PCC Agreement Ratified
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Our 1 year agreement with PCC was ratified on July 1, 2020. This agreement runs through December 31, 2020 for both grocery and meat contracts.
We won significant wage increases with full retro throughout the scale while maintaining our healthcare and securing our pension.
“Given restrictions on meetings and members dealing with an ongoing pandemic, we are glad to have reached this 1-year deal now so that members can get immediate raises and full back pay. We can all focus on fighting for a full 3-year contract in a few months when we can regroup in person.”
– Our Bargaining Team
Forks Community Hospital Tech / Service - Contract Vote Scheduled
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After historically productive negotiations, we were able to reach a tentative agreement before our contract expiration. We were able to win significant market adjustments for a number of positions and overall COLAs over the 3 year agreement that bring us up to industry and area standards.
We also were able to win:
A new preceptor program
Improved rest between shift language
Easier access to EII benefits
Increased premiums and differentials
With NO Takeaways!
“We achieved our goal of making improvements to our contract that make our facilities more comparable with and even competitive to surrounding hospitals and facilities.”
— Our Bargaining Team
We will be voting this fully recommended offer by mail! Please make sure your address and information are up to date.
You can view the full contract and wage scales online.
Contract with Proposed Changes - View Document
Join an online vote meeting to hear more about the offer and ask questions. Vote meetings will be 7/13 at 8 AM and 6 PM. Details for joining will be mailed out with the vote instructions.
Workers Win Historic $2 Million Settlement from Macy’s Over Secure Scheduling Violations in Seattle
/FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 1, 2020
Contact: Joe Mizrahi, jmizrahi@ufcw21.org
Workers Win Historic $2 Million Settlement from Macy’s Over Secure Scheduling Violations in Seattle
Macy’s owes more than 800 workers back pay and damages in the largest settlement in the history of Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards
SEATTLE - Workers are celebrating the 3rd anniversary of Seattle’s Secure Scheduling law, a law their union UFCW 21 was involved in passing, with a $1,999,839.35 settlement stemming from claims they filed with Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards (OLS) around Macy’s scheduling practices.
“When I first reported scheduling issues, I was just hoping that Macy’s would have to follow the law like everybody else,” said Susan Hedman, who worked at the downtown Seattle Macy’s for more than 30 years. “fact that our settlement turned out to be the biggest one in OLS history is beyond my wildest dreams.” Hedman, a shop steward with UFCW 21, encouraged coworkers to track their schedules and hours after noticing a discrepancy between the city’s scheduling law and the treatment she was experiencing at work, especially when it came to the premium pay she was supposed to earn for last-minute schedule changes. “I noticed something with my schedule that didn’t feel right, so I started documenting what was happening and I went to my union. It took some effort, but it was pretty easy to keep track of the violations. It’s not enough to have strong labor laws on the books—we need to enforce them. Strong city enforcement coupled with the backing of my union helped me and my coworkers get what we deserved.”
Macy’s, which closed its two Seattle locations in 2019 and early 2020, owes back pay and damages to 803 employees who worked in those stores between July 1, 2017, and February 24, 2020. Workers will receive about $2,500 on average, with some receiving upward of $10,000.
“We hope this sends a strong message to employers, especially retail employers in Seattle, that you cannot break the law and expect no consequences,” said Joe Mizrahi, UFCW 21 Secretary-Treasurer. “UFCW 21 members and other workers in Seattle fight hard to both pass strong workers’ rights laws and adequately fund the office that enforces these laws. This historic outcome is what happens when we have elected officials who prioritize workers over corporations, and we appreciate the continued leadership of our city council and the hard work of OLS investigators.”
The Secure Scheduling ordinance, which went into effect on July 1, 2017, requires large retail and food-service businesses to post workers’ schedules two weeks in advance, compensate workers for employer-requested schedule changes, and offer additional work hours to current employees before hiring new people.
“In 2016, I co-sponsored the passage of our Secure Scheduling Ordinance because I believe that all work is dignified,” said Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez. This law has always been about forcing massive corporations, like Macy's, to respect the time of workers that are key to their success. This settlement shifts respect back to Macy's workers and makes them whole, while holding Macy's accountable. Thank you to our OLS staff and the UFCW Local 21 members that played a role in upholding this important labor protection.”
“I want to thank the workers whom this has directly impacted for years. You deserve the money owed to you,” said Councilmember Lisa Herbold. “Secure Scheduling requires employers to schedule 14 days in advance, and if that schedule needs to change then employers must compensate their employees. Time is money and last minute disruption of the schedules of parents, caregivers, students, and people with second jobs has real economic impacts. I also want to thank OLS and UFCW for bringing this injustice to light and setting the record straight.”
Any worker who believes their employer is violating Seattle’s labor laws should document what is happening and contact their union or file a complaint directly with OLS at seattle.gov/laborstandards or by calling (206) 256-5297.
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UFCW 21 is building a powerful union that fights for economic, political and social justice in our workplaces and our communities. UFCW 21 is the state’s largest private-sector union with over 46,000 workers in retail, grocery stores, health care, cannabis, and other industries in Washington State. More than 10,000 UFCW 21 members live or work in Seattle. Whenever workers are ready to form a union, give UFCW 21 a call.
Pride 2020
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Every year we celebrate Pride, our hard-fought right to bring our whole selves to work and to be who we are at work and in our communities. People have sacrificed and died for the right to love who we love and live as who we are. In 2020, in the face of the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and institutionalized racism in the US, we must be vigilant in not sliding back but moving forward for all workers. We know LGBTQ and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) face discrimination in our workplaces and our communities. We continue to make vital contributions to healthcare, grocery, retail and all of our workplaces so that all our communities can be healthy and thrive.
We hope you can join us in celebrating Pride 2020!
Attend Pride 2020 Events online:
This year’s Seattle-area Pride celebrations have moved online, and we encourage any and all interested UFCW 21 members to attend. Register for free at the link below.
www.togetherforpride.org
Check out the gallery of past years when we could celebrate Pride in person:
There are a few in-person Pride events as well:
As with all in-person actions at this time, please be careful and follow all best practices: wear a face covering, bring hand sanitizer, practice social distancing, and do not attend if you are feeling unwell or are in a high-risk category for COVID-19.
Black LGBTQ+ Lives Matter
Saturday, June 27, 1:00pm
Wright Park, 501 S I Street, Tacoma
This rally and march organized by three young activists focuses on the impact of police brutality on Black LGBTQ lives.
Capitol Hill Pride March
Saturday, June 27, 10:00am
Seattle Central College Campus Lawn, 1701 Broadway
This event is organized by the Capitol Hill Festival directors Charlette LeFevre and Philip Lipson. Help bring a message that strengthens connections between the issues particularly facing the Black and LGBTQ community today.
Further reading:
Read the open letter from LGBTQ organizational leaders to Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan:
“Here we are, more than 50 years later, still fighting the same systems of anti-Black violence and lack of police accountability that spurred our movement.” Read the full letter >>
Read the letter from UFCW 21 community partner LGBTQ Allyship to Mayor Durkan and Seattle City Council:
“It is in our tradition to fight for justice, to demand for equitable treatment, and advocate for fairness. The brutal murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Shaun Fuhr, Manual Ellis and Tony McDade and so many others at the hands of the police is unconscionable. Over the last week many in the LGBTQ+ community went to the streets in Seattle to protest police brutality targeting our black community.” Read the full letter >>
Read UFCW 21’s statement on the recent Supreme Court ruling banning workplace discrimination against LGBTQ people nationwide:
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling confirms the legal precedent of what our union already knows: all working people deserve a workplace that is free from discrimination based on who we are. No one deserves to be fired or denied a job because of our gender identity or sexual orientation. That has now been upheld as federal law by the highest court in the country, offering millions of workers legal protection from discrimination at work.” Read the full statement >>
Support Whole Foods workers in Seattle who were kicked out of work for wearing Black Lives Matter masks, then watched management take down the store’s Pride flag as a show of neutrality. Follow these workers on Twitter: twitter.com/WfmWsl
Learn how to get involved in LGBTQ rights in the labor movement year-round by getting in touch with these organizations:
UFCW OUTreach is a UFCW constituency group working to ensure full equality for LGBTQ+ workers on their jobs and in their unions.
Pride at Work is a UFCW 21 community partner organization dedicated to mutual support between the organized labor movement and the LGBTQ community to further social and economic justice. Learn more at prideatwork.org
LGBTQ Allyship is a UFCW 21 community partner building power among LGBTQ communities and allies in Washington State to work towards economic, racial, and gender justice. Learn more at allyship.org
Ingersoll Gender Center is a UFCW 21 community partner and one of the oldest organizations by and for transgender and gender nonconforming communities in the United States. Learn more at ingersollgendercenter.org
Gender Justice League is a UFCW 21 community partner working to empower trans activists and our allies to fight oppression based on gender & sexuality in Washington State. Learn more at genderjusticeleague.org
Olympic Medical Center - ProTech - Contract Vote Scheduled
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Your Professional-Technical Unit Bargaining Team has reached a fully recommended tentative agreement with Olympic Medical Center! We have been bargaining over wages, working conditions, and the short-term disability program since May 2020. During bargaining, we did an analysis of our wages compared to the surrounding hospitals and other rural hospitals in the area. OMC proposed to retire our “short term disability” program and we gave this a lot of thought. Our short-term disability program provides 60% or 75% wage compensation per week. We fought to keep our plan but heard from the unit that wages should take priority. In addition, the new Washington Paid Family Medical Leave provides a higher benefit and accrual than our current short-term disability program.
There are more details to our tentative agreement, which we will go over in depth via a Zoom video webinar on July 9 at 7:30 AM and 4:30 PM (the link will be included with the vote documents). Please join us on either date to ask questions and go over the vote documents. Given the pandemic, we are unable to hold an in-person contract ratification vote and will be doing a mail-in ballot. The Union will be mailing and posting the vote documents on the UFCW 21 website through the link provided below.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact our union representative, Aimee Oien at aoien@ufcw21.org or our negotiator, Evelyn Orantes-Fogel at eorantesfogel@ufcw21.org.
Virtual Vote Meeting Webinar
Thursday, July 9 • 7:30 AM • 4:30 PM
Details for joining will be mailed and emailed out with vote instructions. To review a copy of the full legal document with all proposed changes please view the document here.
Summit Pacific Medical Center - Bargaining Team Announced for Summit Pacific!
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We are set to begin bargaining our first contract with Summit Pacific! Your member led bargaining team will be:
Alicia Wood
Angi Swinhart
Barb Ford
Jeff Redmond
Kristen Frazier
We start bargaining in just a few weeks! Our first dates are: 7/24, 7/31, 8/7, and 8/17, and we will be adding more dates to the calendar.
What do you want to include in your contract? Fill out your contract survey by July 10!
St. Michael Medical Center Pro-Tech - Important Upcoming Dates
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During this round of negotiations we were able to win fair double time language for members working 10-hour shifts and, in addition, new “donning and doffing” language that provides eight minutes of paid time at the start and end of each shift to change in and out of hospital-required attire. However, the employer continues to make unacceptable wage proposals and has maintained their attacks on our affordable healthcare. We made clear to managament that if this behavior continues then we will have no choice but to bring our fight to the community.
Please join our upcoming Contract Action Team (CAT) meetings to get the latest updates and learn how we can win a fair contact. These meetings will be held virtually through Zoom.
CAT Meetings
Wednesday, July 1
8AM
6PM
Wednesday, July 15
8AM
6PM
*Contact your Union Rep or a Bargaining Team member for call-in details
A message from election Chairperson Maria Milliron
/Dear Members,
I’ve received numerous ballots returned due to incorrect addresses. If you have not received your ballot and believe it is due to a wrong address please send me an email directly at maria@ufcw21.org with your updated address. Please note: only returned ballot envelopes in my possession can be resent out, no new ballot envelopes can be reproduced. Updated addresses I receive by 12 pm on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 will be back out in the mail by end of day June 30, 2020. Any updated addresses received after 12 pm on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 is not guaranteed to be resent out.
Please email or call me at (206) 436-6571 if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Maria Milliron
Election Chairperson
St. Michael Medical Center Service & Dietary - Formerly Harrison Medical Center - Contract Ratified
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We are happy to announce that the Harrison Medical Center Service & Dietary contract was ratified this afternoon by an overwhelming majority! We won substantial wage increases, new short-term personal leave, improved schedule posting language, as well as many other improvements.
Forks Community Hospital Tech / Service - Bargaining Continues
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We received Management’s economic proposals Wednesday. While we appreciate the effort they’ve made towards making sure our wages are comparable to surrounding hospitals, there are still areas for improvement.
We have proposed improvements to our Rest Between Shift language. We’d like to see Management value the rest and safety of all employees equally
Management is also evaluating our proposal to fully acknowledge and value our employees that work non-traditional hours. We hope they agree that evening and night shift workers make significant adjustments to family life, sleep schedules, and more.
Once we reach an agreement, we will be voting our contract by mail
Please update your information with us here.
Cascade Valley Hospital - Bargaining Continues with Management
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We continue to bargain with Management to reach a settlement that meets our key goals of:
Wage Parity with Skagit Regional Hospital
Equity Adjustments for employees with years of service
Increases to Shift Differentials to match Skagit.
Although we have reached tentative agreements for some of our goals, our Bargaining Team continues to push for Equity Adjustments. We have also seen Management propose for a wage reopener in the 2nd year because of the financial impact of COVID 19. We’re scheduled to bargain again on Friday, June 26 and are looking to secure more dates in July.
“We look forward to bargaining with Management this week and reach a settlement that we can bring to our membership for ratification. We still need management to meet our main goals of Equity for our members who have given many years to this hospital.”
Cascade Valley Hospital Bargaining Team
Forks Community Hospital RN - 100% “YES” VOTE! Forks Community Hospital RN Contract was ratified on June 22
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We were able to win respectful wage increases that will allow us to recruit and retain good nurses for our community. We also added new and increased competency premiums while maintaining our benefits.
“We achieved our overall goal to raise our wages to be competitive with comparable healthcare facilities.”
Forks Community Hospital RN Bargaining Team
Governor Announces Statewide Mask Mandate
/Many UFCW 21 members have been wearing masks to work for months already, but the public has not been required to do so. We wear masks to protect our customers, patients, and each other, but we know masks are most effective when everyone is wearing them. That’s why UFCW 21 members have been pushing for the public to be required to wear masks when they visit our workplaces—like stores, pharmacies, and clinics.
This week the governor has listened to essential workers and issued a mandate that everyone wear face coverings when going out in public. We know we had an impact, because members have been demanding this for months and that has been repeatedly passed on to state officials. When we speak up together, we make change. UFCW 21 President Faye Guenther joined Governor Inslee for a press conference announcing this safety proclamation on Tuesday, June 23.
Meanwhile, Fred Meyer, QFC, Safeway, Albertsons, and Haggen have cut hazard pay for front-line grocery store workers. Employers should be implementing hazard pay for all essential workers immediately. Get in touch with your Shop Steward or Union Rep to get involved in actions for hazard pay at your workplace.
Read the Governor’s proclamation about mask-wearing here:
Beginning June 26, every Washingtonian in an indoor public space, or in an outside public space when unable to physically distance from others, will be legally required to wear a face covering…
St. Michael Medical Center Pro-Tech - Fair Wages for All!
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Your Bargaining Team met with Managament again on June 18 and we were able to win an increase to our weekend premium pay, an agreement from the Medical Center to track CEDO hours, and cleaned up language regarding the medical center’s name change.
However, Management made an insulting economic counter-offer that fails to provide fair wage increases to ALL members with some receiving ZERO increases in the first year. Management has also continued their attacks on our affordable Union healthcare plan by demanding that we accept the Medical Center’s expensive healthcare. We feel that it’s indefensible for Management to demand healthcare concessions at a time when we are risking our health and safety everyday to protect our community through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Your Bargaining Team has made clear to Managament that we will fight to ensure that all members, regardless of classification or years of service, will receive a fair wage increase and shall maintain our affordable healthcare. We must prepare ourselves to take action against these unacceptable proposals and fight for the fair contract that we deserve!
“We demand fair wages for ALL members and are fighting to keep our affordable Union healthcare, which is more important now than ever!”
OUR PRO-TECH BARGAINING TEAM: Judy Shoesmith, Kain Mcleod, Connie Baker, Rob Shauger, Don Szabo, Ona Burkett, Sonja Hammes
Conifer St. Elizabeth & St. Joseph - Conifer Fails to Propose Wages!
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Members at Conifer St. Joseph met with Management on Thursday to continue negotiations. We are disappointed that Management came to the table unprepared and refused to propose wage increases. Even though we presented Management all of our proposals, not much progress was made.
“We continue to fight for Fair Wages, Benefits, and Job Protection from unfair disciplinary actions. Let’s stand strong together and TAKE ACTION because we need a strong will to work at St. Joe’s!”
– Josie Talavera-Berg
Join us at the CAT meeting to learn more!
Monday, June 22
@ 5:30 PM via Zoom
Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed and texted out.
What Juneteenth 2020 Means to Us
/Today is Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. This year, members have a lot to say about what this holiday means to us and what we’re thinking about on Juneteenth 2020.
Thank you to UFCW 21 Shop Steward and Executive Vice President Wil Peterson for reaching out to fellow union leaders for their stories!
Hearing about Juneteenth for the first time? You can learn more about Juneteenth at juneteenth.com, nmaahc.si.edu/events/juneteenth, or blkfreedom.org.
Want to get involved in our union’s fight for racial equity and an antiracist labor movement? Sign up here.
