Two groups of USW members and their allies began coordinated bargaining this month, using the strength of their numbers to take on big employers.
American Red Cross Union Coalition
The American Red Cross Union Coalition (ARC), a group of locals from nine unions, including the USW, held its first session May 8 to 10.
The group presented proposals to advance their four main goals: improving work-life balance, instituting more predicable hours and better pay, preventing workplace injuries, and improving worker morale.
The ARC ratified its first ever national agreement in September 2015, leading to increased wages and strengthened benefits for some 4,000 union members across the United States.
The group is now looking to improve on this agreement, challenging the Red Cross to reinvest previously mismanaged funds into its employees.
The next national bargaining session is scheduled for May 22 to 24.
Alliance of Health Care Unions
The Alliance of Health Care Unions (AHCU), the newly formed partnership of some 45,000 union members at Kaiser Permanente (KP), will begin its first bargaining session May 22.
Members from Alliance unions have spent the past month gearing up for coordinated bargaining and preparing to show KP that they speak with one voice.
Members of AHCU prepare for negotiations, demonstrating that they are stronger when they work together.
The USW represents some 7,000 members of Local 7600 at KP facilities across southern California. In March, they made the decision to leave the previous coalition and form a new alliance with locals from seven other like-minded partner unions.
Bargaining goals include winning another standard-setting national agreement, as well as improving the Alliance’s relationship with KP in order to build a partnership that works for everyone.
To read more about the ARC negotiations, click here.
To read more about AHCU negotiations, click here.