Member Stories

By day, Colleen works in the Lab at Tacoma General as a Med Tech. Outside of work, she conquers Ironman competitions.

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).

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.  

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.

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”.

“For me, having this wage increase will help me afford the cost of living, and not feel financial insecurity!”

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

Congratulations to our 2024 Scholarship Recipients!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Meet Michael Condon, a Planned Parenthood security officer who chooses to brave the rain and cold to ensure the safety of our communities.

Meet Cheryl Ziegler who has worked at Kaiser (formerly Group Health) since 1978, has been a shop steward since 1982, and has served on multiple bargaining and labor committees since 1987.

Alycia Barrow has worked in the grocery industry since she was 19 years old, and has stepped-up on and off the job to make her community a better place, “ I have a diverse set of skills, from being trained on de-escalation tactics, to knowing how to deal with someone in a mental health/addiction crisis, and who to call. I am also trained on how to use Narcan and know general community resources, having to navigate those systems for my own family.”

Shelbie had heard that the Union contract was about to expire and discovered that there was no one at the Long Beach location of Harbors Home Health and Hospice to represent them in these negotiations. So she volunteered to serve on the bargaining committee both for herself and coworkers. As bargaining unfolded, she learned more about the rights the contract provided her and how important it was to enforce it.

Roberta Bollin (Birdie) has been with the Burlington Fred Meyer store since 2002 and loves working for a company that is represented by a union and being able to help solve problems on every day working conditions, like being able to take breaks, with management without having to fear repercussions.

Kelly Kanary has been working for Kaiser Permanente as a Certified Registered Nursing Anesthetist since 2015. Many union activists don’t get involved until workplace issues arise and suddenly they are getting a crash course in shop floor organizing, which is how Kelly got involved.

Prince Hart, Sean Ricco, Kevin, Daly, and Solas McGregor decided to take action to highlight their safety concerns at the University District Safeway. They started a petition to discuss their concerns and ways to help solve the problem. After collecting a majority of signatures of their coworkers they “marched on the boss” to talk with store management about the probelm.

As a twenty-nine year Safeway employee in Spokane Washington, who has been a shop steward for twenty of those years, Vanessa Evans has seen that consolidation over decades of work in the grocery business.

As the 2013 contract negotiations between UFCW 21, UFCW 367, Teamsters 38, and the national grocery chains (represented by Allied Employers) in Western Washington opened, it was obvious that it was going to be a fight to win a fair contract.

Cheyenne Corneau had been working as a Medical Lab Technician for about a year in 2022 when her and her coworkers Colleen, and Marisa were talking about the need to get their coworkers involved in the union for better representation for lab techs at the next bargaining table.