January 2019 NWLP 555 Leader
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Unity Negotiations: the eighth meeting
The parties met for three days and exchanged numerous proposals, including those on economics/wages. It is crystal clear that the employers are in no way connected with the realities that we face. Their wage proposals are light years away from ours; theirs would have us continue to fall behind while the cost of living continues to rise. These employers are … Read more
December 2018 NWLP 555 Leader
Secretary-Treasurer’s Note: Midterm turnout brings a win for voices of labor
Midterm elections last month broke records across the country, including in Oregon, where final ballot returns are hovering around 70% voter turnout. At first glance that sounds a tad lower than turnouts in other local midterm elections, but it only appears that way because it is the first midterm election since passage of the “motor voter” law. Since that law … Read more
President’s Corner: Deadlines
It’s a busy time of year with too many things for any of us to think about, so I’ll be brief, but I wanted to bring two deadlines to your attention. Health insurance OPEN ENROLLMENT. First, keep in mind that if you do nothing (purposefully or by accidentally missing the deadline), everything stays the same. If you want to make … Read more
Unity Negotiations: the seventh meeting
During this meeting, we worked towards (but did not yet reach) a resolution on some of the last remaining “mandatory subjects of bargaining.” Additionally, we discussed the process of commonsense consolidation of contract areas. The next scheduled negotiation dates are December 18th and 19th. While we’d like to turn the focus to economics at the December meetings, that will depend … Read more
Unity Negotiations: the sixth meeting
Today, in our sixth meeting with the employers, we came to a scheduling TA* regarding a guarantee of minimum weekly hours at a level that is going to make a difference for many of our members. This step is due to your commitment and moves us closer to what matters the very most: wage increases. Continue to put the pressure … Read more
President’s Corner: Kaiser’s new contract: ratified!
Local 555 Kaiser members did an extraordinary job of standing together throughout this bargaining process, making it impossible for management to miss the message: we will do whatever it takes to get a fair contract. Our Local 555 Pharmacy and Imaging contracts were ratified on 10/12/2018. At that time, Local 555 also ratified the new national agreement, which was arrived … Read more
November 2018 NWLP 555 Leader
Unity Negotiations: the fifth meeting
Our two-day meeting with our Unity employers was productive. We took some useful steps towards agreement on certain language. The employers have not yet addressed our primary concerns, though: economics (wages) and scheduling (hours). We must continue to step up and demonstrate our solidarity so that our employers cannot fail to hear us. The next scheduled negotiation dates are November … Read more