Dynacare Labcorp - Continuing Negotiations
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Your Bargaining Team met with Management to continue negotiations. We spent the day discussing wages and market data analysis. It was a productive conversation as far as understanding where each side was coming from on our respective wage proposals BUT we are still very far apart in actual numbers.
“Management called our wage proposal ‘A tall order and Unrealistic’. We are fighting to ensure our wages are competitive in the market and reflect the skill level and hazards that we face on a daily basis. The goal is to recruit and retain high quality staff. We need to show we are united on wages to win.”
— Shelby Tyner
OUR BARGAINING TEAM: Steph Royce, Eli Lanczos, Fredel Albritton, Nancy Pyanowski, Tambra Graham, Shelby Tyner and Sam McVay
Next bargaining dates are December 11 & 18. Questions? Call your Union Rep, Ates Serifsoy @ 206-436-6569
How we win fair wages!
Sign the petition online OR ask your steward or Bargaining team for a physical copy!
Come to our next online CAT meeting to give your input!
Wednesday, December 2
6:30 - 8 PM
Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.Talk to your Bargaining Team and/or Union Rep to find out more ways to be involved!
Providence Centralia Hospital - We Are Essential Workers! Providence Treat Us With Respect!
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On Wednesday, November 18, the Bargaining Team met with Providence. During negotiations the Hospital, rejected closed shop union membership language and continues to reject other union security language.
It is important that we obtain strong union security language so we can enforce the collective bargaining agreement and empower the unit. If we agreed to the Hospital’s proposals around union security and membership, it would result in having no union members and would deteriorate the collective bargaining agreement. The RN unit had weak membership language in past contracts and this resulted in the Hospital offering lower wage increases compared to the RN unit at St. Peter’s.
In addition, we made proposals on EIB and PTO. The Hospital’s position is that they will move forward with the changes to EIB/PTO because these changes were announced before the unit unionized. Our position is that the Hospital should wait to implement any changes and we need to bargain over EIB/PTO. We will be looking into legal avenues to delay the implementation of the program.
One of the Bargaining Team’s priorities is ensuring we protect EIB/PTO. In order to achieve this we will need to take action and show the Hospital that we are willing to fight to keep EIB!
One way to take action is by wearing a sticker and posting a sign in your car while at work. If you have not received a car sign or sticker, please contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep, Erin McCoy @ (206) 436-6598. Our next bargaining session will be on December 9 where we will continue talking about EIB/PTO. In additional, we will be holding a contract action team meeting via Zoom on December 14 @ 5:30 PM, where we will discuss bargaining in more detail.
Your Support Service Bargaining Team: Necole Moore, EVS; KayCee Grimm, Lab; Kim Jorgenson, ED HUC; Aaron Green, Kitchen; Laura Norton, Endo Tech
Lourdes Counseling Center-Continuing to bargain
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Our Bargaining Team: Jordan Cox RN, Pam Garland RN, Paul Knighten MHC, Tim Orr MHC
The turnout this past Wednesday for the leaflet action was great! Thank you for your involvement.
Our Bargaining Committee met with the employer this past Friday for another session. We’re planning to resolve the majority of non-economic proposals this week, so we can focus exclusively on wages. To accomplish this, we will be requesting assistance from a Federal Mediator.
Our next action will require even greater numbers than the leafletting action. Please continue your involvement by joining the CAT Zoom meeting on December 9 where we will discuss the next action in specific detail. Without divulging too much information, it will require maximum involvement from co-workers, friends, and families.
We’re nearing the finish line--stay strong.
Join our online CAT Meeting!
Wednesday, December 9
5 PM via Zoom
Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details.
Stay up to date: Lourdes Counseling Facebook Page
If you have any questions, please contact your Union Rep Austen Louden @ 509-340-7372
Press Advisory: Puget Sound Grocery Store Workers Speak Out for Hazard Pay, Staffing and Safety
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Advisory
For immediate release: Monday November 23, 2020
Contact: Tom Geiger. 206-604-3421
Puget Sound Grocery Store Workers Speak Out for Hazard Pay, Staffing and Safety
Thank you to all who attended, if you missed this online webinar where unionized grocery store workers share their experiences and feelings about improved safety and reinstating hazard pay you can watch it here.
Grocery store workers here in Washington and around the nation continue to go to work every day, risking exposure to the deadliest virus in over one hundred years. Despite these risks and the dramatic increase in sales and profits that grocery stores have recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, the hazard pay that had been put in place in March was cut by early summer. Workers are also feeling a lack of sufficient staffing at a time when the need for sanitizing and breaks are paramount. Unionized workers have continued to press for the hazard pay and improved safety procedures. With the recent new spikes of exposure, positive cases and deaths, workers are re-doubling efforts for safety, staffing and hazard pay.
Background:
Nine months into the pandemic front line workers like grocery store workers are still going to work every day, exposed to the virus and concerned with safety. Early on during the pandemic, many stores like Safeway, QFC and Fred Meyer began paying workers an additional $2 an hour in hazard pay. In addition, we won increased safety protocols grocery store workers had been demanding, such as frequent disinfecting, wiping down carts and check-out stands, installing plexiglass, limiting the number of people inside the store to be able to allow shoppers to socially distance, asking shoppers to wear masks and allowing workers to take frequent breaks to wash hands and maybe get some fresh air.
At the very beginning of March 2020 our nation had its second recorded death from Covid. By the end of that month, the death toll had surpassed 1,500. By the early summer, in all counts, the pandemic had already taken a massive toll, was still out of control, and there was no end in sight. However, while profits and sales at grocery stores soared, workers’ hazard pay was inexplicably cut. Workers who continued to do essential and hazardous work were apparently not worth the extra $2 an hour. Unionized workers’ protests delayed the pay cuts in some places for a month, but by mid-summer, it was all taken away.
Fast forward to today: our nation has recorded over a quarter million COVID deaths. The slow-down in daily rates of infection and deaths has now turned around, with spikes and new records set throughout the month of November. Workers continue to be exposed, but safety protocols in many stores seem to have become more lax, and reduced staffing has made it very difficult to take the time to do the extra work required to disinfect the store, check-out stations and carts, as well as making it hard to take more frequent rest breaks to wash hands and get fresh air. And the hazard pay that was cut from workers’ weekly checks has still never been reinstated.
Unionized grocery store workers in Washington and around the nation this week are calling out for improved safety, including safer staffing, and a reinstatement of hazard pay for hazardous work.
Grocery Store Workers speak out:
"As a grocery cashier, at least at my store, the best analogy I can give you is that every day is like that Snowmageddon period, where we had lines as far back as we could see, and we didn’t have enough cashiers. Customers are so used to it that they don’t even think about complaining, and the corporate heads think they can get by with it. It’s not because they can’t hire enough people; they’ve hired plenty of people. They just want to have a minimum crew and maximum profits. So we get worked to death because there’s fewer of us doing the work of many. - Wil Peterson, 17-year Kroger employee
"To my customers, I say you don’t need to be accepting these long lines. We have 13 check stands in my store. Today there were only 2 cash registers open. This is ridiculous. We’re speaking up about it. We’re working through our union to get a safer store. The way it is now means more strain on everybody — more work for us, customers in the store longer, backed up in the aisles, even though experts seem to say people should keep their shopping trips to 30 minutes. How can they do that if corporate isn’t listening to them and to us?" - Wil Peterson, 17-year Kroger employee
“I just also want the company to work to keep me safe, and not run me into the ground. Our work is a lot more stressful than it used to be. In our department, we’ve grown in size but we’ve grown even more in how many orders are coming in. Everyone is tired. Everyone is getting worn down. Sections of the store can get so crowded, it’s impossible to keep social distancing and still meet our timelines for fulfilling orders. And I’m very conscious of the risk I’m exposed to. My partner is a nurse, and we have a lot more potential exposure than the people we know who can work from home. That risk is something that I don’t get to leave behind when I leave work—I carry it home with me. My job takes up so much more space in my life now.
On top of all this, on top of them cutting the hazard pay we were getting at the beginning of the pandemic, we’re getting squeezed to be more productive. We push trolleys with the orders we’re preparing all around the store, and they just increased the capacity of those trolleys by 50%. Now they’re so big we can’t see past them around corners, and they’re 50% heavier to push around all day. Lately, the only things any of us are talking about is how tired and sore we are. People are saying they don’t know how much longer they can stay. We are working on these issues through our union, but if our employers can’t commit to keeping us safe, we’re going to lose people who are experienced, who know how to do this work and care about it.” - Amanda, QFC Clicklist
“Through all of this, wanting to give good service, keep our workplace safe for ourselves and our customers, we’re getting nothing from our employers. We got a small amount of hazard pay in the spring and then it was taken away, just like that. They just put $100 on our Advantage cards recently as a little bonus, and it feels like a slap in the face. “
Click here to file a safety report on your neighborhood store and help keep our Grocery Store Workers and our Communities safe.
“We’re back in the throes of it all. We’re here working on the front lines and we don’t feel appreciated. It’s not fair. I’m pissed off. I’m tired. My family’s health care depends on this job. I’m a cancer survivor and I’ve fought to maintain our great union health care for years, I’m proud to work here. I love my customers, but this is so hard. “
“We need hazard pay. We need fully staffed stores so we can keep ourselves and our customers safe. We need respect from our employers—we’re the ones running these stores every day. “ -Amy, QFC
When There Is a Positive or Suspected COVID Case at Your Workplace
/Note: There may be special circumstances around COVID cases in some health care workplaces. For all other workplaces, these basic recommendations should be followed.
When There Is a Positive or Suspected COVID Case at Your Workplace:
YOUR EMPLOYER SHOULD:
Notify anyone who had a close contact with the person who tested positive
The CDC defines “close contact” as someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period
This close contact also means being that close 2 days before the infected person becomes symptomatic, or 2 days before their test is taken, anytime until the infected person is isolated
Have the person with COVID or COVID symptoms, and all close contacts, immediately go home and stay home from work to safely quarantine
Workers who have been exposed to COVID but do not have symptoms should still go home and quarantine for 14 days
How you should be paid for your time in quarantine or recovery depends on your contract, whether there is a negotiated COVID agreement in place at your workplace, and the industry you work in, but there are many ways to make sure you are compensated. If your employer does not offer you paid leave immediately, you should work with your Union Rep to identify the best paid leave for your situation. You should not have to choose between a paycheck and your health and safety.
Follow CDC protocols to clean, sanitize, and disinfect the workplace
Before cleaning, close off any areas used for prolonged periods of time by the sick person for 24 hours (or as long as possible) to minimize exposure to respiratory droplets
Open outside doors and windows to increase air circulation in these areas
Clean dirty surfaces with soap and water before disinfecting
Disinfect surfaces using products that meet EPA criteria for use against SARS-Cov-2
Clean and disinfect all common areas (e.g., bathrooms, break rooms), shared electronic equipment (e.g., touch screens, keyboards, ATM machines), and frequently touched surfaces (e.g. counters, doorknobs)
Provide appropriate PPE and training for anyone using these chemicals
Notify UFCW 21 of a COVID case in the workplace
YOU AND YOUR COWORKERS SHOULD:
Let your Union Rep know about the positive case as soon as you can
Protect your health and safety by being realistic about your risk and level of exposure and advocating for yourself
If you and your employer disagree about whether you had close contact with someone at work who tested positive for COVID, contact your Shop Steward or Union Rep for help advocating for your safety
Understand that to protect people’s medical privacy your employer may not be able to tell you who has tested positive
Refrain from spreading rumors or stigmatizing people for getting sick—we need to stand together to support each other and encourage transparency so we can all stay safe
If your employer is violating the state’s COVID guidelines for businesses, such as not requiring employees or customers to wear face coverings or not ensuring 6 feet of physical distancing throughout the workplace, remember you can report violations that affect your safety directly to the state at: coronavirus.wa.gov/report-safe-start-violation
To file a safety report by email, send your name, workplace, and description of the issue to: safetyreport@ufcw21.org
Statement of Solidarity with MultiCare Workers Represented by UAPD
/Statement of Solidarity with MultiCare Workers Represented by UAPD:
UCFW 21 represents over 3,000 workers in the MultiCare Health Systems. Recently many of our members have experienced similar issues as ones described by the members of UAPD, from shortages of PPE to other safety concerns in the workplace made worse by the COVID 19 pandemic. It is the position of UFCW 21 that members are restricted from engaging in any strike or sympathy strike activities during work hours including rest periods. Members who choose to engage in strike activities may be subject to discipline. At the same time, it is also the position of UFCW 21 that members’ activities during non-working hours are not restricted by the no-strike clause in our contract. Getting a 1st contract is one of the more challenging accomplishments to achieve in a unionized workplace and we strongly support the UAPD’s members’ efforts to get their first Collective Bargaining Agreement from MultiCare. UFCW 21 members should please call your Union Representative with any questions.
Beyond MultiCare, UFCW 21 represents an additional 15,000 health care workers at other hospitals and clinics run by other employers across the state, over 25,000 grocery store workers and over 5,000 workers in other industries ranging from retail to pharmacies to meat processing and others.
PCC - Bargaining Team Meets for the First Day of Preparations
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Our member-led Bargaining Team, pictured left to right, top to bottom:
Atsuko Koseki, Edmonds Deli
Greg Brooks, Fremont Meat
Keith Allery, Greenlake Village Deli
Quinn Ráo, Ballard Front End
Scott Shiflett, Redmond Meat
Yasab Pfister, Burien Front End
Our Bargaining Team met as a group on Tuesday and discussed results of the bargaining survey and started the hard work of crafting proposals including:
Cleanup language
New Safety language
Improvements to our pension
“Despite PCC’s obstructionist efforts we are nearing our signature goal to get workers nominated for the PCC Board of Trustees. Now we’re ready to fight for a fair contract that respects all workers.”
— Our PCC Bargaining Team
Friends and family can file a customer comment supporting workers on the PCC Board at:
Next Contract Action Meeting dates will be announced shortly. Join a meeting to be part of the process!
Bartell Drugs - We Need Safety and Living Wages
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Your Bargaining Team met with the Employer on Wednesday, November 18. There was some progress on issues like Bereavement Leave, where workers will no longer have to attend the funeral of an immediate family member in order to be able to take paid time off to grieve. Unfortunately, there was little progress with the biggest issues on the table.
So, keep those stickers on, and if your store needs more call your rep today!
Management says Union “Asks” are “Way Out There”
In the previous session Bartell Drugs’ wage proposal contained little to no raises for most workers. The Bargaining Team made a counter-proposal that stuck to our concept of keeping our wages above the legal minimum wage that increases with our years of service. Management said that this and other proposals we made are “way out there”.
“Let’s see Management try live on $14.20 an hour and then see how ‘way out there’ our proposals are.”
— Kia Haggerty (Bargaining Team, Burien Bartell)
Safety in Retail During a Pandemic
During the session we talked about the increasing problems with social distancing in our stores, and the ongoing results of the inspections that union reps are doing. Cases of Coronavirus are continuing to explode locally and across the US, and our work in retail puts us especially at risk. We need to stand together and make sure that we keep our lives at work as safe. This isn’t just important for union workers at Bartell’s, it’s important for us all.
We let Management know that they should be doing more to limit the number of customers in our stores, and to make sure that they are wearing masks and maintaining social distance. To make sure that they do that, the Bargaining Team needs to hear from you and your coworkers about when there are problems with:
Customers not wearing masks in the stores,
Customers not maintaining social distancing while shopping or standing in line,
If there aren’t floor decals establishing social distancing for check-out or directions for one-way aisles,
When we don’t have enough time to properly clean high traffic areas and surfaces (registers, carts, shelves, etc.)
Reps will continue doing safety inspections and gathering evidence. But please don’t wait, contact your Union Rep and let them know what is happening. Staying healthy and safe is too important to wait!
Other Updates
Bartell’s still wants to eliminate overtime after 10 hours and when 6 days is worked in a week,
The Employer continues to reject our proposal to have work the day before Thanksgiving and Christmas be voluntary or assigned by reverse seniority,
Bartell’s is refusing agree to severance compensation for store closures,
Management’s team continues to express concern about maintaining our health care benefits and the new pension structure adopted by the grocery stores represented by UFCW 21. These are some of the most important benefits of our union contract, and they need to be maintained now and for the future.
We meet again to bargain with Bartell Drugs on December 11 and 18.
Cascade Specialty Pharmacy - You're Invited! Proposal Meeting
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The time has arrived to open your Union contract and negotiate new and updated language, wages, and benefits.
You should have already received a bargaining survey, therefore, the next step is to hold a proposal meeting when we will discuss the results of the survey, prioritize bargaining issues, and begin crafting our proposals.
The proposal meeting will be held virtually through Zoom on Monday, November 23 @ 6:00 PM. You can join by either downloading the Zoom app or simply calling into the details listed.
It will more important than ever to participate in the bargaining process as we deal with the unprecedented challenges during the global pandemic. We hope to see you at the proposal meeting, but in the meantime, please make sure you complete your bargaining survey and return it as soon as possible.
Providence Sacred Heart Tech - Bargaining Continues
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We have spent the last two bargaining sessions discussing contract language that members voiced concerns over and were able to get our non-economic proposals on the table. It is still early in the bargaining process and Zoom meetings can be challenging but we are confident that with the four future dates we have scheduled we will have all non-economic and economical proposals from both sides out.
Please stay informed by making sure that your contact information is updated with the Union or contact one of your Bargaining Team members. Contact your Union Representative Maureen Hatton @ 509-340-7370 with any questions or concerns
OUR BARGAINING TEAM LEFT TO RIGHT TOP TO BOTTOM: Sam Zabala, Respiratory Therapist; Jackie Williams, UFCW21 Negotiator; Miriam Critelli, Pharmacy Tech; Shane Sullivan Peds, Sonographer; Teresa Bowden, Respiratory Therapist; Jim McGuinness, Attorney; Lisa Aker, Surgical Tech; Derek Roybal, CV Tech; Aaron Bryant, IR Tech; Angela Holmes, Surgical Tech; Kevin Lange, Mental Health Counselor; Jason VanCurler, EP Tech; NOT PICTURED: Laurie Trudeau, Respiratory Therapist; Maureen Hatton, UFCW 21 Representative
Dynacare Labcorp - “Frankly, Hazard Pay is Trendy”
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On Monday, we continued our discussion on Pandemic safety, scheduling, and staffing. We are happy to announce that we have reached an agreement on our Staffing committee proposal, which includes stronger language that compels the employer to seriously consider the committees proposal and the ability to grieve Management’s response.
We saw some movement from Management on our scheduling and Pandemic safety proposal, but we need to keep up the pressure to secure the language we need. We plan to shift our focus onto wages in the next sessions and would love your input as we move forward.
“According to Management even though it’s an inherently hazardous job, during the pandemic we are not entitled to hazard pay because we signed up to work in healthcare. ‘Frankly, hazard pay is trendy’ was the response we got on our pandemic safety proposal. We believe this a disrespectful and inappropriate response from Management as it doesn’t take into account the additional hazard of working during a global pandemic.”
— Fredel Albritton
OUR BARGAINING TEAM: Fredel Albritton, Steph Royce, Eli Lanczos, Sam McVay, Nancy Pyanowski, Shelby Tyner, and Tambra Graham.
3 things you can do this week to Help Win a Fair Contract:
James Tower Visit on 11/18: Come talk with your Bargaining Team and Union staff in-person to discuss the contract, share your ideas and bring up any issues you have! We’ll be in the 2nd floor break room from 1 - 4 PM
Join the Online CAT meeting Wednesday, 11/18 @ 6:30 - 8 PM. Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.
Next Bargaining Dates: 11/23, 12/11
Help nominate PCC workers to the PCC Board of Trustees!
/Two longtime PCC workers, Donna Rasmussen and Laurae McIntyre, are currently running for seats on the PCC Board of Trustees, and need thousands of signatures to earn their nominations. If you are a member of PCC, please sign their petitions to get them on the ballot! You can find community members collecting signatures outside PCC stores this month, and if you work at PCC contact your Shop Steward to sign a petition.
Unfortunately, PCC administration has tried to block union and community advocates from gathering signatures. We believe this violates the democratic process and the values of the co-op. You can help these workers earn a spot on the ballot by calling the PCC office at 206-547-1222 and telling them: “I’m a PCC shopper, and I’m asking the CEO to stop blocking workers from running for the Board of Trustees. Give Laurae and Donna a fair and safe process to get on the ballot and let workers collect signatures electronically.”
You can also file a customer comment with PCC at: pccmarkets.com/contact-us
PCC worker Jared gathers signatures to support his coworkers getting on the pcc board
Learn more about these worker candidates and what they stand for:
Donna
I’m a working mom, and my whole family is invested in the mission and success of PCC—in fact, my partner and two teenage sons all work for the co-op. In my 40 years of customer service, I think PCC has hands-down the best customers I’ve ever worked with.
As PCC focuses on its growth, many of my coworkers and I feel it’s time to again have a worker voice on the Board of Trustees to ensure that customers, workers, and our community are kept front and center in decision-making. Members helped build this co-op, and as someone who interacts with our members and customers every day, I want them to know we’ve got their backs and that they can trust us. I spend money here because I trust us and I believe our co-op can grow, while holding onto its mission, values, and connection to the community.
I’m passionate about fair trade, gender and racial equity, affordable housing, and community living. For 10 years now, I have lived in a co-op housing community, where I take an active role and hold a position in community leadership. I’ve been a grocery store worker and active member of my union (UFCW), since the 1980s, serving on the union bargaining team during the big 1989 grocery strike. I also worked for QFC for 12 years, before and after it was bought by Fred Meyer and then the national chain Kroger. I experienced firsthand what happens when a well-loved community grocery store strays away from and loses what makes it unique. I have proudly been at PCC for more than 6 years now.
I’m committed to helping PCC continue to thrive while staying focused on our mission. That means connecting authentically with the communities we’re moving into as we open new stores. It means making sure PCC workers can afford to shop at our stores and live in our communities. When PCC takes care of its frontline staff, we can better take care of our customers. It also means continuing to support our small farmers and local vendors, even if they can’t produce enough to get their product in every one of our expanding locations. After all, as a co-op, our stores should be a reflection of our communities.
Right now, 8 months into the pandemic it remains stressful for most people to shop for food. My coworkers, including my boys, and I have committed to provide our customers access to fresh, healthy food in a safe and sanitized environment. We do our best to hold each other up and try to stay healthy ourselves, while working during such difficult times.
If I ring up your groceries or pass you in the aisle, please be sure to say hi!
Laurae
I’ve been a member of PCC since the 1980s, and I have family whose porches used to be part of the co-op’s original network of drop-off spots in the ’50s! I came to work at PCC about 6 years ago, wanting to work somewhere that aligns with my values and where I get to interact directly with a lot of people in my community. Our role has only become more important now, during the COVID pandemic. For lots of people, coming to the grocery store is one of their only opportunities for community and connection, along with healthy food. I’ve been really humbled by this experience and the appreciation our customers have shared with us.
PCC is a community. People become members because of what we stand for. We support local producers instead of corporate ones, our food is clean and handled properly from its beginning to the store shelves. People work here because of what we stand for, too. As a union shop steward in my store, I get to welcome new people to our staff. We have a young and vibrant workforce that is pushing us to step up on racial equity, LGBTQ inclusion, and justice for workers all along the food supply chain—including the workers in our own stores.
I want to make sure my coworkers are represented on the Board of Trustees.
PCC has been expanding so fast recently, focusing on opening new stores and big remodels. That’s great, I’m happy for us to grow. But given that the people who are usually on the Board of Trustees are business focused, some with no retail experience whatsoever, PCC workers agree we need some representation on the Board. We’re the ones working in these stores day in and day out. We want to protect the core mission of the co-op, the reasons why we work here, and why our members shop here.
With a worker voice on the Board, the decisions that steer the future of our co-op can be informed by the people interacting one-on-one with our customers and working with the beautiful food our farmers provide. We’re ready to have a voice in shaping the values and direction of this community.
Summit Pacific Medical Center - The Hard Work Continues
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We reached tentative agreements today on seniority as well as per diem scheduling and availability. More importantly we responded to Management’s bad economic proposals. Our Bargaining Team is holding our position on holiday pay, wage increases, and we are still refusing to allow discipline to affect our pay.
Our Bargaining Team: Angi Swinhart—RN, Clinic; Kristen Frazer—Registration Specialist; Barbara Ford—ED HUC; Jeff Redmond—ED Tech; Alicia Wood—RN, ED
Our next bargaining date is December 4.
Major progress in our goal to secure our Pension!
/Major Progress Made Toward Securing our Pension’s Future and Improving Benefits
We have big news -- a major step in implementing the bargained deal has been approved. One year ago, our union bargaining team secured a tentative agreement for a path forward to secure our pensions for years to come and the membership approved that at our contract vote meetings. We have been working hard ever since to move through all the steps to implement this and have just finished one of the last hurdles.
This is very exciting news for all of us who want to have a solid and secure pension and to be able to have the opportunity in the future to improve benefits. The last steps are the approval by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the PBGC is the federal agency that oversees these transactions) and the creation of the new Variable Annuity Plan (VAP), discussed in detail at contract vote meetings last year and overwhelmingly approved by the membership at those votes. The application to the government was filed at the beginning of November and the creation of the new VAP is in process. Stay tuned and read below for more details on the new pension plan.
More information
Some of you may be near retirement after decades of work while others may have started at the grocery store in just the last few years. Whatever your situation, your pension is one of the most important ways to have income when you retire. Your employer begins making payments into your pension when you are hired, and you become vested in that pension plan typically after just 5 years of work in the store.
Tip: The amount someone gets at retirement depends on many things. If you have a question about your specific pension benefits, when you are vested, or other topics, please call our grocery store workers’ retirement plan administrator, Zenith, at 206-282-4500, press option 2, then press option 3.
For decades, grocery store workers have stood strong and gotten the employer to pay contributions to the Sound Retirement Trust to fund our pensions. However, in the past 20 years, there have been economic crises from the Dot Com Stock Market Crash in 2000 to the real estate bubble crash of 2008 and COVID-19. There have also been changes in the grocery store industry over the last generation that created challenges and pressures on our pension plan.
The good news is that, despite all these economic challenges and the changes in our industry, in 2019, we were able to negotiate with Kroger and Safeway/Albertsons to agree to make substantial investments into our pension benefits. These agreements secured hundreds of millions of dollars of support from the employers to both stabilize the Sound Retirement Trust and create a new style of plan that limits the impacts of ups and downs in the stock market on your pension benefits. As part of the support to the Sound Retirement Trust, Kroger has agreed to have a portion of our plan join a multiemployer plan with membership from multiple other UFCW locals. This action will reduce the Sound Retirement Trust funding needs and secure our pensions.
There were several factors that put us in a positive position to be able to achieve this agreement. Two of the most important were: 1) improving wages of all workers as a result of the higher state minimum wages and our higher pay rates in our contracts; and, 2) having a large surplus of tens of millions of dollars in funds in our health care plan through our focus on free preventive care and wellness. This allowed us to increase the employer funding of our pension benefits without impacting our health care plan benefits.
This path to secure our pension plan required many steps for the employers and the unions (we co-manage the pension plan) to complete and over the last year we have continued to push forward along that path. And in early November 2020, we took two big steps toward realizing these goals to support and stabilize our plan’s future: 1) our proposal to transfer a part of the benefits earned under our Sound Retirement Trust Pension to the Consolidated Pension Fund was approved on 11/11/2020 by the Consolidated Fund. The Consolidated Fund is where our members in the Kroger Meat pension were transferred in 2010; and, 2) our application to complete this pension deal was filed with the PBGC.
There now begins a 120-day period for the PBGC to review our application and decide about approving our application to move the Kroger liabilities and assets from the Sound Retirement Trust funds over to the Consolidated Fund. This will improve the funding status of both plans. The goal of the transfer is to pool our retirement funds with fourteen other UFCW locals across the United States, making our pension benefits more secure. This will put our plan in Green Zone status, enabling us to have the opportunity to negotiate improvements to benefits that have not been allowed for years under the law because our plan needed to improve its funding.
Moving forward, there will be two pension plans in place. The current Sound Retirement Trust will remain in place and continue to be funded. The new plan for future benefits will be a Variable Annuity Plan (VAP), the plan recommended by our grocery store worker bargaining team, discussed in detail at Grocery Store Bargaining Kick Off in 2018 and in detail at the contract vote meetings last year, and overwhelmingly approved by the membership at those votes. A VAP is designed to adjust up and down each year based on investment returns.
What is critically different now is that returns greater than 5.5%, up to 8.5%, can be used to increase benefits for the first time since 2010. If the VAP achieves lesser returns than 5.5%, benefits could be adjusted downward. Any returns above 8.5% will help boost a stabilization reserve that will be part of the VAP and will be funded with $15 million to start in order to help prevent reductions in benefits in the event of returns below 2%. With these safeguards and adjustments, the VAP should stay fully funded in all market conditions and the benefits increase over time as wages increase.
Another Bit of Advice: Planning ahead is about more than just the money.
Retiree Barbara Rhodes – former UFCW 21 grocery store worker from QFC and bargaining team member "It's wonderful to have retirement but I'd say to all grocery store workers, have a plan. I wish I'd known twenty years ago what I know now. I don't just mean financially. I mean what you plan to do with yourself. Develop interests and those things when you're still young. And use your full health benefits before you retire too. I met with the Sound Health mental health counselor and they were very helpful. And protect your body, take your breaks and you'll be happier when you retire and are not as worn out as I was.”
A couple years ago we made several goals for our pension, and we have made great strides to achieve those goals based on our union’s collective work, standing together for a secure retirement, and making practical and important decisions. Here is a sample of what we have accomplished so far:
Accelerate funding and secure those benefits that have already been earned.
Approve a Variable Annuity Plan (VAP) design with the following elements:
Defined benefit plan offering a life-time benefit.
Benefits adjusts annually up or down based on investment performance.
The VAP’s investments will be more conservatively invested so extreme movements up or down are minimized.
Funding is always in balance and avoids underfunding risk.
Workers have opportunity to earn benefit increases as wages go up over time.
Creates a stabilization reserve of assets to be used to reduce risk to pensions during any future downturn.
Negotiate a long-term pension funding agreement.
Position ourselves so that as we go into the next round of negotiations in 2022 we have largely addressed the underlying issue with the pension so we can better focus on negotiating improvements to wages and other working conditions.
Want to learn more about your pension – especially if you are less than 5 years away from retirement? Please come to our next round of pension trainings with the Sound Pension Trust. We plan to hold a member retirement education training after the decision of the PBGC comes through and will update members on the details of the date and time of the training after that PBGC decision has been made.
Providence Centralia Hospital - Providence Proposes Weak Contract Language!
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On November 11, we bargained with Providence. We discussed several articles: union representation/access to the Hospital, union membership, unit layoffs, low census, and EIB/PTO. The Hospital continues to reject our proposals, which are similar to the current contract language of the RN unit at Centralia. The Hospital is intent on curtailing our union rights through our contract. Although we are a newly organized unit, we believe that our unit deserves the same benefits as the RNs.
The only way we will win those benefits is by showing the Hospital that we are united and willing to fight for our benefits, like EIB. In our last session, the Hospital stated they are going to move forward with the new EIB program as of January 1, 2021. We believe that they cannot move forward with that plan and they must maintain current policies until we have reached an agreement, according to the National Labor Relations Act. As so, we will be pursing every avenue to prevent this change from taking effect.
In our next bargaining session, the Hospital will be making a presentation around EIB/PTO and we expect this article to be contentious. In addition, we will be distributing a petition to request the Hospital be transparent about their finances, especially since Providence received COVID-19 relief money from the government.
If you need more car signs or stickers, please contact Erin McCoy—Union Rep, 206-436-6598—or your Bargaining Team. Our next contract action team meeting to discuss updates and next steps will be on November 19 @ 5:30 PM on Zoom.
In Solidarity, Your Tech Bargaining Team: Jen Mullins, Rad Tech; Jamie Freeman, RT; Verity Olsen, Pharmacy Tech; Kathleen Spencer, RT; Jen Frunz, Mammo Tech
Providence St. Peter Hospital - Providence Won’t Let Us Sit At The “Adult Table!”
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On November 10, we bargained with Providence. We discussed several articles: leave of absence, union representation/access to the Hospital, union membership, retirement, health insurance, and EIB/PTO. The Hospital continues to reject our proposals, which are similar to the current contract language of the RN unit at St Peter’s. Although we are a newly organized unit, we believe that our unit deserves the same benefits as the RNs.
The only way we will win those benefits is by showing the Hospital that we are united and willing to fight for our benefits, like EIB. In our last session, the Hospital stated they are going to move forward with the new EIB program as of January 1, 2021. We believe that they cannot move forward with that plan and they must maintain current policies until we have reached an agreement, according to the National Labor Relations Act. As so, we will be pursing every avenue to prevent this change from taking effect.
In our next bargaining session, we will be discussing EIB/PTO at length and expect this article to be contentious. In addition, we will be distributing a petition to request the Hospital be transparent about their finances, especially since Providence received COVID-19 relief money from the government.
If you need more car signs or stickers, please contact Erin McCoy—Union Rep, 206-436-6598—or your Bargaining Team. Our next contract action team meeting to discuss updates and next steps will be on November 17 @ 6:30 PM on Zoom.
In solidarity,
Josh Wood (CT), Shapel Morgan (X-ray), Colleen Castenada (Cath Lab), Rae Lynn Korpi (RT)
