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Stewards are the absolute foundation of our union. As a union, we negotiate a union contract (a Collective Bargaining Agreement, or CBA) that affects everything from our wages and benefits to the details of our working conditions all the way to “just cause,” which prevents us from unjust discipline and termination. That contract is, however, only useful in as much as it is followed, and employers are regularly looking for ways around the contract so they can do what they want. Our power is rooted in our ability to enforce the contract, and that’s where stewards come in. A union steward is the

The steward delegates is the legislative power of our union. The assembly is made up of steward representatives from each worksite, and for every fifty union employees there is one steward representative in this decision making body. According to our bylaws, for every additional fifty union employees there shall be an additional steward representative allowed on the assembly. For example, if there are forty-five members you have one representative, but if you have fifty-one members you have two representatives, and so on. The goal is to make sure that just like our congresspeople, we have

For our Kaiser members, our union has a number of specialized committees, roles, and leadership positions that are meant to maintain what is broadly called the “partnership.” In an effort to work collaboratively through interest-based problem solving, our leadership roles are often specific to this unique Alliance-bargained position. This means that those with outside union experience may not know how this system works, so we have created a basic rundown of the different “partnership leadership roles that you might encounter or could seek to inhabit yourself!

Labor Partners are elected members

On Wednesday, May 18th, OFNHP’s  Kaiser Permanente RN Bargaining Unit Chair Joshua Holt, representing both OFNHP and the Nurses and Health Professionals division of the American Federation of Teachers, joined a nursing delegation at the White House to address the crisis that healthcare workers are facing across the country. Meeting with senior policy advisors, Holt was joined by other healthcare leaders, such as the Vice President of National Nurses United (NNU), a U.S. Army Colonel RN who ran the European COVID response for the U.S. military, the Chief of Nursing Services for Veteran Affairs

After months of negotiations, the 52,000 members of the Alliance of Healthcare Unions, which includes the 3,400 Kaiser employees of Oregon and Southwest Washington who are represented by the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP), have reached a tentative agreement. Among the various pieces of the contract, workers pushed back on Kaiser’s “two-tier” wage proposal and won good wage increases, racial justice language, and language to address the staffing crisis.

“The pressure our members, including leaders and community, put on Kaiser and the threat of a strike worked and

Nearly 50,000 health care workers have overwhelmingly voted to ratify a 4-year contract with Kaiser Permanente that will help to ensure it remains a great place to work and receive care. The employees are represented by 22 local unions that are part of the Alliance of Health Care Unions and work across hundreds of job classifications in every geographic area where Kaiser Permanente has a presence.

The agreement includes annual wage increases and new staffing language for patient and worker safety, and maintains excellent benefits and innovative programs providing career development and

On Monday, 35,000 workers will begin an indefinite strike at Kaiser Permanente across multiple states. These union workers have been bargaining with Kaiser over staffing levels, wages, and working conditions as members of the Alliance of Healthcare Unions, 3,400 of which are in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Even more Alliance represented union locals have announced strikes since the original notification, as well as other unaffiliated unions such as the Guild for Professional Pharmacists.

“All Kaiser patients and employees are being affected by the staffing crisis, and Kaiser has offered low

Nearly 3,400 workers from Kaiser Permanente in Oregon and Southwest Washington formally announced that they will be walking out on strike due to the harmful proposals put forward by Kaiser leadership during union contract negotiations. This announcement means that the union, the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP, AFT Local 5017) will be putting in a ten day notice with Kaiser, and unless negotiations improve, workers will strike at 6:00 a.m. on November 15th. They will be joined by a total of 32,000 other Kaiser workers striking around the same date, and an additional

Winning a fair contract is hard. Sustaining that contract is hard. That contract is an organic document that demands sacrifice and consistency, it demands care, purpose, and action over a long period of time. A very long period of time!

Kaiser publicly praised us as heroic and essential in the early days of the COVID pandemic, but today we are called heretics not heroes for simply asking for a fair and equitable contract.

Staffing shortages, unsustainable wage structures, economic anxiety, less benefits, unfair labor practices – that is what Kaiser is offering its employees today.

Kaiser

Winning a fair contract is hard. Sustaining that contract is hard. That contract is an organic document that demands sacrifice and consistency, it demands care, purpose, and action over a long period of time. A very long period of time!

Kaiser publicly praised us as heroic and essential in the early days of the COVID pandemic, but today we are called heretics not heroes for simply asking for a fair and equitable contract.

Staffing shortages, unsustainable wage structures, economic anxiety, less benefits, unfair labor practices – that is what Kaiser is offering its employees today.

Kaiser