Solidarity in action!

Solidarity in action!

Posted on by SEIU Local 49

Solidarity in action! On May 3, our elected bargaining committee traveled to Oakland, CA to picket Kaiser headquarters, joining SEIU-UHW members’ fight to protect our jobs and patient care. Kaiser management is threatening to outsource jobs and lower pay, and seems to be trying to escape their obligation to negotiate with us under the partnership by refusing to bargain with us.

Now we’re escalating our actions in our region to push back against the proposed outsourcing that would eliminate healthcare good jobs in our area, and demand that Kaiser stop delaying negotiations and begin bargaining with us. But to be clear, we are focused on winning the BEST contract, not the quickest.

Our schedule of upcoming actions is below. We can’t afford to sit this out and be complacent: our jobs, our pay and benefits are at stake. The way to win a great contract is by showing Kaiser that we—the 85,000 members of the Coalition — are stronger and more united than ever. We are also preparing to file bad faith bargaining charges with the National Labor Relations Board.

We're ramping up our actions...here's how!

We’re ramping up our actions…here’s how!

Posted on by SEIU Local 49

On April 19, Kaiser SEIU 49 members held a powerful action at Sunnyside Medical Center—and there are more to come! Holding signs reading “We’ll talk at the bargaining table”, we gave management 10-day notice of our intent to hold pickets in May due to Kaiser’s delays in meeting us at the bargaining table to start negotiating a fair new contract.

[srizonfbalbum id=1]

So, what’s next?

We’re joining our fellow Coalition union members in taking bold action to make sure Kaiser is crystal clear on our bargaining priorities. We’re going to keep up the fight to keep our stuff!

We’re sending a loud and clear message that we are frustrated with the delays, and it is past time that we begin national bargaining!

 SEIU 49 May Action Schedule

Our elected bargaining team and CAT members will follow up with emails, texts, and leaflets with updated information prior to each action, so stay tuned!

 

 

 

Tell Kaiser We're Worth the Investment!

Tell Kaiser We’re Worth the Investment!

Posted on by SEIU Local 49

The Education Fund is a benefit we bargained for that provides training, education opportunities, and tuition assistance to Kaiser SEIU members. And it’s extremely popular: 20% of our Kaiser members in the NW participated in an Education Fund program last year, and participation is expected to grow in 2018!

But just like our healthcare and retirement benefits, we’re going to have to fight to keep this resource…and make it easier for us to use.

We need to KEEP our Education Fund.

When we bargained our Education Fund, we sent a message to Kaiser management that we want to be rooted at Kaiser and grow in our careers in a trusted, quality healthcare system. The more we learn, the better we can perform our jobs. We’re telling management to continue investing in us by keeping our Fund intact!

We need PAID EDUCATION LEAVE to earn our CEUs.

 

Our Education Fund helps us give excellent patient care by offering us opportunities to stay compliant and keep our skills fresh, and learn new skills to help us grow in our careers. RNs get paid education leave, and we should, too. We deserve it, and our patients deserve it.

“I was asked to do some public speaking recently and realized I could benefit from taking a class in communication. I signed up for a class at community college, and I don’t have to pay out of pocket since I’m in the Education Fund’s Step Program. All Kaiser SEIU members should know about this benefit and fight to keep it!”

-Carol Slevkovsky, Phelbotomist, Skyline

“Educational advancement is a high priority for our SEIU Kaiser members. Kaiser is lucky to have such a skilled and motivated workforce. In these negotiations we are going to advocate to ensure we protect and improve the Education Fund resources, so our members can pursue their career goals.”

-Meg Niemi, President, SEIU 49

Learn more about the Education Fund at seiu-uhweduc.org.

TAKE ACTION

The bargaining committee will be holding worksite actions about our education benefits this week. Call a CAT member or bargaining team member to find out how to participate!

A message from the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions

Posted on by SEIU Local 49

The following is a message from the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions released on Thursday, March 29, 2018 on 2018 National Bargaining and a status update on the Coalition. 

What we’re fighting for:

We are committed to negotiating the best possible National Agreement that protects all our benefits and rights and includes economic improvements such as:

  • Strong raises – that are equal across regions
  • Increased pension multiplier and change pension hours
  • No takeaways on health plans
  • KP Washington with full National Agreement
  • Insourcing and the end of subcontracting

How we work together:

We have always believed in—and strived for—consensus. For 20 years, we have been able to make 99.9% of our decisions together as unions, by consensus. This is still true with the Coalition we have today.

Our Coalition has grown and changed in many ways.  Because of these changes, we have advocated to update our Coalition decision-making structures to make sure that all Coalition unions are heard and—if we cannot reach consensus—we have a clear way to make decisions and achieve our goals.

All Coalition unions—locals in SEIU, OPEIU, AFSCME (UNAC/UHCP), AFT (OFNHP/ONA), UFCW, IBT, IFPTE, IUOE, KPNAA, ILWU and UNITE HERE—had agreed that in 2018 National Bargaining, if we were unable to reach consensus, we would accept agreement from 70 percent of the represented union members.

For other day-to-day decisions, we believe a two-thirds (66%) super-majority would be a fair way to move forward into the future that is democratic and protects the voice of all unions.  Under this structure, there is no way for one union—even one as large as SEIU-UHW—to make decisions without significant support from other unions.

In the course of preparations for national bargaining, there have been robust conversations about how to keep our Coalition united and strong and bring resolution to our decision-making processes.  We remain committed to an open dialogue about this and feel that it was not in the spirit of partnership for some unions to walk away from the longest lasting, strongest, largest union coalition in the country because of a disagreement over internal decision-making rules within the Coalition.

We hope that the unions who left last minute will re-join the Coalition—and join us at the table with management.  We are stronger together!

What’s going on with our Coalition?

Posted on by SEIU Local 49

Our SEIU Local 49 National Bargaining representatives Meg Niemi, Julie Markiewicz & Jacy LaPlante are representing our union as part of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions (CKPU) at national bargaining in California. We are bargaining with Kaiser management over our union members’ priorities.

SEIU Local 49 members are founders of CKPU and have worked to keep our union Coalition united for over 20 years. Unfortunately, some other union leaders decided to quit the Coalition rather than sticking together as we go into bargaining. OFNHP/AFT, ILWU and UFCW 555 informed Kaiser management yesterday that they would not be negotiating a new national agreement as part of the Coalition.

We are disappointed in the lack of solidarity from the other union leaders in the Northwest. However, SEIU Local 49 is committed to working together with the unions remaining in the Coalition to win the best damn contract ever! We’re still 83,000 strong and ready to fight!

Will any of our wages, benefits or rights change?

No. SEIU Local 49 members will not see any change to our wages, benefits, or contractual rights. We are just beginning bargaining—and in our democratic union our members make the decisions, and contracts aren’t accepted unless members vote to ratify them.

What do we do to make sure we keep our benefits and win an even better contract with higher wages?

We must stick to our plan and make sure all of our members are informed and actively participating in bargaining actions. Our local bargaining committee is planning worksite actions and activities that will occur concurrently with every bargaining session.

Show your support for a great contract by:

  • Wearing a button – talk to a CAT team member, steward or bargaining committee member if you don’t have one yet.
  • Text “Kaiser” to 787753 (PURPLE) to receive action alerts via text
  • Sign up for email alerts with your personal email address

Have other unions really left the Coalition?

Yes. OFNHP/AFT, ILWU and UFCW are no longer part of the Coalition. Their national and local presidents sent a letter to management announcing their withdrawal from the Coalition.

Since unions have never left the Coalition before—and these unions did not have members vote on this decision—we’re not sure of all the ways it will impact them. But since the Coalition governs the partnership, quitting the Coalition will change their rights and privileges. Coalition resources are only available to Coalition union members, and if they want to keep things in the national agreement they will have to bargain those from scratch or reunite with us in the CKPU.

Upcoming Events

Retirement actions

Bargaining committee members are holding “retirement parties” at all Kaiser locations this week. Stop by and learn about our retirement benefits and what’s at stake in negotiations. Click here for times and locations.

Union membership meetings

Date: Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Times: 3pm and 6:30pm
Location: SEIU 49 Union Hall – 3536 SE 26th Ave, Portland, OR 97202

RSVP here!

We hope to see you at our union briefings next week!