UFCW 3000 Member Story: Christina Delgado

Christina Delgado, UFCW 3000 member and Pharmacy Tech at Kaiser Permanente

Happy #MemberMonday! This week’s spotlight is on Christina Delgado, who is a Pharmacy Tech at Kaiser Permanente. Christina has been a member of our Union for 35 years, having started her career at Pay N Save and a member of UFCW Local 1001!

One day, a fellow coworker and Pharmacist at her store talked to Christina about working in Pharmacy. Christina’s interest was piqued because she knows just how important getting the right medications can be for people to live healthier lives. Christina decided to attend Pharmacy Tech school and the rest, as they say, is history! She’s now been in Pharmacy for 22 years and prides herself on the quality of care and service that she’s able to provide for her patients.

Christina is a natural workplace leader. In fact, she has been a shop steward for many years and also became a contract specialist about 6 months ago. You can often find Christina making the rounds, meeting new members, and welcoming them to our Union. Christina talks to her coworkers about issues they may have in the workplace with the goal of identifying strong leaders and providing the training needed to resolve issues at a work unit level.

When asked why she’s stepped up as a worker-leader in her unit, Christina said: “It’s critical to have strong leaders in place, in each department, in each unit, making a difference in the clinic and providing a voice for all employees.”

Christina — thank you for all that you do on behalf of your patients and your coworkers & fellow members. We’re so inspired by your leadership, positivity, and hard work!

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Madison Derksema

Madison Derksema, Pharmacy Tech at Seattle Children’s Hospital and UFCW 3000 Member!

It’s Monday, and that means it’s time for another #MemberMonday story! This week’s spotlight is on Madison Derksema, who is a pharmacy tech at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Madison simply gets things done. Her coworkers agree: their department is a better place to work because of her efforts. Since starting her job in 2018, Madison has truly stepped up: first as a shop steward, then as a member of her department’s Contract Action Team (CAT), and most recently as a member of the contract negotiations team!

During contract negotiations, Madison pushed hard for two additional & specific pay differentials for her department. She also fought back against inequities in the advancement process, helped file grievances, advocated for COVID safety protocols, and is now working to streamline the vacation request process to include greater transparency. At the negotiations table, Madison always asked management the tough questions!

In addition to all of these fabulous accomplishments, she regularly informs her coworkers about their rights at work, benefits, and protections as union members. She also recently joined the Health Care Advisory Board (HCAB)! Beyond that, Madison is empowering her coworkers to come together to advocate for the solutions they need to make their workplace more fair and just for all.

Her leadership is making Seattle Children's Hospital an even better place for workers, patients, and our communities; Madison — thank you for all of your hard work!

UFCW 3000 Member Story: Rachel Brings the Union Difference to the Pharmacy!

Rachel Putnam, UFCW 3000 member and Pharmacy Tech

This week’s #MemberMonday spotlight features Rachel Putnam, proud UFCW 3000 member and Pharmacy Tech!

Rachel has wanted a career in healthcare for as long as she can remember. From early childhood, she has been fascinated by the human body and how it works; because of this, Rachel decided to pursue a career in Pharmacy! Rachel says: “I chose this path because I have taken daily medication since I was 8 years old, so the pharmacy has always played a pretty big role in my life.”

Rachel joined Group Health in 2014, which later was acquired by Kaiser Permanente. Reflecting back, Rachel says that “what I admired most was their promotion of innovative healthcare. The world is always changing, as is the world of medicine, and this is a company that not only changes with it, but also promotes change for the better.”

 If you spend even a few minutes with Rachel, it will become very clear to you that she is very passionate and knowledgeable about her work! Her coworkers know this very well because, in 2021, Rachel became a Union shop steward. Rachel wanted to step up as a leader because she wanted to do her part to bring about change for the better and to fight for workers’ rights in her workplace. In her words: “Every worker is a person, and therefore every one of them should have a voice. Employees are not just employees — they are human beings with families, their own goals and dreams, and lives outside of the workplace. I became a steward to be part of making this more widely acknowledged and respected.”

In talking about what victories are just around the corner, Rachel is confident she can help her workplace improve! “My goal as a Shop Steward is to make a difference in how workers are treated, and push alongside my fellow stewards for better staffing, better working conditions, better pay, and more protection for workers who face bias or unfair treatment. I want to be a part of something bigger than myself, and to be a part of driving the change that will allow working people to have the influence and respect that they deserve.”

Since becoming a shop steward, Rachel has become more involved with UFCW trainings for Stewards, delivered strong messages in videos about Safe Staffing legislation, and continues to participate in monthly Steward Workshops to gain more knowledge and to ultimately help her coworkers stand together for the change they want to see at work!

We are so inspired by Rachel’s leadership. It’s people like Rachel that make UFCW 3000 members such incredible advocates for themselves and their coworkers. If you’d like to learn more about becoming a shop steward and leadership training, check out: https://www.ufcw21.org/steward-training

#UFCW3000 #MemberMondays #1u #UnionStrong #EssentialWorkers #HealthcareHeroes

Kaiser Spokane Pharmacy Techs Tentative Agreement Reached on local and national bargains

Kaiser Spokane Pharmacy Techs

Tentative Agreement Reached on local & national bargains!

After months of bargaining and organizing together for a first contract, your Spokane Pharmacy Tech Bargaining Team has reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser on a local collective bargaining agreement and a National Agreement through the Alliance of Health Care Unions. We are very excited to tell you that these agreements include the following:

• The Western Washington Wage Scale

• Maintain Your Current Retirement Plan

• COMPETITIVE ACROSS THE BOARD WAGE INCREASES each year and bonuses through the Performance Sharing Program 3% 2021; 3% 2022; 2% + 2% bonus 2023; 2% + 2% bonus 2024

• Additional Step Wage Increases each year

• Retiree Medical $1,000 per year of service

• Education Benefits locally and Nationally

• New Premiums, Benefits, and Differentials

• Just Cause Protections and Grievance Procedure

• Specific language to address Spokane issues including on-call shifts, floating, vacation requests and so much more!

The full details of the offer will be made available during our In-Person vote meetings on December 6. You must be present in-person and a member in good standing to be eligible to vote on the contract.

Kaiser Spokane Pharmacy Tech Vote Meetings Monday December 6, drop-in 7-10AM & 5–8PM

UFCW 21 Spokane Office: 2805 N. Market St., Spokane, WA 99207

Please contact Union Representative Maureen Hatton with any questions, 509-340-7370.

Kaiser Spokane Pharmacy Techs - Progress on Our Issues

On April 15, our Bargaining Team met with Kaiser to continue negotiating on important language issues. We made gains in conversations regarding seniority dates and highlighted how important this is to members. We worked collaboratively to make improvements to the Vacation PTO request process. Our team discussed weekend on-call shifts and industry standards on standby pay and call-in premiums. Other top issues worked on include daily overtime and scheduling and lunches/breaks. A big thank you to everyone  who shared feedback regarding preferences for breaks- this helped our team to work through ideas and solutions to make sure everyone is getting their breaks. 

The Union proposal to maintain our current retirement plan is currently being reviewed by the Kaiser National Benefits Department and we will share more details soon.
Our next bargaining date is scheduled for April 29 and the entire day will focus on the topics of Floats and Staffing. 

Questions or ideas to share, please reach out to the Bargaining Team or Union Representative Maureen Hatton at 509-340-7370

“We are excited that we are pushing forward! It’s motivating to see movement and we look forward to talking to everyone as we prepare for the next session.” 

– Jackie McFarlen and Tiffany Yeates, Bargaining Team