NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | December 20, 2019 | PAGE 7
By Don McIntosh
United Food and Commercial
Workers (UFCW) Local 555 is
leaving the recently-formed Al-
liance of Health Care Unions
(ACHU) as of Jan. 1 and rejoin-
ing the Coalition of Kaiser Per-
manente Unions (CKPU).
ACHU is a coalition of 22 lo-
cal unions representing about
47,000 workers in eight states at
Kaiser Permanente; it broke
away last year from the existing
CKPU. About 11 local unions
and 80,000 workers remained in
CKPU, which has been in exis-
tence since 1996. The two union
coalitions negotiated and ratified
separate national collective bar-
gaining agreements with Kaiser
earlier this year.
Local 555 has been one of 12
UFCW locals in the ACHU. It
represents about 1,000 pharmacy
technicians and imaging technol-
ogy workers at Kaiser locations
in Oregon and Southwest Wash-
ington.
Local 555 healthcare division
coordinator Esai Alday said the
local decided to leave because
ACHU made a change to its gov-
erning structure that left Local
555 with no representation on the
coalition’s governing body.
“For us, it’s really a matter of
about making sure that we have
a voice in decisions that directly
affect our membership.”
Local 555 members at Kaiser,
both coalitions, and Kaiser itself
were notified of the decision to
leave ACHU on Dec. 11.
Alday said the shift will have
no effect on members from a
contractual standpoint. Their
wages, benefits and workplace
rights will remain the same under
the local collective bargaining
agreement that runs through Oc-
tober 2021. ACHU’s national
agreement is an addendum to
that agreement. The decision
means that Local 555 will bar-
gain with CKPU unions when
the contract comes up for re-
newal.
“We see a positive impact on
members in the bigger picture—
of having a voice at the table,”
Alday said, “so that their repre-
sentatives have a say in all deci-
sions that are made through the
coalition that could affect them.”
More than 300 Oregon Nurses Association members and supporters held an informational picket near
Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center Sept. 13 to protest staffing and safety problems at the hospital.
Corvallis nurses reject contract offer
By a 4-to-1 margin, nurses at
Good Samaritan Regional
Medical Center in Corvallis
voted down a contract offer
Dec. 4 that they say fails to en-
sure safe staffing levels.
Represented by the Oregon
Nurses Association (ONA),
the unit of over 500 nurses has
been working without a con-
tract since June 30. Nurses say
the 188-bed facilty—Corval-
lis’ only hospital—has chronic
staffing and safety problems,
and they want an end to exces-
sive forced overtime. Operat-
ing room nurses are being as-
signed 12 or more hours a
week of mandatory overtime
beyond their full-time sched-
ules. ONA says Samaritan
Health Services has also can-
celled negotiation meetings
with little notice, and has
failed to respond to informa-
tion requests or to proposals to
improve staffing. Hospital
managers turned down four
proposed mediation dates in
December. Nurses, frustrated,
plan more public events.
They’ll gather at city hall 5
p.m. Dec. 20 for a public car-
oling event with altered holi-
day favorites.
Our entire organization joins in
wishing you a Happy Holiday season
and a prosperous New Year!
President:
Bob Porter
Vice President:
John Foote
Recording Secretary: Justin Turner
Inside Guard:
Josh Rudzik
Executive Board:
Denny Tynan
Robert Taylor
Shawn Mask
Dominic DePiero
Finance Committee:
Dave Hauth
Chris McNicholas
Robert Smithline
Assistant Business Manager:
Joe Neely
Agents/Organizers: Dave Burger
Pat Christensen
Eric Fanning
John Kimberling
Jeff McGillivray
Ramon Ramon
Rich “Bubba” Taylor
Todd Templeton
Drew Waits
Jim Wiens
Training:
Bob Degraw
Ryan Garvey
Curtis Gillette
Justin Tiller
Heather Sherwood
Business Manager/Financial Secretary-Treasurer
Acting Director of Training
Lou A. Christian
Justin May
Photo courtesy of Oregon Nurses Association
UFCW Local 555 returns to
original Kaiser union coalition
