Kaiser Pharmacy - Bargaining Update

We have been bargaining for five months and have several tentative agreements, mostly for non-economic contract language. We continue to argue with Kaiser about competitive wages. Kaiser seems unconcerned that wages are not aligned with other local healthcare employers. They seem only interested in the positions that are hard to fill.

The Pro Tech Optical and the National Alliance agreements both expired last week. Management has continued to push back on our proposal to align all contract expiration dates across the country. Our local Pharmacy contract expires July 31, 2026.

This is a priority for all contracts and we will continue to fight!

Nationally, Kaiser has made no substantial movement and there are a number of outstanding issues that need to be resolved.

Some other bargaining units that fall under the Alliance National Agreement have taken strike authorization votes and have notified Kaiser that they are planning to strike on or around October 13. Since the local Pharmacy contract has not expired, we cannot strike at this time but there are things we can do.

We can voice our concerns to management in solidarity with our Alliance National partners whose contracts have expired.

We can work together and push back against Kaiser's refusal to acknowledge that wages need to be sustainable and staffing needs to be safe.

We can support our local contract fight by filling out the card being circulated. If you need a card contact your steward or Contract Specialist JJ Benson 425-306-1357.

It's time to turn up the volume on our message and our collective power.

Metropolitan Market - Bargaining Update

Bargaining Team: Dan Howes, Produce - Crown Hill; Alej Gallardo, Meat Cutter - Sammamish; Devin Kjolso, Meat Cutter - Uptown; Maggie Baze, Mercer Island; Tori Nakamatsu-Figaroa, Bakery - Uptown; Bill Graves, Maintenance Clerk - Crown Hill; Felicity, Sand Point; Kelly Shaffer, Bakery - Uptown (not pictured)

Our bargaining team met with Metropolitan Market again after nearly two months since our last bargaining session. Although there was significant time between bargaining sessions, we continued to organize—wearing buttons and organizing leaflets at our stores until we reach a deal.

At the bargaining table on October 2, we made significant progress on aligning our interests with Metropolitan Market with key issues—apprentice wage scale progression, training & development investments, department head premiums, and other contract improvements. While many of the concepts our employer discussed were benefit improvements, some of our key issues still need to be addressed—guaranteed hours and wages.

A significant part of our discussion was Metropolitan Market's desire to merge the seafood clerk and meat wrapper classifications into one. While this would significantly raise wages for seafood clerks and provide more flexibility in the department, our bargaining team raised concerns regarding our wrapper's right to daily seniority, labor hours and staffing, and workload. We will continue this discussion at our next bargaining session which will be scheduled soon.

If you're interested in hearing more about negotiations or want to share your thoughts on existing proposal discussion, please reach out to your union representative or bargaining team member.

Children's Therapy Center - Bargaining Update: It's All Out There!

On Friday, October 3, our bargaining team met with management for our second day of negotiations on our first union contract.

We began our second bargaining day putting the finishing touches on what we would later present to the employer as the final few new proposals we expect to make towards our union contract. These primarily consist of the economic sections, some of which we have highlighted below:

Scheduling: A proposal to memorialize existing practices when it comes to our work schedules, particularly our day-to-day flexibility.

Caseloads: We proposed a framework to outline the appropriate day-to-day caseloads for each job classification and proposed earning an hourly premium when maximum caseloads are exceeded for a prolonged period of time.

Premiums: We proposed additional compensation if you hold specialty certifications, train or mentor new employees, are qualified to care for patients who are deaf/hard of hearing or require medically complex feeding, and more!

Health Insurance: Proposed that the employer pay more towards the cost of our health insurance premiums.

Continuing Education: We proposed to increase the amount of money available to employees for continuing education related expenses, as well as an increase to the paid education time we can utilize.

Wages and Placement on the Wage Scale: We proposed union wage scales which outline set increases for both continued years of experience and future cost-of-living adjustments. Furthermore, our bargaining team proposed a pathway for current employees to be placed onto these wage scales, incorporating credit for our relevant experience in our positions.

After presenting our initial proposals to the employer, they asked a couple of clarifying questions and went back to their caucus room to continue reviewing/discussing. Overall, our team were encouraged that the employer indicated that our proposals were thorough and straightforward. We are eager to get back to the bargaining table and remain hopeful that we will get responses to our proposals from the employer at our session scheduled for October 15.

Join our Contract Action Team Meeting to ask members of our bargaining team questions about our progress so far, and discuss next steps as first contract negotiations continue!

Bargaining Team: Lindsey Gilbert, Family Resource Coordinator; Ronda Duluoz, Infant Mental Health; Megan Rupert, Special Educator

"We're feeling great about the progress so far! Two sessions down, and all of our proposals are on the table!"

— Megan Rupert, Special Educato

PCC October Contract Action Team Meetings

Join your coworkers to prepare for upcoming negotiations and how to win a fair contract! If you have any questions, please call your Union Representative.

Monday, October 6: 10am—11am Issaquah Public Library, Meeting Room: 10 W Sunset Way, Issaquah, WA 98027

Tuesday, October 7: 10am—11am Ballard Library - 5614 22nd Ave NW Seattle, WA 98107 - Meeting Room

Tuesday, October 7: 4pm—5pm Fremont Library - 731 N 35th St. Seattle, WA 98103 - Meeting Room

Tuesday, October 7: 9am—10am Starbucks, 22833 Bothell Everett Hwy, Bothell , WA 98021

Tuesday, October 7: 5pm—6pm Mountlake Terrace Library, 23300 58th Ave W, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043

Tuesday, October 7: 4pm—5pm Burien second floor meeting room, 400 SW. 152nd St. Suite 100 Burien, WA 98166

Tuesday, October 7: 9am—10am Starbucks, 22833 Bothell Everett Hwy, Bothell , WA 98021

Tuesday, October 7: 5pm—6pm Mountlake Terrace Library 23300 58th Ave W, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043

Tuesday, October 7: 6pm—7pm Kirkland Library 308 Kirkland Ave, Kirkland, Wa 98033

Wednesday, October 8: 10am—11am Northeast Library: 6801 35th Ave NE, Seattle WA, 98115

Wednesday, October 8: 6:30pm—7:30pm Green Lake Library: 7364 East Green Lake Dr N, Seattle WA, 98115

Wednesday, October 8: 3:30pm—5:00pm West Seattle. 2306 42nd Ave. SW., Seattle, WA 98116

Wednesday, October 8: 5pm—6pm Bellevue Public Library, Meeting Room #3: 1111 110th Avenue NE, Bellevue, WA 98004

Wednesday, October 8: 9am—10am Starbucks, 11523 Avondale Rd NE, Redmond, WA. 98052

Thursday, October 9: 9:15am—10:15am Mountlake Terrace Library, 23300 58th Ave W, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043

Thursday, October 9: 9:15am—10:15am Mountlake Terrace Library 23300 58th Ave W, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043

Thursday, October 9: 7:00pm—8:00pm On-Line Zoom Meeting >>

Capital Medical Center RN - Making Progress!

Over the past few sessions, our Capital Medical RN bargaining team has been working hard to move negotiations forward on a successor contract. While we have reached tentative agreements on many language items, we have not reached an agreement on a lot of economic pieces. In our most recent session on September 19, we put all our outstanding proposals on the table. These proposals are not minor details—they are critical to recruiting and retaining nurses at our hospital.

Let's be clear—our priorities aren't optional. Nurses need:

• Better staffing solutions and manageable patient loads

• Incentive pay for vacant shifts

• Competitive wages and benefits that recruit and retain RNs

• Improvements to report pay for on-call nurses

• Increases to premiums

• Respect for the work we do every single day

These proposals are the solutions we need to provide quality care for our patients. We've also made it clear that our hospital must remain competitive with Providence St. Peter's new contract. Our wage scale and contract need to be competitive with Providence. Anything less will only make staffing challenges worse.

We will be bargaining into the night on September 23 and 25. We asked that you show your support by:

• Wearing your union buttons and colors—make your solidarity visible

• Talk to your coworkers—make sure everyone knows what's at stake

• Be ready—if management drags their feet, we'll need to take action!

Bargaining Team: Bonnie Verellen, Dennis Verellen, Cindy Dixon

Questions or ready to get more involved? Contact our bargaining team or reach out to Kimberly Starkweather at (206) 436-6515.

This is our time. Our patients, our profession, our fight.