Conifer St. Elizabeth - TENTATIVE AGREEMENT REACHED!

Since July 2019, we have been fighting for a first contract at Conifer and we had many challenges and hurdles along the way. Today, we reached a deal, and we are happy to RECOMMEND a YES VOTE! 

We have secured a contract that includes:

• Guaranteed wage increases

• Job protection from unjust terminations

• A formal process to address workplace issues

• Double time for work on a Holiday

• And So Much More!

Vote Details

Thursday, October 29, 2020
GuestHouse Inn Enumclaw
1000 Griffin Ave. 
Enumclaw WA, 98022
2 PM - 4 PM  & 6 PM - 7:30 PM

ST. ELIZABETH BARGAINING TEAM: Peggy Laush

Capital Medical Center RN - RN Bargaining Team Resumes Bargaining with CMC

The RN bargaining team has been in contract negotiations since November 2019. Historically the Capital Medical Center (CMC) RNs have received the same or similar agreement as the Providence St. Peter’s RNs, who are also part of UFCW 21. This past year CMC proposed to retire the EIB program, but withdrew that proposal after seeing that the Providence RNs authorized a strike. Management wanted to avoid a strike authorization from occurring at CMC.

In 2020, we continued bargaining and focused on wages. A lot of progress was made at the bargaining table, until March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic started. UFCW 21 and CMC held off on bargaining during this time in order to figure out how to bargain virtually and there was uncertainty of how the pandemic would affect CMC. Since then UFCW 21 has bargained virtually and demanded that CMC meet with us virtually. Due to CMCs delays and unresponsiveness, we were not able to meet until October 19.

On October 19, we resumed bargaining via Zoom and made a lot of progress. We currently have five articles we are discussing: union membership, wages, nurse staffing committee, continuing education funds, and duration of the agreement. Our next session will be on November 5 and we hope to obtain a good contract.

In addition, we have informed the community/elected officials about CMC’s delays during bargaining. They have signed onto a letter, supporting the RN unit.

We will be holding a meeting via Zoom on Thursday, October 22, 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM to discuss bargaining and short staffing at CMC. Please contact your union rep, Nicholas Hefling if you have any questions or concerns: nhefling@ufcw21.org, Cell @ 360-951-5801, or Office line @ 206-436-6564.

---

“We made great strides and are getting close to an agreement.”

— Bonnie Verellen, RN

“We have stood firm on our priorities regarding wages, retro pay, and EIB. But in order to settle we have moved away from less important issues, which we will fight for in our next bargaining cycle.”

— Carol Cairone, RN

“We want to maintain competitive wages without takeaways from the contract.”

— Dennis Verellen, RN

---

Join our Meeting!

Thursday, October 22
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM

Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.

Payless Foods - Payless Bargaining Committee Lays Out Initial Proposals

Wages are Key

One of the top goals for this bargain is to make progress on wages.

“We proposed wages that recognize Payless has been behind other grocery employers, and the higher cost of living on South Whidbey Island.  That is important as prices keep rising.”    

—Diane LaFond, Bargaining Team Member

The Union also proposed increasing Sunday and holiday premiums and adding work on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve after 6 PM as premium pay shifts.  

Other Improvements

• Making work on Christmas Eve voluntary (if there aren’t enough volunteers then the shifts would be assigned the least senior workers).

• Not requiring funeral attendance to receive paid bereavement leave; for those whose families are too far away or are not having a formal funeral.

• Better scheduling practices.

• Making it easier for disabled workers, who work a limited schedule, to get vacation time and the life insurance benefit through our Healthcare Trust.

BUTTON UP! 

Show your support for the committee and our proposals by wearing a “We are the Union” button. Unions are workers standing together for a better way life and a better life on the job. When we show that, we win!

Mason General (RN) - We Need Your Input

---

We need your input!

There are some big decisions to make about what’s still on the table for bargaining. What is clear is that we need to take action.

Some of the sticking points:

• Management is trying to eliminate cash out of PTO

• Management wants to Low Census nurses in overtime first – even if it’s your regular shift

• Management doesn’t want to pay premiums with OT

---

Join us at a Contract Action Meeting to develop our plan of attack!
Thursday, 10/22 @ 5 PM
Tuesday, 10/27 @ 5 PM

RSVP HERE for zoom link/call in information

Make sure you’re getting important union updates: Update your address, email, or phone number

If you have any questions, please contact your Union Rep @ 800-732-1188

St. Michael Medical Center (Pro-Tech) - CONTACT RATIFIED

We are excited to announce that members at St. Michael Medical Center overwhelmingly voted today to approve the new Pro-Tech contract! Our new contract includes historic wage increases, significant money into our 401k retirement plans, no healthcare takeaways, and so much more. Members should expect to notice the wage increase and ratification bonus within the next two pay periods.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Union Rep Aimee Oien @ (360) 662-1981

Conifer St. Elizabeth - ULP STRIKE AUTHORIZATION VOTE ANNOUNCEMENT!

We believe that Conifer St. Elizabeth has engaged in Unfair Labor Practices. We have filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board and we will declare this strike an Unfair Labor Practice Strike. Conifer has terminated one of our fellow union members and leaders—for what we believe was discrimination for union activity—and Management continued to intimidate members during recent concerted activity in support of the member that was terminated and our negotiations.

Vote Details
Friday, October 30, 2020
Time and Location: TBA

ST. ELIZABETH BARGAINING TEAM: Peggy Laush

Providence St. Peter Hospital - We Are Moving Onto Economic Issues!

On October 12 the Bargaining Team and Providence met and bargained. We were able to reach agreements on just cause, Management’s rights, grievance procedure, no strike/no lockout, successorship, and safety language. These are core articles in all union contracts and now we will be moving onto leaves of absence and economic articles like the definition of a full-time and part-time worker, EIB/PTO, and premium pay.

We anticipate Providence will push back on our economic proposals, so we must organize! We will have a car sign action on October 28 to show Providence we are united and ready to fight to keep EIB and obtain competitive wage increases. Providence Everett and Centralia and community groups will take part in our car sign action. If you are interested in distributing car signs, please contact your Union Rep—Erin McCoy @ (206)436-6598—or reach out to the Bargaining Team. 

We will be having a Contract Action Team meeting on Monday, October 19 at 6:30 PM via Zoom, please join us to learn more about your union rights and contract bargaining.

“Since the PTO/EIB hours has become a threatened benefit, it has been made clear that WE needed to unionize and fight together for solidarity for one another within this tech group.”

— Rae Lynn Korpi, Bargaining Team member

OUR TECH BARGAINING TEAM:
Josh Wood (CT), Shapel Morgan (X-ray), Colleen Castenada (Cath Lab), Rae Lynn Korpi (RT) 

---

Join our Contract Action Team Meeting!

Monday, October 19
6:30 PM

Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.

Northwest Administrators - Management Proposes Lowball Offer; Bargaining Team Shocked by Management’s Proposal

NWA stands for No Wage Adjustment for two years, proposed by Management on October 13, 2020.

During a pandemic, we all continue to work as hard on the front line as we do from our homes.

Our work and our voice is valuable and essential to administer many vital benefits to our clients.

We recognize these truths to be self-evident and we await Management’s counter proposal.

The Bargaining Team will continue to fight for Union increases to wages/pension, COVID-19/Pandemic LOU protections , and proposing stronger contract language regarding protections for layoff, seniority rights and more. We are in this together, and together we can negotiate a better contract. We need your help so get involved! We are Calling All Troops to be a part of our Contract Action Team (CAT team).  

Please reach out to one of our Bargaining Team members or Adrian Noel, Union Representative on how to become more involved.

Next Bargaining Date: Oct 27

Dynacare Labcorp - Management is Not Hearing Us!

A few agreements were reached today but more work needs to be done. Today we had a long, focused discussion with Management about the on-going concerns we have heard from you all around staffing problems and schedule changes. We have also extended the contract through January 15, 2021.

“Management is not convinced that staffing is a major problem at LabCorp. We spent a lot of time giving them examples of how widespread and systemic staffing and scheduling issues are through-out several departments, and they are not just isolated instances.”

Fredel Albritton, Bargaining Team Member

---

Come hear from the bargaining team about next steps!

Wednesday, October 14 7PM - 8PM

Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.

RSVP to your Union contract bargaining discussion

PCC Contract Action Meetings Scheduled

Join your co-workers to prepare for bargaining at our upcoming Contract Action Team (CAT) meetings. At these meetings we will discuss our bargaining priorities and develop our plan to run workers for seats on the PCC Board of Trustees.

Meetings will be held via zoom:

Monday, 10/19 @ 9am
Monday, 10/19 @ 7pm
Wednesday, 10/21 @ 9am
Wednesday, 10/21 @ 7pm

Click here to RSVP for Zoom login/call in information

If you have any questions, please contact your Union Rep @ 800-732-1188

Summit Pacific Medical Center - Majority COVID Petition Delivered!

Today in bargaining we delivered our COVID petition for stronger safety precautions and hazard pay. A solid majority of our bargaining unit signed!

We also were able to reach agreements on some important contract provisions including:

• Union recognition

• Union access – our rep’s ability to visit to address worksite issues

• Rules and rights for disciplinary & investigatory meetings

• Duration of contract – 3 years

RSVP to join us at our next Contract Action (CAT) Meeting on October 16 at 3:30PM or 6:30PM for a more in-depth update.

St. Michael Medical Center: Service & Dietary

Dietary Unit Host MOU Ratified

Today members at St. Michael Medical Center ratified the proposed addition of a 12-hour schedule agreement for the new Dietary Unit Host position. This new memorandum of understanding (MOU) will only affect members classified as Dietary Unit Hosts and DOES NOT enable the medical center to utilize the 12-hour schedule with any other positions. Thank you to everyone who participated in the vote and made your voice heard!
 
If you have any questions please reach out to your Union Representative Ryan Degouveia at (360) 662-1989

PRMCE - RNs Begin Bargaining with Providence Everett

Back in August 2020, the RN unit overwhelmingly voted to reject the Hospital’s offer to: 1) extend the contract through 2021, 2) 4% across the board wage increase, 3) require nurses to pay for parking starting 2021. 

On October 6, the RN bargaining committee and the Hospital began contract negotiations. The RN contract expires on October 31, 2020 and currently we do not have a contract extension, meaning we can take workplace actions like picketing.

On our first session, we made a proposal around union membership, union representative workplace access, and successorship language. The RN bargaining team put together a contract proposal which reflects the unit’s bargaining survey feedback and workplace concerns. Our goal this bargaining cycle is to hold Management accountable and obtain a contract with competitive wage increases, EIB, closed shop union membership, and better staffing language.

We are joining our fellow workers at Providence St Peter’s (Techs) and Providence Centralia (Tech and Support Services) at the bargaining table. These units are bargaining their first Union contract. We will be fighting together for good contracts and a fight with one unit is a fight with all!

Our next bargaining dates are October 21, October 28, November 13, and 17. We will be holding a car sign action at the end of October. Please contact your bargaining team or Anthony Cantu, Union Rep, to get your car sign. 

If you want to be involved in the bargaining process or want more bargaining details, please join our Contract Action Team meeting on October 20 @ 8PM via Zoom.

---

Join our online CAT meeting! 

Tuesday, October 20

8:00 PM

https://zoom.us/join  

Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.

St. Anne Hospital Pro-Tech - Tentative Agreement Reached

We are pleased to announce that your Bargaining Team finally reached an agreement with St. Anne Hospital. The tentative agreement includes:  

• Historic wage increases and ratification bonus for ALL members,

• Increased standby and weekend premiums,

• Two additional steps added to the wage scale,

• Stronger Safety Committee language, 

• Improved language regarding schedule posting, recognition of past-experience, report pay, certification pay and more!

Now it’s time to vote to approve your new contract! Due to the current health crisis we will be conducting the ratification vote through mail-in ballots. We will be sending out a vote packet with your ballot and details about the proposed changes to the mailing address we have on file. Please reach out to your Union Representative if you do not receive your vote packet by October 21. 

We will be holding contract vote meetings to explain the tentative agreement via Zoom on Monday, October 26 from 8AM – 9AM, 12PM – 1PM, and 5PM – 6PM. Instructions to join will be included in your vote packet. 

Lourdes Counseling Center - Safe Working Conditions and Fair Wages are Top Priorities

After bargaining for months, Management commits to engage in making a safe work environment but has no plan. We continue to bargain for safe working conditions and fair wages as top priorities.

Our Bargaining Team proposed significant wage increases to account for missed cost of living and longevity increases that have happened throughout the years, but Management came back with an insulting counter. Please continue to show unity by wearing your stickers on October 15 and 16!

Please join the Lourdes Counseling Center facebook page to keep informed on the ongoing negotiation and attend the Contract Action Team meeting on October 19 via ZOOM; contact your Bargaining Team for information!

Our Bargaining Team: Jordan Cox, Pam Garland, Paul Knighten, Tim Orr

OUR NEXT BARGAINING DATE IS ON OCTOBER 16! 

Save the Date - Contract Action Meetings Scheduled!

At our first round of Contract Action Team (CAT) Meetings, we discussed the member survey results and our expected timeline for bargaining. Now it’s time for the action to start heating up! In order to successfully run a worker candidate for the PCC Board of Trustees, we need to put a detailed plan in place to gather co-op member signatures. 

JOIN US AT OUR NEXT CAT MEETING TO HELP DEVELOP THE PLAN!

Our next CAT meetings will be on 10/19 & 10/21 at 9AM & 7PM. RSVP and Zoom info to follow.

Skagit Regional Health vote

Cascade Valley Hospital Vote

Northwest Administrators - Waiting on Management’s Economic Counter Proposal

We met with Management on September 29 and we were able to reach tentative agreements on telecommuting and adding an electronic copy of our Contract to NWA’s intranet once new software can be installed. We still are waiting on Management’s counter economic offer and response to COVID-19/Pandemic LOU. 

Our Bargaining Team continues to discuss our key issues of strengthening the layoff language and creating a process with the emphasis on seniority to maintain positions during a staff reduction.

Our next bargaining session is October 13, 2020. Please reach out to one of your Bargaining Team members or Adrian Noel, UFCW Local 21 Representative on how you can become more involved to ensure the best outcome to our contract.

Next Bargaining Date: Oct 13

St. Anne Hospital Pro-Tech - Getting Closer to a Deal

“We were surprised by the remarkable progress made today.”

OUR BARGAINING TEAM: Michelle Grennan, Kimberly Matson, and Miroslava Dashkel.

We would like to thank everyone who attended last week’s Contract Action Team (CAT) meeting! At this meeting we discussed how negotiations have progressed slower than expected because of how unprepared the Employer has been and their unwillingness to move on most issues. As a group we worked on an action plan to pressure Management to take contract negotiations seriously and work with us towards a fair agreement.

Then your Bargaining Team returned to negotiations the next day and were shocked by a sudden change in Management’s attitude. The Employer seemed to have come to the table looking to come to a deal soon, which was a drastic change from what we’ve experienced throughout this bargain. 

In fact, we made remarkable progress at this session as we moved much closer, and even won some tentative agreements, on outstanding issues including wage increases and premium pay. We are significantly closer to a deal!

Your Bargaining Team will meet again with the Employer on September 30. We are cautiously optimistic about our next meeting and are prepared to follow through with the action plan discussed at last weeks CAT meeting if Management returns to their old pattern of delay.  

---

Update your Information with the Union! Due to the current health crisis, contract votes are being conducted through mail-in ballots. We’ll need an updated address to ensure you get a ballot when it’s time to vote your contract.