the general public (grocery, retail, pharmacy, others)

5. Information for employers

BASIC INFORMATION:

At this time (March 2, 2020) King County says the risk of exposure is increasing for people who live in our area, though it is still relatively low. Those at elevated risk of exposure are:

• Health care workers caring for patients with COVID-19

• Those who have had close contact with persons with COVID-19

• Travelers returning from affected international locations where community spread is occurring

The symptoms of COVID-19 appear to be fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The CDC has instructions for preventing the spread of this virus, which include staying home when you are sick, avoiding close contact with people who are sick; avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth; frequently washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and more basic prevention measures.

King County Department of Health has prepared a Novel Coronavirus Factsheet in multiple languages:

• English: Novel Coronavirus Fact Sheet (PDF)

• Amharic: ኖቭል ኮሮናቫይረስ (PDF)

• Chinese Simplified: 新型冠状病毒 (PDF)

• Chinese Traditional: 新型冠狀病毒 (PDF)

• Khmer: វីរុសកូរ៉ូណាប្រភេទថ្មី (PDF)

• Korean: 신종 코로나바이러스 (PDF)

• Russian: Новый штамм коронавируса (PDF)

• Somali: Caabuqa Xalfaafka Wadnaha (PDF)

• Spanish: Nuevo coronavirus (PDF)

• Thai: ไวรัสโคโรนาสายพันธุ์ใหม (PDF)

• Vietnamese: Vi-rút Corona Mới (PDF)

If you have further questions, call the state hotline at call 1-800-525-0127 and press #.

IF YOU FEEL SICK:

• If you feel sick, especially if you have a fever, cough, or shortness of breath, stay home and contact your medical provider or the state Department of Health hotline, 1-800-525-0127, and press #.

• If you are sick with COVID-19 or suspect you are infected with the virus, follow the CDC’s steps to help prevent the disease from spreading to people in your home and community.

• Most workers in Washington are covered by the state law mandating access to paid sick days, and you may be eligible for more sick leave depending on your union contract.

• We also have a Paid Family Medical Leave program in Washington, so there is much less need to save up sick time for chronic or extended illness or upcoming parental leave.

• If you do not have paid sick leave left but will not be out long enough to qualify for extended leave, work with your manager and your Union Rep to stay home so you can protect yourself, your coworkers, and your community.

IF YOU WORK IN HEALTH CARE:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a coronavirus website with lots of updated guidance for health care workers, including EVS workers, at the CDC’s Coronavirus website. These include:

• What healthcare personnel should know about caring for patients

• Frequently Asked Questions for health care providers

• Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations

If you or a coworker are quarantined, please contact your Union Rep as soon as you can. We are talking with state offices right now about your potential access to benefits during a quarantine.

The Department of Health is reminding everyone that stigma will not help fight this illness—we do not make determinations of risk based on race, nationality, or ethnicity.

If you or a coworker need this information in another language, please contact your Union Rep.

IF YOU WORK WITH THE GENERAL PUBLIC

• It is important that you stay home if you feel sick, especially if you experience illness with fever, cough, or shortness of breath.

• Follow the CDC’s guidelines to prevent the spread of this illness.

• Grocery, retail, and pharmacy workers may see or have already seen a run on supplies like hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, and bottled water.

IF YOU ARE AN EMPLOYER:

The CDC is offering very clear public-health guidelines for employers during this outbreak, including:

• Actively encouraging sick employees to stay home

• Ensuring that your sick leave policies are flexible

• Not requiring a doctor’s note for employees who are sick

• Routinely cleaning all frequently touched surfaces in the workplace

• Emphasizing good respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene and providing supplies like tissues and hand sanitizer

Providence St. Joseph and Mt. Carmel Contract Vote

Tentative Agreement Reached Bargaining Team Unanimously Recommends a YES Vote

Mt. Carmel Bargaining Team: Lynette Bell, ER; Rebecca Landers, OB; Kathie Richart, CCU; Lane Thayer, CCU; Lynn Wathne, Surgical Services St. Joseph Bargaining Team: Linda Kline, RN; Maegan George, RN; Tamara Brown, RN

After many months of bargaining we have reached a tentative agreement that includes the following highlights: Wage Increases Each Year Shift Differential Improvements Improvement to Grievance Language Additional Time Off “We look forward to showing everyone the improvement we won in our contract. See you at the Vote meetings” Members in good standing are encouraged to vote.

Ratification Vote

Mt. Carmel Hospital
March 11, 2020 4pm – 8:30pm / St. Catherine Hall
March 12, 2020 10am-2pm / St. Catherine Hall

Providence St. Joseph
March 12, 2020 4:30pm-8:30pm / DEC D across the street from Hospital

UFCW 21 Statement on Amazon’s Newest Cashierless Grocery Store

February 25, 2020
Press Contact: Joe Mizrahi, jmizrahi@ufcw21.org

UFCW 21 Statement on Amazon’s Newest Cashierless Grocery Store

Our customers aren’t clamoring for more checkout robots and fewer human staff around to assist them. In fact, local union grocery PCC removed self-checkout kiosks last year because customers value their relationships with their checkers. We know this industry, like many, is changing as technology changes, but we believe workers should have a say in that change and that new tech should be focused on customer experience, not just corporate profits.

It’s too bad that Amazon continues investing vast sums in technology that is just a solution in search of a problem nobody is facing. Instead of creating overly automated stores, which are unlikely to be economically viable for simple grocery items, Amazon could choose to invest in their workers with fair wages and benefits so workers can support their families and live in our community.

Grocery store workers in our region have fought hard to set high standards in our industry, including the right to bargain over our wages and working conditions. Union grocery store workers here have affordable family health care, a secure pension in retirement, and a voice on the job. We invest in our communities and we’re committed to our customers. And we know our community values good jobs all the way through the food chain. Amazon, on the other hand, is most notorious in the industry for unilaterally slashing health benefits for thousands of Whole Foods workers last year and having their workplaces constantly compared to dystopian science fiction.

UFCW 21 is working to build a powerful union that fights for economic, political and social justice in our workplaces and our communities. We represent over 46,000 workers in retail, grocery stores, health care, cannabis, and other industries in Washington State. When workers are ready to form a union, give UFCW 21 a call.

Central Washington Hospital - Tech Residual Unit Reaches Tentative Agreement with Management

Join us in Voting “YES” to be a part of our Union Contract! Everyone is encouraged to attend and see where they will be placed on the wage schedule.

Vote Time
Wednesday March 4
10:00AM - 12:00PM
Conference Room D

Cascade Valley Hospital - Proposal Vote Scheduled

We will be going back to the bargaining table in early March! All members are encouraged to come and have your voice heard on your top priorities at the bargaining table.

Vote Times
Cascade Valley Hospital
330 S Stillaguamish Ave, Arlington, WA 98223

2/25
3pm to 8pm
Baker Room

2/26
6am to 11am
Whitehorse Training Room

Sanders and Medicare for All Could Improve Workers’ Power

Sanders and Medicare for All Could Improve Workers’ Power

Faye Guenther and Sue Wilmot

It is not surprising that a majority of democratic primary voters have identified Health Care as their top issue in the upcoming election. One of the most significant drivers of working people’s economic trouble is health care costs and related stress. This is central to why UFCW 21, the state’s largest private sector union, has endorsed both Medicare for All as well as Senator Bernie Sanders for President.

There are four key reasons why a large union, with many members who have negotiated strong health care plans for themselves, supports Medicare for All.

One: Employers try to get rid of our union-negotiated health plans or increase the costs nearly every time we go into contract negotiations. A few years back, 30,000 Puget Sound-area union grocery store workers nearly went on strike to prevent their employers from cutting health plans for workers and their families. While this was an immense show of worker power and community support, grocery store workers were fighting to keep what we had, not make the proactive improvements we needed. This dynamic is all too common, where health care coverage is a major obstacle during bargaining. Medicare for All would remove that challenge, and we as workers could focus our negotiations on other essential topics, like wages and working conditions.

Two: Linking a worker’s health care to their job, as is often the case for union workers with health care, makes us too dependent on our employer and limits our freedom to move from one job to another. Even now, when there is very low unemployment, worries about losing health care coverage can cause us to stay at one job instead of moving to another that would be better for our career, pay higher wages, or work better with our family’s schedule. Medicare for All would solve that problem.

Three: If all workers had access to quality, affordable health care coverage, independent of their employment, it would remove one of the reasons why workers without a union are fearful about trying to organize one in their workplaces. Why? They wouldn’t have to stress about the very real risk of not being able to afford coverage if their employer retaliated against them for their unionizing efforts. A bully employer might try to intimidate you out of building a union at work, but those threats would no longer concern your family’s access to health care coverage. Medicare for All would provide insurance for everyone as a universal right, as is the case in almost every other nation on earth.

Four: By passing Medicare for All, we would see a national shift in the inflation of health care costs. We at UFCW 21 have shown that a smartly run health plan can avoid the runaway cost increases that have become all too common for many working people. The health plan we have negotiated for tens of thousands of our members has avoided large increases in premiums, out-of-pocket costs, deductibles, prescriptions and other health care costs by negotiating with providers on a massive scale and incentivizing workers to be more invested in their own health. For the economy as a whole, when our nation stops spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year to pay for increasing health care costs that make insurers, health care conglomerates, and drug companies rich, we as a nation will be able to spend those resources on health for the many instead of wealth for the few.

We applaud Senator Sanders and our representative Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal for their long-time support of Medicare for All and feel their records show a commitment to doing this policy right for working people in our country.

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ABOUT UFCW 21

UFCW 21 is working to build a powerful union that fights for economic, political and social justice in our workplaces and our communities. We represent over 46,000 workers in retail, grocery stores, health care, cannabis, and other industries in Washington State.

Faye Guenther is President of UFCW 21. Sue Wilmot is a long-time UFCW 21 member and workplace leader at Safeway.

Macy’s - Downtown Closure Bargaining Update 2/14/20

Today we met with the employer with our bargaining director in attendance. Macy’s has not moved from their original proposal and has given us their last, best, and final proposal that is less than the Northgate and Everett agreements:

• Cap on severance at 26 weeks—Northgate/Everett severance was capped at 52 weeks

• Macy’s is only willing to cover the employer portion of COBRA for 3 months—Macy’s paid 100% of COBRA for 3 months at Northgate/Everett

We’re meeting with our legal team to explore all options to secure a fair severance for the Downtown Macy’s workers.

If you have questions, please contact your union representative, Regan McBride, at 206-436-6579

In Solidarity, your Member Bargaining Team, Susan Hedman, Patrick Keating

PCC Bargaining Update: Meet our Bargaining Team

On Monday, February 3 our PCC Bargaining Team met together for the first time. From the hundreds of bargaining surveys we received from members to set our bargaining priorities, by a wide margin, members are most concerned with better wages, secure retirement, dependable health care, increasing safety and training in our stores, and raising transparency and worker voices in the governance of PCC as a co-op. As a team we are committed to negotiating a contract we all can be proud of. Our next negotiation sessions will take place in early March. Stay involved, be sure we have your most updated information to stay connected and informed throughout the bargaining process.

UFCW 21 Winter 2020 Newsletter: The Power of Unity

UFCW 21 Winter 2020 Newsletter Articles:

The Power of Unity

Our unity is what got us here, we can’t forget that our united strength against the third largest healthcare corporation in the nation is how we will win!

Across the state, health care workers had been in hard negotiations with Providence Health for over a year at some hospitals and were making little headway. At every turn Providence was using intimidation, surveillance, unlawful polling, and threatening lockouts against health care workers. Progress at the bargaining table was also frustrating: Providence proposals failed to adequately address safety, staffing and other workplace concerns raised by employees. At the same time, they continued to insist on a massive takeaway of hard-earned benefits that some workers have been earning for decades. Jose Hernandez, a member of UFCW 21, summed up many workers’ frustration: “As an Emergency Room Assistant at Sacred Heart, I see patients and their families in times of greatest need. They are counting on Providence to provide the highest quality care, but too often Providence is putting profits first. I am ready to strike for my patients and ensure their health is always our top priority.”

15,000 health care workers from UFCW 21, WSNA, and SEIU Healthcare 1199, the state’s largest unions at Providence knew that by standing together and acting in coordination we could stand up to Providence. The three unions, for the first time ever, signed a historic unity commitment, a pledge to stand as one in coordination and solidarity. Workers of all three unions voted in overwhelming numbers to authorize a strike and started joint actions across the state with the support of our community partners, neighbors, patients, and elected leaders. Our coalition fight for a fair contract at Providence was even picked up by national presidential candidates and news outlets across the state and country.

Our unity paid off; hours before our planned 10-day notice to strike, Providence agreed to take their drastic cuts off the table—creating a pathway to win strong contracts at all of our Providence locations. We will continue to stand with our partners until we all win strong contracts at Providence and we remain committed to building strong coalitions with SEIU and WSNA—and throughout the labor movement—to fight for stronger jobs and communities. We showed that through unity, and a commitment to our patients and each other that we could win a fair contract that is better for patient care and safety, better for staffing and better for the future of our hospitals.

UFCW 21 scholarships still available!

scholarships available

Full-time Student Scholarships: $2,000
Health Care Profession Scholarships: $3,000
Four-Year Scholarship of $4,000/year for 4 years
First in Family Scholarships: $2,000
Marilyn Savage, RN Memorial Scholarship: $3,000

Application Deadline: March 6, 2020

The community remembers Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The community remembers Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on January 20, 2020, as families and friends unite and rally in Seattle’s Central District. Dr. King’s courage to stand up against oppression and resist hate through nonviolent direct action was his legacy that will continue to live on for generations to come. If you would like a commemorative button in honor of Dr. King, please contact your Union Rep.

When we fight, we win in Olympia

The 2020 legislative session is upon us and once again UFCW 21 will be in Olympia fighting to advance workers’ rights. Past legislative sessions have seen us win victories like ensuring uninterrupted meal and rest breaks for frontline health care workers, and vacating cannabis misdemeanors. In 2017, we fought for and won the most progressive Paid Family and Medical Leave law in the country. As of January 1, the program is now live! Information about eligibility for coverage and how to apply can be found at www.paidleave.wa.gov or reach out to your rep with any questions. This is one of the strongest statewide Paid Leave programs in the country and you now have access to it!

Legislative wins like this only happen when we have pro-worker majorities in Olympia and when legislators hear the real stories of workers. UFCW 21 has a full slate of policies on the agenda for 2020 that will make Washington a better place for workers, our families, and our communities. Read on to find out more!

• The Working Families Tax Credit would help fix Washington’s broken and upside down tax system by providing tax relief to low and moderate wage workers.

• UFCW 21 proudly represents cannabis workers at Have A Heart, and our cannabis legislation provides an opportunity for our union to grow while also ensuring that cannabis jobs in Washington state are good jobs.

• Our slate of health care legislation includes bills to help reduce work-related injuries for health care workers, protect the personal information of our public sector health care workers, and have better financial transparency in large health care institutions. These bills are designed to improve working conditions for health care workers, as well as improving the quality of care patients receive.

• We will continue our fight from previous legislative sessions to pass bills that promote housing affordability, which has been identified as the top non-bargaining issue for our members.

• Updating the workers’ compensation process is another top priority – the system is currently stacked against workers with unnecessary and overly invasive Independent Medical Exams for injured workers and Third-Party Administrators who are often utilized to suppress workers’ claims. We need to strengthen protections for workers as they navigate the system so workers can safely return to work – and pay their bills on time when they are out due to injury.

Winning on issues like this is hard, it takes electing pro-worker candidates as well as workers getting involved in the legislative process. If you are interested in coming to Olympia during the 2020 legislative session, reach out to Karsten Wise, political organizer at 206-436-6556 or email: actionteams@ufcw21.org

Capital Medical Center RN - Bargaining Continues

Our UFCW 21 RN Bargaining Team met with Management in December 2019 and declined management’s one year offer of a 1.25% wage increase. Management was buying time until Providence hospitals settled their contract; historically Management has accepted an agreement like Providence hospitals’ contract. Since then, Providence hospitals have come to an agreement and have kept their EIB program and received 3% across-the-board wage increases for each year of the contract.

We resumed bargaining on January 28 and 29. Management proposed decreasing the EIB benefit and offered 1.75% wage increase for the first year; with the remaining two years of the contract not going above 2.25%. We are continuing to fight to maintain our EIB and higher wages, shift differential pay, floating pay, paid education days, and a higher rate of “continuing education” reimbursement.

“Management’s proposal of 1.75% increase for the first year is not sufficient. We know that non represented employees recently received a 3% wage increase.”
Carol Cairone, RN

“We are fighting to obtain competitive market wages in order to hire and retain quality nurses, which will allow us to have safe staffing levels and provide quality care to our community. This is our highest priority! Our patients come first.”
Bernie Ammons, RN

“We have reached agreement on some contractual provisions and continue to fight to retain our hard-earned benefits.”
Bonnie Verellen, RN

“We work hard for Capital Medical Center and our community. We will continue to hold the line at the table and negotiate for a fair and equitable contract.”
Sara McFarland, RN

New Seasons Workers Welcome

UFCW 21 is welcoming some of our newest members—grocery workers displaced by the December closure of New Seasons Market’s Ballard store.

New Seasons announced in December that it would close the Ballard store and leave the Seattle market, where it had previously committed to open two to three stores per year. The good news is many New Seasons workers are moving over to union stores, including Metropolitan Market and PCC. In fact, the company’s Mercer Island store will transition to Metropolitan Market in the spring. Later this year, PCC will open at the Central District location that New Seasons leased and furnished but never opened.

New Seasons is a Portland-based natural foods grocery chain with a record of anti-union activity. Naturally, UFCW 21 members were concerned when the company announced an ambitious Puget Sound expansion in 2015.

Our concerns intensified when New Seasons competed aggressively with Metropolitan Market for the Mercer Island location, a former Albertsons store. At the time, unionized Metropolitan Market and anti-union New Seasons were both owned by the same private equity firm—Endeavour Capital. So New Seasons’ competition with Met Market looked to us like an attempt by Endeavour Capital to weaken the union and undercut our contracts.

Over the past four years, UFCW 21 and our community partners repeatedly advised New Seasons that it would be welcomed in Seattle if it committed to respect workers’ rights, meet area standards, and address concerns about its role in gentrification and displacement in the Central District. The company dismissed our advice and even hired an aggressive union buster to counter worker organizing in Portland.

UFCW 21 is committed to doing everything we can to support a successful transition for all New Seasons workers. And we are also encouraging PCC to work with Central District community leaders to ensure the 23rd and Union store reflects and respects the historic African American population of the Central District.

Are you a New Seasons worker with questions about moving over to a union store, or need help with job transition? Please call Marc Auerbach at (206) 436-6519.

UFCW 21 Endorses Medicare For All

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 30, 2020
Contact: Joe Mizrahi, jmizrahi@ufcw21.org

UFCW 21 Endorses Medicare For All

WASHINGTON— United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 21 (UFCW 21), the largest private-sector union in the state and the largest UFCW local in the country, is announcing the endorsement of a comprehensive Medicare for All health care plan. Medicare for All legislation has been introduced in the House (H.R. 1384) by U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and in the Senate (S. 1129) by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). 

UFCW 21 has long been at the forefront of advancing the rights and dignity of working people, and our democratically elected member executive board voted Tuesday night to make this endorsement.

“All our members and their families deserve access to high-quality comprehensive health care they can actually afford to use, said Faye Guenther, President of UFCW 21. “While we have fought hard to protect and improve our union health care plans over the years, Medicare for All would cover everyone in our communities, help address the current racial inequities in access to health care, and give our members the flexibility to bargain for other improvements to their benefits and working conditions. We are so proud that our very own Congresswoman Jayapal is leading the way on this important issue for our members.”

 “As someone who works in an ER, I see the effects of our broken health care system every day, as patients skip getting the care they need because they can’t afford it, leading to worse health outcomes and higher costs for everyone. And as a union member, Medicare for All relieves us of the burden of long, drawn-out fights to maintain our health care plans, freeing working people from the crushing consequences of getting sick and opening doors for wage increases and other benefits,” said Jose Hernandez, UFCW 21 executive board member and emergency department assistant at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. “Even health care workers don’t always have good health care plans.”

This election cycle, issues and candidates on the ballot will determine the long-term health and future of the labor movement. UFCW 21 is committed to supporting candidates and policies that further strengthen workers’ voices, both at the federal level and here at home.

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ABOUT UFCW 21

UFCW 21 is working to build a powerful union that fights for economic, political and social justice in our workplaces and our communities. We represent over 46,000 workers in retail, grocery stores, health care, cannabis, and other industries in Washington State.

UFCW 21 Endorses Bernie Sanders and Medicare For All

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 29, 2020
Contact: Joe Mizrahi, jmizrahi@ufcw21.org , 619-955-2970

UFCW 21 Endorses Bernie Sanders and Medicare For All

WASHINGTON— United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 21 (UFCW 21), the largest private-sector union in the state and the largest UFCW local in the country, is announcing endorsements of Bernie Sanders for President and Medicare for All. UFCW 21 has long been at the forefront of advancing the rights and dignity of working people, and our democratically elected member executive board voted Tuesday night (1/28) to make these endorsements because our members understand what is at stake for workers in the upcoming election.

“Bernie Sanders has by far the most pro-worker labor agenda of any candidate, and we have already seen him use his platform during this campaign to support organizing in the industries we represent,” said Faye Guenther, president of UFCW 21. “As a union, our fundamental goal is to expand worker democracy and power. We are so excited to see a candidate committed to expanding the electorate and inspiring even more people to engage with the democratic process, both in their workplaces and in this election.”

“Bernie understands that even health care workers don’t always have good health care plans,” said Jose Hernandez, UFCW 21 executive board member and emergency department assistant at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. “As someone who works in an ER, I see the effects of our broken health care system every day, as patients skip getting the care they need because they can’t afford it, leading to worse health outcomes and higher costs for everyone. And as a union member, Medicare for All relieves us of the burden of long, drawn-out fights to maintain our health care plans, freeing working people from the crushing consequences of getting sick and opening doors for wage increases and other benefits.”

“We know what it’s like to go up against big corporations and win—and we know Bernie doesn’t back down from a fight,” said Kyong Barry, UFCW 21 executive board member and front-end supervisor at Albertsons in Auburn. “Union workers are facing an uphill battle at the federal level as corporations are attempting to systematically dismantle the protections the union movement has fought for. We’re supporting a candidate who understands the structural change needed to rebuild the union movement.”

This election cycle, issues and candidates on the ballot will determine the long-term health and future of the labor movement. We also see Senator Warren as another strong candidate. In the Washington Primary, you can only vote for one person and we feel that Sanders has a strong track record and set of policy proposals to support union and not-yet-union workers.

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ABOUT UFCW 21

UFCW 21 is working to build a powerful union that fights for economic, political and social justice in our workplaces and our communities. We represent over 46,000 workers in retail, grocery stores, health care, cannabis, and other industries in Washington State.