Stay Union strong
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
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
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
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
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
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
When we asked our Unity Negotiation Team members what was most unexpected about the bargaining process so far, there were two responses that recurred very frequently. One was surprise at the lack of interest that the employers showed in the lives of our members. Having this catch some folks unaware makes sense to me because we are all likely to … Read more
Operation School Bell offers warm clothes for cold days ahead Herald and News 9/30 Eligible low-income children referred by teachers, councilors, and other professionals in the Klamath Falls basin may participate in the annual Operation School Bell event. This program provides children with an allotment to purchase their own clothing for the school year, often along with snacks, hats, … Read more
