Capital Medical Center Technical Service - NEGOTIATIONS COLLAPSE

“We cannot have a deal unless the employer compensates us for the time worked without a raise since our contract was scheduled to expire in October.”

Bargaining Team: Adam Swigart, Julie Hinchcliff, and Maureen Ciglia

Your bargaining team met with management again on January 21 and 24 to continue negotiations for your successor contract.

We are disappointed to report that negotiations collapsed late into Monday night. While the union had made significant movement towards an agreement, the employer refused to make any meaningful changes to their proposal that would indicate that they were ready for a deal.

In fact, your bargaining team began our Monday bargaining session by informing the employer that we were ready to work into the night to reach an agreement. By mid-afternoon the employer stated that they didn’t feel that working into the night would be worth the effort, signaling that they did not care to reach a deal. Despite the management’s lack of enthusiasm, we continued discussions late into the evening. 

The major problem remains their proposed reduction of our Extended Illness Bank accruals and the removal of the day after Thanksgiving as a holiday. The union made proposals to mitigate the effects of such changes, however, we made clear that retro-pay back to scheduled expiration is the key to reaching a settlement on these issues. The employer responded with an insulting $275 ratification bonus instead of retro. MultiCare made explicitly clear to your bargaining team that they have no interest in paying employees at Capital Medical Center retro pay, even though they offered it to UFCW members at Tacoma General and Auburn Medical Center last year.

We did have informal talks about a higher ratification bonus, but it was nothing close to what we are owed for all the hours we’ve worked since our contract was originally scheduled to expire in October.

To make matters worse, the employer surprised your Bargaining Team by LOWERING their proposed across the board increase in the first year. Management’s excuse was that they needed to make such an adjustment to pay for other “improvements” they were offering since they had already exceeded their authority on the cost of our contract.

Your bargaining team felt strongly that we cannot accept an offer that cut our EIB accruals, removed a paid holiday, included a first year across the board increase that was lower than our last session, and included an insulting ratification bonus. 

We made clear to the employer that the Union’s movement towards the employer’s demands were not only contingent on retro-pay, but would also expire on Monday at 11:59PM. Since we failed to reach a deal, the union’s offer is now off the table and not available to the employer.   

We are working to enlist the assistance of a federal mediator, at which point we will schedule additional bargaining dates with management. 

Next Steps:

Stand up against MultiCare by reaching out to a Bargaining Team member or Union Representative to get “Keep your Hands off our PTO & EIB” stickers that you can wear in your workplace. 

Attend regular Contract Action Team (CAT) meetings to hear the latest updates regarding negotiations, plan actions to pressure management, and learn how to get your co-workers involved. Our next meeting is being held virtually February 2 @ 6:00PM

Capital Medical Center CAT Meeting

Wednesday, February 2 • 6:00PM

https://zoom.us/join

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

PRMCE Technical - Tentative Agreement Reached Bargaining Team Unanimously Recommends a Yes Vote

On January 18, 2022 our bargaining team reached a tentative agreement on our contract. This expedited bargaining process has been successful and resulted in big wins for our bargaining unit without any takeaways.

• The three-year agreement includes:

• Competitive wage increases, including market adjustments for many classifications

• Bonus upon ratification and one year later

• Improvements to step progressions in the wage scale

• Increases to education funds

• Increases to evening and night shift differentials

• Increases to Standby Pay 

• Increases to Preceptor Pay

• Improvement to Bereavement Leave

• Improvements to grievance procedure

• New Standby bonus for excessive standby hours

• AND NO TAKEAWAYS

“We’re happy to have bargained early to implement wage increases before the expiration of our contract. This contract will help our hospital retain the team we have and recruit so that we can provide the best level of care. We fought hard to make sure that everyone’s voices were heard and encourage you to vote YES on this offer. Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

Our PRMCE Professionals Bargaining Team: Maria Goodall, Vascular Ultrasound; Darryl Keffer, Respiratory; Rodney Powers, Diagnostic Imaging; Terryl Smith, Pharmacy Tech

Full details of the contract offer will be available during the online vote on Wednesday, February 2 from 6AM - 8PM. You will receive an email from UFCW 21 via “SimplyVoting” with your unique login information. All members in good standing are eligible to vote. 

TO VOTE ONLINE, make sure your information is up to date! In order to vote on proposals, make sure your personal email is up to date in our records. If you did not receive this announcement via email, please update your email @ ufcw21/update-your-information.

If you do not receive an email to vote on Wednesday, February 2, please reach out to Union Representative Anthony Cantu at acantu@ufcw21.org or 206-436-6566 to provide an updated email address.

Have Questions? 

Full details of the offer will be available at an online vote meeting Monday, January 31. Drop in from 7AM - 9AM and 5:30PM - 7:30PM

Monday, January 31

7AM - 9AM • 5:30PM - 7:30PM

https://zoom.us/join

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

Capital Medical Center Technical Service - BREAKTHROUGH!

Your Bargaining Team met with management again on January 10 to continue negotiations for your successor contract.

We are excited to report that we’ve made significant process in negotiations with management having a sudden change of heart. At the end of our last session, management surprised us by making an economic proposal that ceded to a significant portion of the Union’s economic demands, which would bring Capital Medical Center employees up to market competitive wages. 

For the last few months your Bargaining Team has been showing MultiCare comprehensive data that shows that our wages are far behind what other hospitals are paying, justifying our proposals for large increases. Your Bargaining Team also expressed frustration that MultiCare has been willing to give employees at other facilities significant wage increases but not Capital Medical Center, as if we are not a priority to MultiCare. You also make this clear by wearing stickers in the workplace that informed patients that “MultiCare is Failing our community.”

They listened… but we’re not done yet.  

While historic wage increases are on the table, MultiCare is still proposing to cut your Extended Illness Bank accruals by about 40%. We warned management that if they want a deal anytime soon, their proposal must be withdrawn, or we will be forced to take further action. We know the community will not stand for MultiCare’s attack on healthcare workers EIB, especially in the middle of a pandemic, no matter the wage increases being offered.

We will meet with the employer again on Friday, January 21 and it is possible that we’ll have an agreement. However, this will be contingent on MultiCare withdrawing their EIB proposal. In the meantime, please continue to wear your union stickers at work and tell your manager what you think about their EIB proposal. 

“We’ve seen a breakthrough in negotiations, historic wage increases are suddenly on the table”

Bargaining Team: Adam Swigart, Julie Hinchcliff, and Maureen Ciglia

Next Steps:

Stand up against MultiCare by reaching out to a Bargaining Team member or Union Representative to get “Keep your Hands off our PTO & EIB” stickers that you can wear in your workplace. 

Tell your manager what you think about MultiCare’s proposal to cut your EIB accruals by about 40%.

Attend regular Contract Action Team (CAT) meetings to hear the latest updates regarding negotiations, plan actions to pressure management, and learn how to get your co-workers involved. Our next meeting is being held virtually January 19 @ 6:00PM

Capital Medical Center CAT Meeting
Wednesday, January 19 • 6:00PM

MultiCare Covington Medical Center Service & Technical & RN - Emergency Wage Increases—Vote Scheduled

We are pleased to announce that we’ve come to a tentative agreement with MultiCare on emergency wage increases for all UFCW Local 21 members at Covington Medical Center! The proposed increases would align our wages with the union contracts recently negotiated at Auburn Medical Center.

It is also important to note that this is considered a mid-cycle increase, meaning that it is occurring outside of normally scheduled contract negotiations. Therefore, we are still scheduled to renegotiate your contract later this year, which will be another opportunity to further increase wages and make other changes to your contract. 

However, the proposed wage increase must first be approved by a vote of membership before they can be implemented. We will be voting online via “SimplyVoting” on Thursday, January 13 from 6:00AM to 8:00PM. You will be receiving an email from UFCW 21 via “SimplyVoting” with your unique login information. 

In order to vote, everyone needs to make sure their personal email is up to date in our records. If you did not receive this announcement via email, please visit ufcw21.org/update-your-information and update your information. If you do not receive an email to vote on Thursday, January 13, then please reach out to Union Representative Kent Tse at ktse@ufcw21.org no later than 5PM on the day of the vote to provide an updated email address. 

Have Questions? 

There will be virtual meetings on the day of the vote to explain the details of the offer and answer any questions. Drop-in anytime during the scheduled meeting times.

Thursday, January 13

6AM – 8AM & 5PM – 7PM

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

Seattle Children’s Hospital Tech - Management Needs to Take Us Seriously

On Tuesday, December 21, our team met with management for our second session of joint negotiations. We were disappointed to receive a meek response to what we proposed last week. Management denied most of our strong lanaguage which included expanding access to union resources, an accessible new employee union orientation led by coworkers, limiting managements unilateral power over us, and fully integrating per diems into our union. Even worse, what could have been promising movement towards meeting some of our proposals was completely negated by the fact that their response was in “package” form, meaning that they will only accept these proposals altogether. Essentially, they are trying to force us to accept their bad proposals in exchange for some of our priorities. 

We are sad but not surprised to see that they do not want to fully incorporate the per diems into the union. Currently per diems do not have the same level of protection as other workers. They also cannot become stewards, bargaining team members, or even vote on our contract. This is a strategic move from management to divide us and weaken our union power.

We also did not hear back from many of our strong proposals that would improve the working conditions within the hospital including one would increase the equity that they claim to prioritize along and another that would decrease the cost of commuting to work. We need management to respond on all our non-economic proposals so we can move on to negotiate our economics, however, they have made it clear that is not their intention.

At the table we pushed back and told management that we won’t allow them to bully us into a bad agreement with this take it or leave it approach. We told them they need to meet us at the table as equals to negotiate a fair contract that addresses the real issues we face daily. 

Still, we know it will take more than our words at the table alone to change their minds. Management needs to see that we are ready to fight for a strong contract and that we don’t have time to waste playing hardball. We need to continue to talk with our coworkers and encourage them to join our Slack and Instagram(@schworkers) so everyone can be informed about upcoming actions we will take to show management we are serious! 

Our next bargaining session will be on January 4. Keep an eye out for more updates, including a summary of all the proposals we have put across the table so far! 

If you want to find out how to get more involved by joining the Contact Action Team or Slack, or you have any questions about bargaining, please call your Union Rep Christie Harris at 206-436-6606

“Today we saw that management is hoping to give us the bare minimum. It is more essential now than ever to be visibly united in front of management through actions and involvement of all departments so that we can garner power and demand the strong contract we deserve.”

— Kellie Koenig, Sonographer

Our SCH Tech bargaining team: Matt Brabant - Respiratory Educator, Madison Derksema - Pharmacy Tech, Angela Ballard – Surgical Tech, Kellie Koenig – Ultrasound Tech, Ashley Strickland – Respiratory Transport, Tyler Schaffer – Anesthesia Tech, Tesfaldet Kidanemariam – Respiratory Therapist 

Seattle Children’s Hospital Tech - Bargaining Begins!

Yesterday, December 14, our team met with management for a productive first bargaining session. We presented management with a flurry of non-economic proposals spanning nine different articles of our contract. These proposals came directly from feedback we heard from our coworkers and aim to address many of the issues we have all been facing at work. 

This included a robust Union Access language proposal, which would ensure that every new hire gets a chance to learn about their union and every worker will be able to be kept up to date on what is happening with their Union; a complete overhaul of our Equal Opportunity language, demanding the management be held accountable to upholding the values of equity they say they are committed to; a new parking and transit policy that would make commuting to and from work significantly more affordable; and several other strong proposals. Management also gave us their initial proposals, which our team has started to work on responses to. We hope to continue making progress on these language proposals in our next session so we can clear the way for our extremely important discussion about economic issues. Keep an eye out for more updates as we have more information to share our next session on Tuesday, December 21. 

We invite you to join our second virtual Contract Action Team meeting, where we will talk about what’s happening at the table in further detail and explain what workers can do to help support our efforts at the table, tomorrow on Thursday, December 16 @ 3:30PM. 

“We proposed some highly requested changes today and we are tentatively hopeful that management will cooperate in passing these desperately needed proposals.”

— Madison Derksema, Pharmacy Tech

Our SCH Tech bargaining team: Matt Brabant - Respiratory Educator, Madison Derksema - Pharmacy Tech, Angela Ballard – Surgical Tech, Kellie Koenig – Ultrasound Tech, Ashley Strickland – Respiratory Transport, Tyler Schaffer – Anesthesia Tech, Tesfaldet Kidanemariam – Respiratory Therapist 

UFCW 21 Member Story: Colleen's Persistence Pays Off

Colleen Morrison, UFCW 21 Member and Vascular Tech at MultiCare

On this week’s #MemberMonday, we are spotlighting Colleen Morrison, UFCW 21 member and Vascular Tech at MultiCare.

In August, Colleen and her coworkers’ new contract was ratified, increasing their wage scale from 14 steps to 18 steps. In October, Colleen reached out to her union rep to explain that she and several of her coworkers had over 15 years of service with MultiCare and had been stuck at step 14 for some time. Colleen expressed concern that they were not being fairly or adequately compensated for their years of service — especially having spent the last two years on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic as essential healthcare workers.

Colleen found that there was no explicit language in the new contract — nor discussion during negotiations — to audit and adjust these steps to account for long-term workers. Colleen and her coworkers contacted upper management and Labor Relations and were persistent in demanding fair compensation. They pointed out that inadequate wages are a major driving force in the safe staffing and retention crisis.

After much discussion and advocacy, MultiCare agreed to a one-time, non-precedent setting audit and step adjustment for all Vascular Tech members (and per diems) that had been stuck at step 14 for over a year. For Colleen, that meant an adjustment from step 14 to step 18 — that’s an hourly increase of more than 7 dollars! Put another way, that’s an additional $36,000+ over the life of the contract. Most importantly, because of Colleen’s persistence, 5 other members and 3 per diems received adjustments as well because Colleen advocated tirelessly for herself and her coworkers. Since this adjustment, Colleen’s husband has also been able to take some time off from work in order to rest his body.

Colleen — congratulations on this victory! We are so inspired by how you stood up for yourself and for your coworkers. #UnionStrong #Solidarity #RespectProtectPay #EssentialWorkers

PRMCE Tech - Management Proposes Economics

Our bargaining team met with management on Friday to receive management’s response to our economic proposal. While we did see a robust initial response, there’s still ground for management to meet our expectations. 

We will share more detail about the proposals at our upcoming Contract Action Meeting on Tuesday, December 7.

“We’re trying to expedite bargaining to get increases in place soon. We have power in this moment as healthcare workers. Now is the time to get involved!”

Sign the Petition for Respect and Retention!

Your PRMCE Tech Bargaining Team: Maria Goodall, Vascular Ultrasound

Darryl Keffer, Respiratory

Rodney Powers, Diagnostic Imaging

Terryl Smith, Pharmacy Tech

PRMCE Pro & Tech - Contract Action Meeting Scheduled for November 15!

We are preparing to start bargaining early for the Providence Everett Pros and Techs. Join us for a virtual contract action meeting on Monday, November 15 at 7PM via Zoom. Come and meet your bargaining teams!

We will talk about what bargaining looks like this year and our priorities at the bargaining table. So that we can have united support for our bargaining teams and contract priorities, members from the professional and technical units will come together for this meeting.

Meeting Details
Monday, November 15 @ 7pm
Details will be emailed out to members

Capital Medical Center Technical Service - Bargaining Continues

“We’re disappointed that MultiCare has decided to focus on takeaways when we should be focusing on solutions to staff our hospital.”

Our Bargaining Team: Adam Swigart, Julie Hinchcliff, Maureen Ciglia 

Your bargaining team met with management again on October 20 and 25 as we continue to negotiate your successor contract.

After conducting a comprehensive market analysis on wages, we finally presented our initial economic proposal to management. Prior to presenting, we had to warn the employer that our proposal to increase wages may be shocking, but that is only because Capitol Medical Center’s wages are shockingly behind other hospitals in the region. 

This problem has dramatically worsened recently as neighboring hospitals have been forced to significantly increase wages to compete in a tight labor market and to keep up with the historic rate of inflation. We told management that we hope MultiCare will be willing to take the necessary actions to correct our low wages that our past employers have failed, or more accurately refused, to take. Your bargaining team is committed to fighting for wage increases that will help relieve our staffing issues and recognize the skyrocketing cost of living. 

Unfortunately, the employer then made a proposal to replace our Paid Time Off (PTO) program with the standard PTO program used throughout MultiCare, which would negatively impact many at Capitol Medical Center. We are not surprised by this proposal, in fact we expected it, but we are severely disappointed that MultiCare has elected to propose a takeaway when we should be focusing on more important issues such as staffing our hospital. We’re also frustrated that they made this proposal when they still haven’t resolved our outstanding issues with PTO after MultiCare took over the hospital. 

Your bargaining team will meet with management again on Monday November 1 and we hope management will have a response to our wage proposal.

Capital Medical Center Technical Service - BARGAINING UPDATE

Your bargaining team kicked off negotiations with management on September 17 and then continued on September 27 and October 13.

At this early stage in negotiations our proposals have primarily focused on non-economic items, with the hope that we can resolve the less-contentious issues before wages dominate the conversation. Our initial proposals addressed issues such as floating, discipline, Extended Illness Bank (EIB)/Paid Time Off (PTO) improvements, and more. 

In the meantime, your bargaining team has been working on a comprehensive market analysis of wages in the region, including other MultiCare facilities such as Tacoma General, as we prepare to make our initial wage proposal in the coming weeks. 

However, management surprised the team on October 13 by making a proposal to significantly change our healthcare premiums. Recognizing that employees at Capitol Medical Center are paying significantly more for healthcare than other MultiCare units, management proposed to align our premium costs to what employees are paying at other facilities. 

The proposed changes to premium rates would include significant savings, with many saving hundreds of dollars every month. In fact, the employee only option on the My Connected Care plan would have no premium, costing the employee absolutely nothing in premium costs! The only plan that would experience a slight increase in costs would be the High Deductible Plan (HDHP), and that is because a new Health Savings Account (HSA) benefit would be added to the plan with the employer contributing annually to the account. 

After extensively reviewing the proposal, your bargaining team has agreed to the changes, which will go into effect starting January 2022. All other details of your benefits plans will remain unchanged (deductibles, co-pays, out of pocket maximums, etc.). The agreed upon changes will be reflected during open enrollment next month, with the option to change your plan by November 30 for plan year 2022.

Changes in healthcare premiums will also apply to the Nurses’ contract, however, since they are not in open contract negotiations they will soon conduct a special membership vote to approve the changes. The technical/service unit will vote when we’ve reached a tentative agreement on the entire contract. 

Your bargaining team will meet with management again on October 20, 25 and November 1, 10, 17. We have signed an extension agreement to ensure all benefits and protections of our contract remain in place as we continue negotiations for a successor agreement. 

“We’re optimistic as MultiCare has taken a more collaborative approach to negotiations compared to our past employers.”

Our Bargaining Team: Adam Swigart, Julie Hinchcliff, Maureen Ciglia

Providence Centralia Techs UNANIMOUSLY RATIFIY FIRST CONTRACT!

On October 7, the Providence Centralia Techs unanimously approved their first contract! About fifteen months after organizing, we were able to obtain a great first contract with competitive wage increases and job protections.

Our next step is for both parties to sign the contract, which usually takes one to two months. Then we will distribute paper copies of the contract and post it on our website at: ufcw21.org.

Your new wage increases will go into effect the first full pay period following October 7.

If you have any workplace or disciplinary issues, please reach out to your Union Rep Erin McCoy, 206-436-6598 (landline), or the Membership Resource Center, 206-436-6570.

You can find more information about your Union rights, Shop Steward training, free college, Union discounts, and how to sign a Union membership application at: ufcw21.org/new-members.

Welcome to UFCW 21, PCH Techs, and congratulations on winning your first contract!

Bargaining Team: Jennifer Frunz, Kathy Spencer, Jennifer Mullins

Providence Centralia Hospital Tech - Contract vote scheduled

We reached a tentative agreement with Providence Centralia on September 8! The next step is for you to vote on the agreement. We will be going over the agreement on October 4 over Zoom. The full agreement and your wage rate will be available during the in-person vote on October 7 during the time slots listed. The contract must be ratified by a simple majority of voters on October 7. You cannot submit an absentee vote or electronic vote and cannot vote outside of the time slots listed.

Please reach out to our Bargaining Team or Union Rep Erin McCoy if you have any questions.

Join your coworkers on these important dates:

Contract Vote Meeting via Zoom
Monday, October 4
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Contact our Bargaining Team or Union Rep for details

Vote on your contract in-person
Thursday, October 7
6:30 AM - 9:30 AM
11 AM - 2 PM
4 PM - 7 PM
Peppermill Inn
1233 Alder St
Centralia, WA 98531

Providence St. Peter Hospital Tech Wins First Contract!

On September 16, the Providence St. Peter’s Techs overwhelmingly approved their first contract! About seventeen months after organizing, we were able to obtain a great contract with competitive wage increases and job protections.

Our next step is for both parties to sign the contract, then we will distribute and post it on our website at: www.ufcw21.org. This process usually takes about one to two months. Your wage increases will go into effect the first full pay period following September 16, 2021. 

If you have any workplace or disciplinary issues please reach out to Union Rep Erin McCoy or the Membership Resource Center 206-436-6570. You can find more information about your Union rights, shop steward training, free college, Union discounts, and how to sign a Union membership application on https://www.ufcw21.org/new-members.

Welcome to UFCW 21, PSPH Techs, and congratulations on winning your first contract!

Bargaining Team: Josh Wood, Rae Lynn Korpi, Shapel Morgan, Colleen Castaneda

Providence Centralia Tech - Tentative Agreement Reached

Late night on September 8, after seventeen hours of bargaining, we reached a tentative agreement with Providence Centralia! After eleven months at the bargaining table and thirteen months after unionizing, we were able to obtain a great first contract for the Tech unit.

Our contract has a wage scale, longevity step increases, annual across-the-board wage increase, health insurance benefits, retirement benefits, and other job protections.

The next step is for our unit is to ratify the contract agreement. The full details of the agreement will be available in-person during our contract vote.

We will be holding a vote meeting in the next few weeks to go over the highlights of the agreement and to answer any questions. A follow-up update will be sent out next week with the vote date/location and vote meeting dates.

If you have any questions, please contact your union rep Erin McCoy or the Bargaining Team.

Providence St. Peter Tech - Contract Vote on September 16

We reached a tentative agreement with Providence St. Peter’s on August 30. The next step is for you to vote on the agreement. 

We will be going over the agreement at the vote meeting on September 13 via Zoom. The full agreement and wage rate will be available during the in-person vote on September 16. The contract must be ratified by a simple majority of voters. You cannot submit an absentee vote or electronic vote. 

PSPH Tech Vote Meeting via Zoom
Monday, September 13
6PM - 7PM

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

In-Person Vote @ Lacey Community Center
Thursday, September 16
6:30AM - 9:30AM
11AM - 2PM
4PM - 7PM

6729 Pacific Ave SE
Olympia, WA 98503
 
If you have any questions, please contact your union rep Erin McCoy or the bargaining team.

Our Tech Bargaining Team: Josh Wood (CT), Shapel Morgan (MRI), Rae Lynn Korpi (RT), Colleen Castaneda (Cath Lab)

Providence St. Peter Hospital Tech - We Have Reached an Agreement! Your Bargaining Team Fully Recommends a “YES” Vote!

After twenty hours of bargaining on August 30, we reached a tentative agreement with Providence St. Peter’s! After fourteen months at the bargaining table and eighteen months after unionizing, we were able to obtain a great first contract for the Tech unit. Our contract has a wage scale, longevity step increases, annual across-the-board wage increases, health insurance benefits, retirement benefits, and other job protections. The next step is for our unit to ratify the contract agreement. The full details of the agreement will be available in-person during our contract vote. 

We will be holding a vote meeting in the next few weeks to go over the highlights of the agreement and to answer any questions. A follow-up update will be sent out next week with the vote date/location and vote meeting dates. 

If you have any questions, please contact your union rep Erin McCoy or the bargaining team. 

In Solidarity, Your Tech Bargaining Team: Josh Wood (CT), Shapel Morgan (MRI), Rae Lynn Korpi (RT), Colleen Castaneda (Cath Lab)

Providence St. Peter Hospital Tech - Only economic issues to settle!

On August 12th, we met with Providence St. Peter’s management. During this session we focused on obtaining tentative agreements on the remaining non-economic issues. We were able to get three tentative agreements on seniority, leaves of absence, and definitions. Now the only issues that remain are union membership, hours of work/overtime, EIB/PTO, health insurance, retirement plan, education, and wages/premiums.

Our next bargaining session will be on August 23rd and Providence has agreed to bargaining all night in order to reach an agreement on the remaining issues.

Providence has rejected our proposals for daily overtime, education reimbursement funds, detailing the health insurance Employer contributions within the contract, keeping the retirement as is for the life of the contract, increasing premium/differential pay, reinstating EIB/PTO plan, and placing caregivers on the corresponding wage step for their years of service. To move Providence on all of these issues, we need to take action with Providence Centralia! We will be planning a joint action where we will be presenting strike pledge cards. We need you all to sign online!

Additionally, our unfair labor practice (ULP) regarding the changes to the PTO plan will go to hearing in November. The National Labor Relations Board has found merit in our ULP, but Providence is contesting the ULP so we must go to hearing. Also the NLRB has found merit in our ULP regarding the elimination of stand-by pay when you are called into work for the RTs. We are awaiting the remedy from the NLRB and believe affected caregivers will receive back-wages.

We were also able to win extra shift bonus pay for the RTs and have requested that the same incentive apply to the rest of the technical unit. Providence is looking into extending the bonus and we will continue to pressure them!

If you have any questions about bargaining or have workplace concerns please reach out to Erin McCoy

Providence Centralia Tech - Providence’s Proposals Come Up Short Again!

On June 16, our PCH Tech unit authorized a strike by 88% and rejected Providence’s current contract offer by 97%! We joined the PCH Support Services, PSPH Techs, and PRMCE RNs in authorizing a strike! Together we are more than 2,000 caregivers who will potentially be going on strike if Providence continues to make subpar proposals!

On June 30, we met with Providence for our tenth bargaining session. As a team we went through our priorities and drafted proposals which will help advance negotiations.

One of the package proposals that we presented include union membership language, management’s rights, premium pay, and hours of work/overtime. Under union membership language, we proposed “ modified shop”, which is the same language PCH RNs currently have in their contract. This gives caregivers the option of becoming union members or opting out 30 days after initial hire or after ratification for current employees. We also proposed premiums like daily overtime, overtime above your FTE, increases to shift differentials  and lead pay, and preceptor pay.

Providence did finally hear our arguments and understood that training new hires and students goes above and beyond our job duties and agreed to preceptor pay!

Providence also made a counter proposal to our longevity wage scale and across the board increases. They proposed to keep their current wage ranges and merit system in place with a 2% wage increase.  This is extremely disappointing given that Providence St. Peter’s Techs were offered across the board wage increases with a longevity wage scale. Our team made it clear that we deserve the same type of wage scale and we do the same work as PSPH Techs!

Throughout this bargain, Providence has treated us differently than PSPH Techs and other units. It is time that we show Providence that we are willing to fight just like our sisters and brothers at PSPH. We are asking that you sign onto our strike pledge card and pledge to participate in a strike if it comes to that! Please attend a strike education meeting on July 7 @ 6 PM via Zoom for a bargaining update and to learn more about your right to strike.

If you have any question please contact your union rep Erin McCoy. Our next bargaining dates are on July 19 and 26.

In Solidarity, Your Tech Bargaining Team: Jen Mullins, Rad Tech; Verity Olsen, Pharmacy Tech; Kathleen Spencer, RT; Jen Frunz, Mammo Tech 

Strike Education Meeting

Wednesday, July 7 

6:00PM

https://zoom.us/join

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

Mason General - Fully Recommended TA Reached! Bargaining Team Unanimously Recommends a YES Vote!

Our Mason General Bargaining Team: Brenda Routson, Jennifer Madara, Pam Murphy, Jessica Turner

Our team worked hard with management to make sure we could win a fair contract before expiration. We were quickly able to reach a fair agreement that will increase wages and premiums so we can recruit and retain good workers. 

Highlights of the agreement include:

• Three Year Agreement

• Adding certification pay for approved certifications

• More frequent Level/Step increases beyond level 12

• Competitive wage increases with market adjustments for certain positions

• Expanded Bereavement Leave

• Improvements to vacation scheduling

• New Hire orientation to the Union

Join us for a virtual Vote Meeting on Wednesday, June 23 @ 5:30PM to review the vote document and details of the agreement. 

---

Vote Meeting Scheduled!

Wednesday, June 23

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

Online vote is scheduled for Monday, June 28

We will be voting online via “Simply Vote” on Monday June 28 from 6:00AM to 8:00PM. You will be receiving an email from “Simply Vote” with your unique login information. If you do not receive an email from UFCW 21 or “Simply Vote,” by June 23, check your spam folder first. All active members in good standing are eligible to vote.

If you have still not received an email, please update your information through the link below or contact a union rep: