News

Informational Picket at Kaiser Westside Medical Center February 19th

Westside Medical Center Info Picket February 19th

After nearly a year of bargaining we are still waiting for Kaiser to move on our national agreement and get back to the table with the over 60,000 workers who are collectively bargaining as a part of the Alliance of Healthcare Unions. At this picket we intend to raise the profile of our issues and communicate with our patients and the public about what is at stake in this fight for the future of healthcare.

Join us at Kaiser Westside Medical Center on February 19th, and we will have three options for picket shifts you can sign up for.

Click Here to RSVP to Picket Shifts

Tips from public employees on mobilizing members

When the president of Colorado WINS learned that the president of the United States might be targeting Denver next in his anti-immigration campaign of terror, she knew how she’d begin to mobilize. One simple thing Diane Byrne does is deck out her activists in matching T-shirts. Wearing union colors promotes team spirit and builds confidence, she says. The AFT Public Employees program and policy council, meeting in New York City Feb. 5-6, abounded with tips to help locals mobilize. PPC chair Gary Feist, president of North Dakota Public Employees, recommended finding members who can tell a personal story to draw media attention. With more media on the issue, he said, legislators will become more motivated to fix the problem.

Click Here to Sign Up for Picket Shifts!

National Bargaining Update: A Message from President Sarina Roher

Kaiser National Bargaining Update:

Well, another week has come and gone without a National comprehensive TA. But this week’s national bargaining was not a waste of time. We secured important tentative agreements that move the entire Alliance, and this employer, closer to where they need to be.

We locked in key funding wins for the Ben Hudnall Trust Fund, HNHP pension, and the Unite Here educational trust. The BHMT increase alone, roughly a 40% bump in per-member funding is a major victory for every healthcare worker who’s been waiting for real investment in their careers and futures. The

Kaiser to Employees: "Don't believe your lying eyes."

Dear Kaiser OFNHP family,

Before the update, I want you to know that we’ll be holding a member townhall on Monday, November 10, at 7:00 p.m. We need as many members as possible to join, because we have important updates to share on the campaign for a fair contract. Join the townhall using this link.

You know that feeling when someone tries to argue with the facts by denying their existence:

“Don’t believe your lying eyes.”

That’s exactly what it feels like at the bargaining table right now. Every time we bring real evidence to Kaiser about the challenges facing our members—the short staffing, the

Letter Sent to Kaiser Leadership Regarding "Magnet Status"

The below letter was sent by our RN and ONA leadership to Kaiser after hearing news of their pursuit of Magnet status. At a time when Kaiser has abandoned their responsibility to settling a fair contract, it's time for them to get their priorities straight. The only way to meet the standards of Magnet is with a National Agreement that establishes a great future of care for patients.

Art,

We appreciate the recognition of nurses as the most trusted and ethical profession. But candidly, many nurses no longer believe these words, because the actions around us tell a different story.

Magnet is built

Federal immigration actions are rapidly expanding, with deadly consequences. The killings of poet Renee Nicole Good and nurse Alex Pretti by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis have brought intense focus on the use of excessive force. An AFT webinar, co-hosted by AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFT Massachusetts President Jessica Tang on Jan. 28, featured experts on immigration and the law. It highlighted AFT resources and showcased how our locals are showing up to minimize fear and trauma.

Today we mourn one of our own union siblings in the labor movement, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA Hospital. A healthcare professional who dedicated his life to caring for our nation’s veterans in their most vulnerable moments.

As nurses and healthcare professionals, we see what others don’t always see. We see how poverty becomes illness, how injustice becomes injury, how a broken system breaks human bodies and minds. We don’t just treat symptoms, but we witness their causes. And when you witness suffering day after day, you can’t help but ask ourselves: what can I do

Solidarity With Minnesota Unions Statewide Shutdown Jan. 23

I have watched in horror as federal armed agents have terrorized Minnesotans over these past few weeks. Our members have been subjected to flash-bangs, tear gas and physical force by masked aggressors. Innocent people have been abducted by anonymous agents without badges or warrants. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have gone door to door, leaving children terrified, and have brandished their weapons against peaceful protesters—including students and educators on school property.

We cannot look away. Our members in Minnesota are proudly and bravely speaking up for safe communities

It is clear that higher education is under attack. The Trump administration has frozen funding for science, from cancer research to reproductive care; has hamstrung student financial aid programs; has stripped colleges and universities of diversity, equity and inclusion programming; has strangled affirmative action designed to expand access to college; and is demanding that some institutions sign a “compact” that forces them to adopt Trump’s ideology in exchange for federal funding.

Informational Picket at Kaiser Westside Medical Center February 19th

Tips from public employees on mobilizing members

Info Picket at Kaiser Sunnyside Feb. 9th

National Bargaining Update: A Message from President Sarina Roher

Kaiser to Employees: "Don't believe your lying eyes."

Letter Sent to Kaiser Leadership Regarding "Magnet Status"

All the resources you need on immigration and ICE

We Mourn for the Death of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, RN

Solidarity With Minnesota Unions Statewide Shutdown Jan. 23

We rise up to save higher education