UFCW 3000 Member Story: Colleen Balestreri
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By day, Colleen works in the Lab at Tacoma General as a Med Tech. Outside of work, she conquers Ironman competitions.
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UFCW 3000 Member Story: Bryan Gilderoy
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Bryan poses in front of a mural in Racine, Wisconsin during a break from canvassing. This is his third election canvassing with Ufcw 3000, having previously worked in Missouri in 2018, and Minnesota in 2022. This was his first time door knocking for a presidential candidate.
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: Erika Bolser
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Erika Bolser dressed for work urgent care work (and we see you Taylor Swift novelty name badge!)
Erika Bolser has worked as a medical assistant with Skagit Regional Health’s urgent care at station square for over 7 years and been involved as a shop steward since 2018. For Erika one of the most important things she does is to welcome new hires to the union and make sure they know their rights under the contract. That includes making sure people exercise their right to union representation in an investigatory meeting, which is one of the other shop steward duties that she takes very seriously.
As a steward Erika is able to provide representation to coworkers, as an equal to management, when they are being interviewed about anything that could possibly lead to disciplinary action. She also has been critical in her role of investigating when workers’ wages are being unfairly garnished at Skagit Regional Health.
Outside Erika works part-time as teaching at Skagit Valley College the CMA (AAMA) program, educating incoming Medical Assistants. She also spends a lot of time raising her teenager, and teaching them about the empowerment workers have with a union, and how shop stewards are the backbone of any union!
UFCW 3000 Member Story: Vivian Pitre
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Vivian Pitre
Vivian Pitre has worked at the North City Safeway off 175th St. in Seattle for 6 years. She spent four years doing fresh cut work in the produce department, but didn't like how isolated the job was, so two years ago, she transferred to the deli department. She loves the interaction with customers. This is her first union job and she likes it. "It's a good job."
Vivian flagged down her Union rep during a site visit and wanted to know how long she had left until she made it to the journey payrate.
The Rep did some digging, and it turns out, Vivian should have made journey some time ago. This month, Safeway made it right. Not only is Vivian now making journey wages, but she was issued over $4,500 in back pay. That's wages she should have been earning all along!
Check your paycheck, check your union contract!
UFCW 3000 Member Story: Twin City Foods Bargaining Team
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Six out of the Seven Bargaining Committee members had never sat at a bargaining table before, and this is only the second contract fight for the workers at Twin City Foods (TCF).
Seis de los siete miembros del Comité de Negociación nunca se habían sentado en una mesa de negociaciones antes, y esta es solo la segunda lucha contractual para los trabajadores de Twin City Foods (TCF).
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: Madison Chitwood
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I have been with the Silverdale Safeway since 2020 working in different departments all over the store. Recently I have stepped up and taken the role of Shop Stewart at my store, because I believe my coworkers should be informed and updated on our next Contract Negotiations in 2025.
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: Billie Thomas
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Billie Thomas stepped up to become a workplace leader at Tacoma General for this years MultiCare contract campaign. Find out what inspired him to do so and how he and his coworkers stood together for a historic contract.
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: Daisy Hannelore
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Daisy is definitely is a shop steward from head to toe, here nametag even says it proudly to her co-workers and customers, “Union Shop Steward”.
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: Maria Aparicio
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“For me, having this wage increase will help me afford the cost of living, and not feel financial insecurity!”
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: Matthew Leon
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Matthew was hired on as a meat wrapper at Safeway in March of 2023. After a few paychecks he noticed he was not being paid as promised, so he talked to his union representative.
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: Elisabeth
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Workers should always check their paycheck to make sure that they are getting everything they are owed from their employer. Our member story this week is about Registered Nurse Elisabeth Meyer who noticed that her paycheck was missing premium pay for a nursing certification pay that she qualified for. Found out how as a union member she made sure she got what she was owed!
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: April Webb
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April Webb has worked for Macy's at the Lancôme cosmetics counter for just 1 year, but has quickly grown to become a skilled workplace leader. As a new hire during the last Macy’s contract campaign in 2023, she started by getting her coworkers to wear union buttons and to participate in the summer and fall info pickets. When Macy’s workers went on strike over Macy’s unfair labor practices in November she helped make sure her coworkers in cosmetics were ready to strike on Black Friday.
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: Shelly Clark
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Shelly Clark has worked for Safeway for almost 8 years and in that time has become a leader at the Cheney store (just Southwest of Spokane). Her fellow coworkers consider her the "Store Mom," and she happily takes that title. She keeps track of her coworker's birthdays to wish them a happy birthday, and keeps morale up with her positive energy and sense of humor. She has worked in several different positions for Safeway, including cashiering, file maintenance, night stocking, and is currently the head bookkeeper.
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: Lori Johnson and Jill Lowe
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North Mason School District students and families depend on reliable and safe transportation to and from school in an area where many homes are spread over a wide area. UFCW 3000 members driving buses for North Mason School District provide that transportation every school day with professionalism and pride. Recently some of those drivers competed in the Washington State Association of Pupil Transportation School Bus Road-e-o, including drivers Lori Johnson and Jill Lowe who placed 3rd in the overall competition!
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: Krystal Krotzer
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Krystal Krotzer is a Pharmacy Tech at Kaiser Permanente in Veradale, WA. Krystal has been at Tech for over 20 years where she began her career at Walgreens and moved on to Kaiser formerly Group Health in 2015.
Read More2024 UFCW 3000 Scholarship Recipients
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Congratulations to our 2024 Scholarship Recipients!
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: Sumitra Zoller
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Sumitra (Sam)Zoller is a Health Unit Coordinator/Certified Nursing Assistant at Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco Washington. She has been a loyal employee and has been with the organization for over 15 years and helped organize the union in 2020/2021 and then served on the first contract bargaining committee.
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: Michele Reed
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No matter who you are, sometimes life can be pretty rough. And sometimes the problems we’re faced with just can’t be solved while our regular day-to-day lives continue. The boss’s attitude is often, “Not my problem. You need to work your regularly scheduled shift!” Which is why union contracts generally have provisions for leaves in these situations, and why the labor movement has always pushed for laws to protect workers from unjust terminations and discipline when they need to take time off work for emergency situations.
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: Nicole Booker
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Nichole and her coworkers at the Clinic have started "Swag Day" where everyone wears yellow and UFCW swag every Friday during bargaining for the new union contract.
Read MoreUFCW 3000 Member Story: Monica Meloy and Jason Sherwood Fuog
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Monica Meloy and Jason Sherwood Foug knew their contract language and timelines, and helped win them and their coworkers nearly $80,000 in backpay for bonus pay in their contract that was paid out incorrectly.
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