UFCW 3000 Member Story: Alison DeBoise

Alison DeBoise recording a solidarity video for California Planned Parenthood workers fighting for a union

Alison DeBoise (she/they pronouns) works as an Insurance Biller for Planned Parenthood in Seattle and is an active shop steward at her work location. They talk about how they got involve in being a steward:

After college, I knew I wanted to work for Planned Parenthood because I'm passionate about access to reproductive healthcare for all. I began working at the Bellevue location in the Refill Center mailing patients their medication and became interested in the union after getting to know my coworkers better, attending general membership meetings, and our contract expiring not long after the pandemic started. Other stewards in my workplace inspired me to become a steward because I wanted to be a helpful resource to my coworkers.

Alison is now serving on the bargaining committee for the Planned Parenthood contract during negotiations this year, and has also stepped up to offer solidarity with Southern California Planned Parenthood workers fighting to organize a union with UFCW Local 324 by recording a video to offer those workers solidarity:

Being a part of a union with my coworkers has given us greater power to ask for and get what we need. Better wages, better working conditions, better work-life balance, and better time-off benefits.

We couldn’t agree more with Alison!

Northwest Center - Making Headway

Northwest Center
Making Headway

“Many changes have been announced recently without much input from those of us providing care. The MOU on office spaces we won provides a process that feels empowering and gives us a voice.”

— Our Union Bargaining Team

Our Northwest Center UFCW 3000 Bargaining Team: Jenica Barrett, Speech Language Pathologist; Cassie Villarreal, Speech Language Pathologist; Kimmy Burns, Physical Therapist;  Julia Szilard, Physical Therapist (not pictured)

We reached tentative agreements on many of the foundations of our first Union contract! These include who is covered by our contract, what happens when new positions are created, Union membership, Union Orientation for new hires, and more. 

One of the most vital pieces for us to achieve better working conditions and wages is having the time for union stewards to prepare for negotiations. Management has time to prepare for negotiations during the workday, but previously rejected our proposals that the employees serving on the Bargaining Team be released from work for preparation. Preparing for bargaining is time intensive, and when it is conducted outside of work hours it limits accessibility for employees that have other obligations. We advocated for bargaining participants to be released from work for preparation so that future Bargaining Team members can participate without barrier. 

Our team also finalized an agreement on collaboration for office space changes. Our next bargaining date is on July 26 and we will be focusing on jointly crafting language around caseloads and remote work and presenting our economic proposals.

Questions or to get more involved, contact your Bargaining Team Stewards or Union Representative Ian Jacobson at 206-436-6550.
 

FOLLOW US ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UP TO DATE WITH BARGAINING!

Facebook: Early Supports Union | Twitter: @earlysupportsunion

PCC We made our proposals!

We met with PCC representatives on June 20. Our Union Bargaining Committee made proposals addressing:

• Workplace Safety—including violent intruders, de-escalation training, sexual harassment, domestic violence, and security escorts

• Hours and Scheduling—to make sure workers can get more hours when we need to

• Critical Staffing Minimums—including extra pay for short staffing periods

• Pension for Retirement—including increasing the employer contribution and securing the continuing funding needed to keep our pension plans healthy

• WeTrain Workforce Development—to establish an employer-funded training and workforce development fund

• Vacation Bidding—to establish more consistent and timely approval for vacation requests

In addition to these proposals, we had productive conversations with PCC around Annual Personal Development Reviews (APDR) as well as private employee spaces for lactation, religious observations, and self-medical checks.

Any PCC member is invited to RSVP and join us to observe our next bargaining session with PCC, July 26 @ 9:00AM. See you there!

TAKE ACTION TO BUILD POWER IN YOUR WORKPLACE:

Informational picket at Central District PCC on July 9 from 3:00pm – 5:00pm

Add your name: PCC Workers Declaration of Demands!

Our Union Bargaining Team also discussed the plan to win the best PCC contract possible, including how we can take collective action. This starts with asking our coworkers to sign on to the PCC Workers Declaration of Demands and do whatever it takes to achieve these demands. bit.ly/coopworkerspledge ▸

Keep your personal information up-to-date

Don’t miss out on important bargaining updates, action alerts, and contract information: Make sure your personal contact info is up-to-date! Go to: ufcw3000.org/update-your-information

You have the right to wear Union buttons!

Join an upcoming Contract Action Team Meeting!

Talk to a Steward or Union Rep to get the dates and times for our June CAT meetings.

Jefferson County Public Employees - Delay on Ratification Vote Pending Further Negotiations with Management

Your bargaining team wants to let you know that after coming to what we believed was a Tentative Agreement on June 7, it appears that we have some details to work out with management and will be scheduling another bargaining session. 

We hope to be able to announce next week that these issues have been resolved and let the bargaining unit know when we will be able to hold a ratification vote, and we appreciate your patience! 

Our Bargaining Team: Tim Weissman, Quinn Grewell, Susan O’ Brien, Sarah Martin, John Pray.

Ron's Hayden Super 1 Meat Contract Ratified

Forks Community Hospital (RN) - New contract ratified

Forks Community Hospital (RN)
New contract ratified

Thank you for participating in the contract vote! The collective bargaining agreement was ratified on June 21, with all attending members voting “Yes” and the LPNs voting “Yes” to joining the RN unit. This agreement:

• Increases wages 16.25% over the life of the contract

• Adds LPNs to the RN bargaining unit

• Protects affordable health care

• Increases educator pay

“The Bargaining Team feels strongly that the wage increases in this newly ratified contract will continue to allow Forks Community Hospital to recruit and retain competent, qualified RNs. Thank you for participating in your union by attending the ratification vote!”

-Amanda Craft, Bargaining Team, ED/Acute Care RN

Providence St. Joseph Hospital - Tentative agreement reached

VOTE DETAILS

Join your co-workers and vote on the new contract! It takes all of us to fight for the benefits we worked hard for.

Tuesday, June 27
Drop in hours 2:30 PM—7 PM
Providence St. Joseph Hospital, Classroom
500 E. Webster Ave, Chewelah, WA

Our Bargaining Team spent long days with Management and are excited, hopeful, and confident this contract will help address retention and recruitment issues at Providence St. Joseph Hospital.

The new contract addresses:

• The below average compensation with a new competitive wage scale

• Increase to premiums

• Added holiday

• Clean up of unnecessary language

QUESTIONS? Please reach out to a Bargaining Team member or Union Rep Amy Radcliff @ 509- 340-7370.

Our Bargaining Team (L—R): Dawn Trotter, Financial Counselor; Bridgett Mccoy, Coordinator; Terri Barbano-Cardin, Respiratory Therapist; (back row) Amy Radcliff, Union Rep

St. Michael Medical Center (Pro-Tech) - Tentative agreement reached - Vote Scheduled

Ratification Vote

Join your coworkers and vote on the new contract!

Friday, June 30
6 AM—9 AM • 12 PM—3:30 PM • 6 PM —9 PM
St. Michael Medical Center - Conference Room G920 (near cafeteria), 1800 NW Myhre Rd, Silverdale, WA 98383

Our Union Bargaining Team is excited to announce that after negotiating late into the night of June 20, we have reached a tentative agreement with Management on our new contract!

Highlights of the proposed agreement include:

• Goodbye to ghost steps: We have completely revamped the wage scale, ensuring that each step represents a meaningful increase. No more steps with a 0% increase.

• Historic wage increases: Substantial raises for each classification that recognize the value of our work and dedication.

• Healthcare maintained: Our healthcare coverage remains intact, providing the same level of comprehensive coverage, low cost, and support as before.

• Standby pay for professional and technical roles will see an unprecedented increase.

• We have restored the Per Diem differential back to 15%.

• Our new contract also includes improved language on critical issues such as low census, preceptorship, certification pay, grievances, and much more!

The above highlights only scratch the surface of all the improvements proposed for our contract. More details, including copies of the entire proposed contract, will be available at the ratification vote.

Bargaining Team: Paul Harris, ER Tech; Chris Young, Transport; Don Szabo, Lead Medical Imaging; Rob Shauger, CNA 8th floor; Angela Roberson, Heart and Vascular; Connie Baker, RT; Kain McLeod, Pharmacy Technician

Multicare Covington medical center CONTRACT VOTE SCHEDULED!

The summary of contract wins and other contract changes is now available at the link here

After many months of bargaining, we finally have a tentative agreement. We worked hard to get a contract that works for all! We won historic wage increases that can help recruit and retain qualified staff!

We also won:

• New wage scales and job classifications.

• Filled in all ghost steps.

• Low Census Limits for RNs.

• Staffing Accountability Language.

• And other great wins!

Wednesday, June 28, 2023
6:00am-8:00am, 12pm-3:30pm, and 5pm-8pm
At the Covington Command Center (In the hospital wing down the hall from the kitchen)

The vote will be in-person and members will have the opportunity to speak to Bargaining Team members before casting their ballot. Please arrive during the posted vote times as we cannot allow members to enter the vote room outside of the advertised times.

LabCorp Negotiations Begin!

On Friday, June 16 our Union Bargaining Team met with Management to begin contract negotiations. We shared some our non-economic proposals addressing concerns about Safety, the Grievance Process, and Union access and orientation.

We also raised our collective concerns about Staffing, Wages, Sick Leave, and FMLA. We asked Management how they plan to address ongoing problems with underpaying and understaffing our worksites, and to take a proactive and collaborative approach to staff recruitment and retention. We shared our powerful stories to drive home how these serious and widespread issues are affecting us at work and at home. We look forward to hearing their responses and diving deeper into these issues and economics when we meet next. We’ll stand firm in our belief that UFCW LabCorp workers and patients deserve better, and together, we’ll fight to win a fair contract!

GET INVOLVED!

June 27 at 6:30PM - 7:30PM on Zoom!

“Join us next Tuesday for our Contract Action Team Meeting to discuss specifics about the challenges we’re facing at the table and how we can stand together to win the best contract possible. We will also be sharing info on how to apply for short-term disability and FMLA!” —Nancy Pyanowski, Dispatch

GOT BUTTONS? Show THEM!

Share a pic of you or your coworkers wearing UFCW 3000 lanyards and buttons on SLACK or Facebook.

Questions or concerns? Reach out to our Bargaining Team or Union Rep, Christie Harris at 206-436-6606.

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Jenny Johnson De-Escalates A Dangerous Situation

Jenny Johnson

Unfortunately, grocery and retail workers are dealing with more violence in their workplaces, and it too often involves firearms. Since these workers are in public-facing businesses there is little between them and the world’s problems.

Jenny Johnson works at the Twin Lakes Fred Meyer and was at work recently when a shooting took place. She approached one of the victims who was at one of the front doors wounded. She noticed that he was holding a gun and so she stopped and said she would help as long as he put the gun aside. Once the gun was out of the situation Jenny and a coworker walked the victim over to the customer-service desk and applied towels to the wounds. When the paramedics arrived Jenny was able to keep the victim calm and encouraged him to answer all questions of the first responders at the scene.

But now Jenny is concerned because of the lack of an emergency door near the customer service area. Her coworkers upfront brought up that the Tacoma and Puyallup locations have emergency doors nearby to allow for quick and safe evacuation. We agree that this is a reasonable request of Fred Meyer to keep these workers safe!

Education and Safety Resources are available through our Union!

You and your co-workers are the key to building a strong union that advocates for safety in every workplace >>

Covington Medical Center - Historic tentative agreement reached

MultiCare Covington Hospital
HISTORIC TENTATIVE AGREEMENT REACHED

We worked hard to get some great improvements to our contract, but we couldn’t get everything we wanted this go around. We won new historic wages with the largest first year increases we have ever seen – making us the highest paid in the MultiCare system. We are proud to recommend a YES vote!

After months of bargaining, we finally reached a tentative agreement and fought hard to get a contract that works for all. As a result, we won historic language and wage increases!

» Historic wages that can help recruit and retain qualified staff

» New wage scales and job classifications

» Filled in all ghost steps

» Low census limits for RNs

» Staffing accountability language

» And other great wins!

PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT VOTING TIMES SO YOU CAN VOTE ON OUR NEW CONTRACT!

If you have questions, please reach out to a Bargaining Team member OR call Union Rep Ian Jacobson @ 206-436-6550.

MFused - Bargaining Continues

Want to learn more details and find out how we can work together to win a fair contract? Join our negotiations update meeting!

Wednesday, June 28 @ 3PM
Round Table Pizza, 15730 1st Ave S, Burien WA, 98148

Food will be provided.

On June 13, our Bargaining Team met with Management to continue negotiations. Management saw our sticker action around water bottles, and we are happy to announce that we maintained the right to keep water bottles at our workstations! Although that was resolved, we still have a long way to go on other issues.

We presented our proposals around:

• Fairness in the disciplinary process

• Process to resolve workplace grievances

• Application of seniority

Management is insistent on:

• Not having cell phones at work

• Ultimately changing our work schedules to begin and end later

We agreed to add language around protective gear, and follow state law around product use in the workplace. We listened to all concerns around Management’s proposals and are pushing back to maintain our current schedules and access to our phones.

WhidbeyHealth Medical Center - We deserve a fair contract

WhidbeyHealth Medical Center
We deserve a fair contract

We are at the tail end of non-economics but have a few items not tentatively agreed upon. We are still holding strong to 14 days-notice to submit a resignation, but WhidbeyHealth disagrees and wants a fulfillment of 21 days-notice.

We also continued to propose our non-discrimination language that included timelines to ensure that with a complaint, our voices are heard and an investigation is started. WhidbeyHealth has told us they are not interested in responding to non-discrimination language within a 30 day timeline. They told us that their final offer was to have no timeline for a response. All we are asking from WhidbeyHealth is to ensure their employees can find out if their discrimination concerns are being heard and investigated. If there are discrimination issues at work, shouldn’t we be confident that the Employer is looking into those complaints within 30 days?

Show solidarity with our co-workers to let WhidbeyHealth know that WE WANT A FAIR CONTRACT AND WE WANT IT NOW!

We were supposed to be bargaining the week of June 26, but WhidbeyHealth has canceled our bargaining date for that week. We will be passing out stickers to wear the week of the June 26.

WhidbeyHealth Bargaining Team:
Jennifer MacNeill, Lab; Rosalie Nguyen, Pharmacy

Northwest Center Progress Made in West Seattle

“Thank you to everyone who shared the Community Letter and has been participating in solidarity actions! This type of unity will help us continue to make progress and win a contract we can be proud of.” — Our Union Bargaining Team

Last week our Union Bargaining Team met with NWC Leadership to discuss questions about the changes in service area boundaries and office closures. It was a deep dialogue- where they shared their commitment to having a structure in place for reassigning West Team providers and new referrals. We agreed that feedback will be elicited from all affected employees before any decisions are made.

NWC shared that they didn’t have a set plan already decided and committed to getting input from providers before making decisions on how to structure our teams and caseloads.

We negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlines a timeline between now and August 18 for sharing information, gathering feedback, a work group process, and democratic voting on the plan moving forward.

Bargaining resumes on June 20 to negotiate over changes in Offices and continue conversations on remote work and caseloads, and on July 26 our Union Bargaining Team will present our Economic proposals.

Questions or to get more involved, contact your Bargaining Team Stewards or Union Representative Ian Jacobson at 206-436-6550.

Follow us on our social media to stay up to date with bargaining!

Facebook: Early Supports Uwnion | Twitter: @earlysupportsunion

EvergreenHealth Kirkland - Bargaining Continues

Join our bargaining Team as we plan out next moves:

Wednesday, June 14
5:30pm
EvergreenHealth Kirkland - Tan 100
To RSVP, go to: bit.ly/432v1ct

EvergreenHealth Kirkland
Bargaining Continues

Our Union Bargaining Team met with Management on June 9 to discuss the challenges of work we do. They listened to what we had to say, asked some questions, and had a few responses. However, they don’t seem to get it.

Management needs to understand why WAGES and STAFFING improves RETAINMENT and RECRUITMENT!

We have proposed many changes to our contract, including improvements to compensation.

What keeps Management from saying “YES”?

• Maintaining low overhead?

• More $ for Management?

• More $ for equipment or building improvements?

We understand they have a budget. Do they understanding the cost of living and working in Kirkland?

If we have to be on-call and live within a half hour of the hospital, where can we live and how much will it cost? The cost of living has gone up significantly in the past three years.

Does Evergreen understand this?

READY TO GET MORE INVOLVED? Join your union today and go to: join.ufcw.org/join/3000

QUESTIONS? Talk to a member of the Bargaining Team or call Union Representative Jack Crow @ 206-436-6614

Isoray - Bargaining Continues

Our Bargaining Team: Fernando Gonzalez-Perez, Cristal Bauer, Tamra Neish

We had our third session on Friday, June 9, where our bargaining team presented our wage proposal to management. Our proposal included a three-year wage scale with consistent wage increases and acknowledges  experience and longevity. We believe this proposal is a fair representation of our hard work and dedication as well as stays competitive within our industry.

In addition to our wage proposal, we continued to work on the Leave of Absence language and Grievance Procedure. These items are important to us, and we’re committed to ensuring that they’re appropriately addressed in our contract.

We’re excited to continue bargaining with Isoray throughout the summer, with several bargaining dates on the calendar for July, August, and September.

Join us for the next Contract Action Team (CAT) Meeting!

• Tuesday, June 13

• 5:30pm – 6:30pm

• Richland UFCW 3000 office

• 2505 Duportail St, Suite D. Richland, WA 99352

Come learn more about how bargaining is going, talk about our proposals, and share your ideas!

Jefferson County Public Employees - Tentative agreement reached!

After three bargaining sessions we have reached a tentative agreement with the county!

This recommended agreement includes:

• Significant raises and improvements to the structure of the wage scale.

• Conversion to a paid time off system with greater flexibility of use, a larger carry-over of hours year-to-year, and the addition of a catastrophic sick leave bank.

• Expansion of longevity bonuses to include workers with 30, 35, 40, and 45 years of service.

• Inclusion of grandparents and grandchildren in bereavement leave in the event of the loss of a family member.

Notice of the date and time of the contract ratification vote will be forthcoming shortly.

“We feel this is a damn excellent deal!”

- Tim Weissman, Office of Environmental Health Services

Forks Community Hospital RNs - Tentative agreement reached!

After three bargaining sessions we have a reached a tentative agreement that includes:

• Across the board wage increases

• Two additional steps at the top of the wage scale

• Reduction of full-time status from 37 to 36 hours so that 0.9 FTEs do not have to use PTO to maintain full time healthcare benefits

• Increase in education instructor pay

Join your co-workers and vote on the new contract!

The Bargaining Team looks forward to seeing you at the vote to discuss this unanimously recommended tentative agreement.

Wednesday, June 21
9 am—12 pm |1 pm—4 pm
Hospital conference room across from the cafeteria

Bargaining Team (L—R): Lisa Huelsdonk, Darlene Rondeau, Amanda Craft, Carlyn Beebe (not pictured, Annie Crippen)

UFCW 3000 Member Story: August Silva

August SIlva

August Silva (she/they), is a Patient Access Center Representative and Shop Steward at Planned Parenthood Tacoma. As a trans woman, she has faced a lot of challenges at her previous jobs, many of them coming behind the boss’s door:

I knew I wanted to work for Planned Parenthood because when I started transitioning in the Fall of 2021 and I couldn't think of a place that'd be more accepting of trans people like me than the place I get my hormone replacement care. My previous employer felt like I was taking "too much time off for frankly unnecessary office visits" and I applied the very next day! I love working with transgender patients.

August completed her first steward training this spring, and sees her work at Planned Parenthood and organizing her coworkers as being two sides of the same coin:

I want to do whatever sort of work I can for employees and patients to make sure there are equitable practices for everyone within the organization, and I think being a part of UFCW [3000] gives me the safety to be a voice for transgender employees in states that aren't unionized.

Outside of work, August enjoys listening to Jazz and helping provide mutual aid to unhoused people with Serve The People Tacoma. August is a great example of solidarity in action.