[olympiaworkers] [Fwd: Nurses to Picket St Peter's Hospital]

PRESS RELEASE

 

DATE:   July 26, 2007

 

FROM:  UFCW Local 141 United Staff Nurses Union

 

RE:       Contract offer rejected/Informational picketing authorized

 

PROVIDENCE ST. PETER HOSPITAL

Registered Nurses

 

The contract at Providence St. Peter Hospital covers 600+ nurses who have been at the negotiating table for six months. The previous contract expired March 1, 2007. A dedicated number of the nurses have met tirelessly with management to resolve issues and provide a quality contract.

 

On July 11, 2007 the nurses at Providence St. Peter Hospital voted to reject management’s June 22^nd contract offer by a 97% rejection margin. The nurses also voted by a 97% margin to authorize the UFCW Local 141 Negotiating Team to set a date for informational picketing. Federal Mediator, Jeff Clark, has been notified of the results of the voting and the next date for mediation will be July 30.

 

The Union Negotiating Team has selected the date of July 30, 2007 starting at 6:00 a.m. for informational picketing. This will be part of a public campaign to inform the community about the unresolved contract issues and the nurses’ ongoing concerns about staffing levels, patient care and working conditions at Providence St. Peter Hospital, Olympia. We are hopeful that informational picketing will help us reach an agreement on a contract that is competitive, fair, and meets the needs of the nurses at Providence St. Peter Hospital, Olympia.

 

Providence St. Peter Hospital’s staffing problems are best resolved by investing it its own nurses. Informational picketing gives management the strong message that we are tired of the delay and want a quality contract and we want it NOW!

 

For further information contact:

 

UFCW Local 141, United Staff Nurses Union – John Aslakson, (253) 946-1141

 

Providence St. Peter Hospital – Jim Leonard, (360) 493-4100

 

UFCW Local 141 represents approximately 3,000 nurses at twenty-two hospitals throughout the state of Washington.

 

Solidarity Works

 

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Nurses to Picket St Peter's Hospital
From: "Kardas, Peter" <KardasP@evergreen.edu>
Date: Fri, July 27, 2007 9:54 am
To: "Kardas, Peter" <KardasP@evergreen.edu>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

PRESS RELEASE

DATE: July 26, 2007

FROM: UFCW Local 141 United Staff Nurses Union

RE: Contract offer rejected/Informational picketing authorized

PROVIDENCE ST. PETER HOSPITAL

Registered Nurses

The contract at Providence St. Peter Hospital covers 600+ nurses who
have been at the negotiating table for six months. The previous contract
expired March 1, 2007. A dedicated number of the nurses have met
tirelessly with management to resolve issues and provide a quality
contract.

On July 11, 2007 the nurses at Providence St. Peter Hospital voted to
reject management's June 22nd contract offer by a 97% rejection margin.
The nurses also voted by a 97% margin to authorize the UFCW Local 141
Negotiating Team to set a date for informational picketing. Federal
Mediator, Jeff Clark, has been notified of the results of the voting and
the next date for mediation will be July 30.

The Union Negotiating Team has selected the date of July 30, 2007
starting at 6:00 a.m. for informational picketing. This will be part of
a public campaign to inform the community about the unresolved contract
issues and the nurses' ongoing concerns about staffing levels, patient
care and working conditions at Providence St. Peter Hospital, Olympia.
We are hopeful that informational picketing will help us reach an
agreement on a contract that is competitive, fair, and meets the needs
of the nurses at Providence St. Peter Hospital, Olympia.

Providence St. Peter Hospital's staffing problems are best resolved by
investing it its own nurses. Informational picketing gives management
the strong message that we are tired of the delay and want a quality
contract and we want it NOW!

For further information contact:

UFCW Local 141, United Staff Nurses Union - John Aslakson, (253)
946-1141

Providence St. Peter Hospital - Jim Leonard, (360) 493-4100

UFCW Local 141 represents approximately 3,000 nurses at twenty-two
hospitals throughout the state of Washington.

Solidarity Works

[olympiaworkers] [Fwd: Support Grocery Workers]

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Support Grocery Workers
From: "Linda Averill" <lindaeaverill@peoplepc.com>
Date: Sat, July 28, 2007 12:38 pm
To: "Linda Averill" <LindaEAverill@peoplepc.com>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please Forward Widely!!!

July 28, 2007

Dear labor activists,

We are writing to alert you to the campaign by union grocery workers to
win improved wages and benefits for themselves and their families. As you
may have heard, Locals 21, 44, and 81 of United Food and Commercial
Workers are negotiating their next three-year contract with Kroger (QFC
and Fred Meyer), Safeway, and Albertsons. The union is determined to win
its 20,000 members better wages and health benefits to keep up with
soaring living costs in the Puget Sound area.

As of Wednesday, July 25, 2007, the employers have sent signals to
UFCW’s bargaining team that they expect workers to take concessions as a
condition of reaching a tentative contract agreement. Workers are in no
position to give concessions â€" nor is there any reason they should! All
three of these national chains are extremely profitable and rank among the
50 richest corporations in the U.S., according to Fortune Magazine.
Together, they banked $8 billion in profit last year alone. Meanwhile:
• The average grocery worker makes $13 an hour. Forty percent make less
than $10 per hour. And the average work week is only 26 hours/week.
• If workers call in sick they lose a day’s pay.
• It takes 10 months on the job before a worker can get family health
care coverage.

It is in the interest of all workers, organized and unorganized, to see
that UFCW members get a fair contract with living wages, benefits, and
conditions. We want to ensure that other Puget Sound employers feel the
pressure to raise wages and benefits, not lower them, Wal-Mart style.

At this point, plans are developing for rallies and other public actions
to support grocery workers. Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity (OWLS)
will pass along updates as we learn of them. You can also receive your own
updates by signing up at the Northwest grocery workers website:
sharethesuccess.org.

Until public actions are announced there are other things you can do:
• Write letters to the local newspapers in support of grocery workers
and the union.
• When you shop at these stores, take a few minutes to let the workers
know you support them, and tell management that their employees deserve
living wages and benefits.
• Inform your union or community organization that UFCW is negotiating
for: 1) wages that keep up with Puget Sound living costs; 2) affordable
health care; 3) sick leave and family-friendly scheduling (currently
workers’ schedules are posted only three days in advance).

In solidarity,

Linda Averill and Mike Jung on behalf of
Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity

________________________________________
PeoplePC Online
A better way to Internet
http://www.peoplepc.com