June 23rd
Labor and Management met this morning to discuss the interest and intent behind several outstanding proposals. Management indicated they would not be willing or able to provide a financial counter-proposal today, but expect to have one ready for our next session on July 7th.
During previous sessions, Management stated they did not want to embed the banking language from our Holiday Letter of Understanding (LOU) into the contract, claiming the process was too difficult for the Staffing Department to track. As a reminder, we currently have no Holiday section in our contract, so this would create a new section under Article 7. Labor’s counter-proposal this morning included the option of transferring banked holidays into our Paid Time Off (PTO) accrual bank for easier tracking.
After some discussion, Management returned with a counter-proposal that closely resembled the language Labor originally proposed back in April, which would allow for banking holidays. When asked about the sudden change, Management said they believe the new Kronos timekeeping system will likely support tracking banked holidays — a solution that would only be possible if the LOU language is embedded in the contract.
This pattern reflects a broader, ongoing issue we’ve seen from Management throughout local bargaining: Labor provides reasonable proposals, Management counters by removing most of our language with few, if any, improvements. We revise our proposals to address their stated concerns, only for them to later return our original language and act like it’s a concession. It’s clear Management has come unprepared for these sessions, relying on our Labor bargaining team to do the heavy lifting — researching and drafting proposals in our own time well in advance of meetings.
Labor also provided a counter to Management’s PTO proposal for Article 7.F, which would establish a seniority-based, equitable rotation as a backup process if work group Staffing Committees fail to complete the annual negotiations for our vacation sign-up process before mid-September. Labor has advocated for an escalation pathway sending unresolved issues to the Lab Pro Regional Staffing Committee for review, but Management claims this would not sufficiently motivate Staffing Committees to reach timely agreements. That said, both parties appear to be moving closer to an agreement on this issue. Management presented a second counter-proposal this afternoon, indicating a willingness to support our counter with a few additional stipulations. Work continues on this proposal.
Additionally, Labor submitted a proposal for Article 1.G, Corporate Transactions, designed to strengthen protections during the sale of all or part of laboratory operations. This proposal responds directly to LabCorp’s recent purchases of multiple regional laboratories and ensures our existing contract would transfer intact to any new entity that acquires one or more of our labs. It’s a vital worker protection measure that prevents us from having to renegotiate established contract language if Kaiser sells operations out from under us. Labcorp has been driving down wages across our industry and it is up to us to push back on their erosion of laboratory standards and to support Labcorp workers who are organizing to ensure better working conditions and a future for patient care.
Management also countered our Article 12.C, Jury Duty, proposal from last session. Both parties are getting closer to an agreement that would address the issue of being required to report to work for an off-shift after serving jury duty during day shift hours.
In a frustrating move this afternoon, Management attempted to push a “Take It or Leave It” package deal on a topic both parties had previously agreed to address outside this bargaining cycle. They tied this unrelated issue to a minor proposal we introduced regarding the inclusion of Emergency Without Pay (eWOP) days in our contract — a move that completely disregards the priorities of our members. This is not how Partnership should work and is instead disrespectful treatment that ignores the hard work we put in. If this is how management wants to behave then we will have to escalate our pressure and tell them we refuse to be treated like garbage by Management.
Your feedback from the financial bargaining survey we sent earlier this month was heard loud and clear: members want to maintain the ability to bank float holidays, secure a weekend differential, preserve every-other-weekend-off positions, and oppose transfer restrictions on new positions without a Right of Return. These remain our guiding priorities at the table, no matter what obstacles Management presents. Our goal is to secure what will benefit the greatest number of members, and those principles continue to guide our decision-making.
Anyone interested in attending local bargaining is welcome to do so by completing the Bargaining Observer Registration form. Attendance must be on unpaid time. Our next session is scheduled for Monday, July 7.
May 20th
Labor and Management reached a tentative agreement on Article 4.B Float Employees, addressing Labor’s interest in embedding our active Letters of Understanding (LOUs). Our Cytotechnologist Floats are specifically referenced in this new subsection, which outlines their primary assignment and function. This marks the sixth tentative agreement our team has secured.
Lab Pros passed financial proposals today to convert differentials to a percentage of base pay and increase the amounts across all differential categories. Labor also proposed adding a weekend differential — a first for any Kaiser Permanente (KP) region with hospitals. In addition, our financial proposal includes the creation of a Seven+ year experience step, as well as 15- and 20-year longevity steps, along with longevity provisions for members hired in at the top experience step.
Management passed one proposal regarding medical leave, aiming to address the evolving scope of State and Federal leave language.
Lab Pros also passed proposals regarding Emergency Without Pay (eWOP) days and embedding EISA into our local Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Labor revisited the proposal to expand Bereavement language, specifically the definition of eligible family members. Management acknowledged our intent to honor the diversity of our membership and the people they consider family, but expressed concerns about how to do so meaningfully without creating unknown financial risk for the organization.
Our next bargaining session is scheduled for June 10th, where we expect to see counter proposals from Management now that they have our full list of economic proposals.
Keep an eye out for a bargaining survey in the coming weeks — your bargaining team needs your input!
April 28th
We had a bit of a rocky start this morning as Labor called out Management for not matching our effort to prepare and pass proposals. Management seems to have difficulty completing their homework in a timely manner. Maybe it’s time for them to remember that you only get credit for the assignments you turn in! Jude Hanley, their Lead Negotiator, was unexpectedly absent from today’s proceedings, and Erin Cornell stepped in to fill the role.
While Management was surprised by Labor’s critiques, it seemed to light a bit of a fire under them, as we ended this session on a very productive note.
Our bargaining team signed two Tentative Agreements (TAs) today, for a total of five in all. The newest TAs focus on language clean-up for "Flex Benefits" in Article 7 — now referencing the National Agreement — and "Temporary Employees" in Article 4, which now requires employees to complete the temporary contract they were hired for before being eligible to accept an internal position.
Management passed a package proposal covering eWOP, Holidays, and Bereavement, spanning two contract articles. Labor declined to bargain the items as a package. Instead, we will rework some language addressed in Management’s package and submit individual counter-offers. Management also passed a counter-proposal to Definitions in Article 4, seeking to retain full-time coding as 40 hours instead of the 32 hours Labor proposed at the last session. Both groups have been passing counter-proposals around issues including Holidays and the ability to bank Holidays, PTO, Voluntary Overtime (OT) and Emergency OT assignments, On-Call, and Definitions. Labor is also awaiting a counter-proposal from Management regarding our request to add Personal Flexible Days to the CBA.
In an effort to subvert a common interest table, Management submitted a proposal to amend the grievance process, now that we no longer have access to Federal Mediators due to recent Executive Orders and changes at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). When questioned, Management admitted that while similar language is being presented to each Bargaining Unit, it is not identical. This divide-and-conquer tactic is exactly what a common interest table would prevent — and it would make the process far more efficient. (Please sign the Common Interest Petition to show your support!)
Our next session is May 20th , where both sides anticipate discussing economic proposals such as differentials, step increases, and Sabbatical language. Stay tuned! Things are about to get interesting.
April 14th
Lab Pros met with management on April 14th for our third session of local bargaining. We were able to reach Tentative Agreements (TA) on three separate issues.
We embedded the Seniority Tiebreaker LOU from 2024 into our new contract that uses birthday to determine seniority between members with the same hire date. We also included Molecular Biology certification in the Recognition section of our contract to ensure Compensation knows which Bargaining Unit they belong to as that portion of our contract determines which wage scales to apply. The third TA clarifies that the Paid Travel Time Section of our contract applies specifically to the KP Northwest Region. It also renames the “Washington Service Area” as the “North Service Area” and includes the Interstate Campus as part of the East Service Area.
Labor presented management with two additional proposals around matching MLS on-call language to that of the on-call language in the Tech Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and creating a section outlining Holiday pay, eligibility, definitions, and the ability to “bank” holidays. Management is reviewing these proposals and is expected to submit counter proposals at our next local bargaining meeting on April 16th.
Management gave labor two proposals regarding PTO and shift trades. The PTO language changes are intended to match PTO requirements to state law around protected absences. Management also stated that it is also intended to avoid being too restrictive about employees being required to use PTO to offset things like short–term disability. Management believes that the shift trade portions of the CBA are contradictory and are trying to bring the language into alignment. They added language to increase management oversight of shift trades and tighten requirements around eligibility. Labor is reviewing and planning our counter proposals.
March 24th and 25th
Lab Pros and Management met for our initial bargaining sessions on both the 24th and the 25th. We touched on a number of different topics over these two bargaining sessions, and each side will come prepared to our third session on April 14th with proposals to review. A finalized list of bargaining priorities will be submitted by both sides no later than April 29th.
Management reviewed a number of interests, including:
- Internal transfer
- Availability for additional hours, OT/DT tracking process
- Shift trading
- Retention and Recruitment
- Contract Language Clean Up
- - Medical Leave
- - Limited Certification
- - Paid Travel Time
- - Schedule Patterns
- - Stand-by Reporting Requirements
- - Reduction in Hours
Our bargaining team reviewed our own interests that are the priority:
- Flex Personal Time
- Emergency Without Pay (eWOP) days
- Emergency OT/DT
- Retention and Recruitment
- Bereavement Language
- Embed Letters of Understanding and PTO/ESL Accrual Tables
- Cytotechnologist and Float Position
- Molecular II Position
- Holidays
- Missing CBA Grandfathering Language
- Washington Meal and Breaks
- Seniority Tiebreaker
- On-call MLS Language
- Contract Clean Up
- Variable Schedule Patterns
- Remove references to specific sections of the National Agreement
In Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB), identifying and stating these interests is the first part of the work and becomes the foundation for all negotiations that come next. Stay tuned as we finalize our interests and receive management’s and then move into the serious work of negotiating for what types of changes we want to see in our next contract.