After months of bargaining, our Bargaining Team reached a fully recommended tentative agreement with Safeway on October 21, 2024. This agreement includes increases to our health and pension contributions, notice for mandatory overtime, improved bereavement language, a 40 hour guarantee, clarification for sick leave accruals with one protected sick leave bank, and the largest wage increases we’ve ever had.
Read MoreOn Wednesday, October 16 we met with Management and bargained over some remaining non-economic issues. We did reach a few Tentative Agreements on these items.
Read MoreDuring our recent membership meeting on October 8th, we presented the settlement reached regarding the tenure wage grievance. By choosing this settlement, we secured the best possible outcome for the entire Card Kingdom bargaining unit. If we had taken the grievance to arbitration, the Employer's interpretation could have been applied, which would have been less favorable for the bargaining unit.
MOU on Wage Scale Interpretation: The Union and Employer have agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding that clarifies the interpretation of the wage scale in Article 21. Members will receive their tenure increases on two specific dates based on their hire date: January 1st for those hired between July 28th and January 1st, and July 27th for those hired between January 2nd and July 27th. This agreement prevents significant inequity that could have arisen from the Employer's initial interpretation, which would have required some members to wait nearly an entire year for their increases. With this new language, no member will have to wait more than six months for their tenure wage increase.
Compensation for Active Members: Each active bargaining unit member will receive 8 hours of pay.
Backpay for Former Members: The settlement includes 50% of the backpay owed to former Card Kingdom members who were affected by the pay discrepancy.
If you have any questions regarding this settlement, please reach out to grievance representative Dominic Zinsli at (206) 436-6613 until October 23rd. After that date, your Union Representative, Allison Hanley, will be back from her out-of-state assignment and can be contacted at (206) 436-6586.
We were eagerly awaiting Washington Beef’s economic proposal, negotiating in good faith, but they didn’t consider how expensive everything is and how difficult it is to support our families and keep a roof over our heads.
Read MoreAfter over 3 months of negotiations, our bargaining team has reached a recommended tentative agreement on a new contract.
Our Contract Ratification Vote will be held October 28, 2024, at the Hampton Inn, between 6:30 AM – 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM - 8:00 PM.
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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!
The practice of “rounding” an employee’s timecard is being eliminated, and instead CHI Franciscan are converting their timekeeping systems to an “actual timekeeping” calculation- where employees are paid to-the-minute, rather than having the daily totals of their hours-worked rounded up or down to the nearest quarter-hour, respectively.
Read MoreContract Action Team Meetings are a time when we can get together and plan for the upcoming contract negotiations, discuss workplace issues, and take action together!
Read MoreOur Bargaining Team had two full days of negotiations with the Employer on Thursday, October 3 and Friday, October 4. In response to management’s slow walking on wages so far, we delivered our petition for a fair contract, which was signed by nearly 85% of NWA bargaining unit members! This is a strong signal to management that NWA workers are willing to take collective action to win the wages and benefits we deserve.
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On Tuesday, October 1, your MultiCare Mary Bridge Registered Nurses and Diabetes Educator Nurses met management at the bargaining table to continue negotiations on our Collective Bargaining Agreement and to introduce the Diabetes Educators into our union.</strong> This is our third bargaining date with MultiCare since we began discussions in late August, and the progress we've made in such a short time is worth noting. Additionally, this session also marks the first time we’ve received responses from the Employer regarding the transition of the Diabetes Educator RNs into our union. While there’s still work to be done here, MultiCare appears aligned with our goal of accelerating their integration into our unit.
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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!
On October 3, we held our second bargaining session with Jefferson Healthcare management. The Hospital provided responses to some of our proposals, specifically on non-discrimination language and payroll errors. We’re making steady progress in these areas and expect to reach an agreement on these articles soon.
During this session, we also introduced new staffing language. In 2023, UFCW 3000, WSNA, and SEIU 1199NW worked together to improve staffing conditions for healthcare workers across Washington. Part of the new staffing law SB 5236 requires hospitals to have a staffing committee that meets quarterly. This committee, which includes nurses and support staff, plays a critical role in creating staffing plans and finding solutions to staffing challenges.
Our staffing proposal strengthens these responsibilities by including them in our contract. This ensures that nurses can address any violations of the staffing committee’s operations through the grievance process. The proposal also sets a clear framework for how acute and chronic staffing issues should be managed, including a mediation process to resolve staffing concerns.
While wages and benefits are vital to recruiting and retaining staff, the proposed staffing language acts as a safeguard, giving nurses and caregivers on the Hospital Staffing Committee real power and a strong voice in addressing staffing issues. The Hospital is currently reviewing this proposal.
Our next bargaining session is scheduled for October 7. By the end of the month, we plan to begin discussions on compensation, health insurance, and pension.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Ryan Degouveia. Don’t forget that you can still submit your bargaining survey and your Sound Health and Wellness feedback survey.
We will be holding another contract update/contract action meeting soon!
On September 30, 2024, we had our third bargaining session with Providence. We talked about wages and year-for-year experience that will help us to retain and recruit top talent. We continue to talk about other issues with an open dialogue. These bargaining sessions are moving quickly, and we are optimistic about the outcome.
“We are happy with the tone of our employer, who has shown us thoughtfulness with their proposal and seeing the needs of our bargaining unit. Join us in wearing your Union stickers and colors to show solidarity!”
— Your Bargaining Team: Dorys Sanders, Steven Tifft, Candice Hubbard, Brionna Stone, and Kim Jorgenson
One of the most powerful tools we have is to share our stories. If there is an issue you care deeply about or would like to have addressed at bargaining, please think about how you have been impacted and reach out to a member of the bargaining team or Union Representative Ryan DeGouveia at (360) 662-1982
Su Comité de Negociación de la Unión se reunió con la compañía para negociar de buena fe esta semana. Your Union Bargaining Committee met with the company this week to negotiate in good faith.
Read MoreJoin us for a Contract Action Team meeting on October 3 at 6:00pm. We will recap how bargaining went and discuss plans for additional actions following our petition delivery as we increase the pressure on management to deliver a fair contract!
Read MoreSix 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 MoreAfter months of bargaining, we have voted in our first contract with many amazing improvements including:
Read MoreComing out of bargaining on Tuesday September 24, and Wednesday September 25, we have exchanged comprehensive economic and non-economic proposals with the Employer. There has been much conversation between the parties, and while at some times the temperature at the table has felt hot, we have been making movement as the table ebbs and flows.
Read MoreWe are the Union. The members of UFCW 3000 are over 50,000 members working in grocery, retail, health care, meat packing, cannabis, & other industries across Washington state, north-east Oregon, and northern Idaho. UFCW 3000 is a chartered member of UFCW International with over 1.4 million workers in North America.
To build a powerful Union that fights for economic, political and social justice in our workplaces and in our communities.
