FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

About Your Union

  • Who are the United Professionals? We are a cross-disciplinary team of health care Professionals who have formed a union organizing committee to secure a voice in our workplace.
  • Why did we decide to form a union organizing committee? Like you, we work behind the scenes every day to ensure patients get the care they need, yet we lack a seat at the table when MultiCare makes decisions that affect our patients, our professional practice, and our livelihoods. While other employees – Nurses, Technicians, and Service workers – have negotiated contracts with MultiCare to address their needs, we haven’t had the same opportunity.  That’s why we started the United Professionals organizing committee and contacted IAM Healthcare for assistance.
  • What is IAM Healthcare? IAM Healthcare is a specialized department of more than 10,000 health professionals within the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). We did our research on different unions and chose to work with IAM Healthcare because their staff have experience representing diverse groups of Professionals in the healthcare industry. Recently, Social Workers, Chaplains, and Nurses in the Virginia Mason Franciscan Health system voted to join IAM. Learn more about IAM Healthcare at https://IAMHealthcarePros.org
  • Who else is represented by IAM? IAM has more than 4,500 contracts covering hundreds of thousands of skilled employees in hospitals and clinics, public and community services, airlines and railroads, manufacturing and automotive, and other industries. We see great value in linking our efforts to the broader IAM, a powerful union that represents more than 30,000 workers at Boeing and other major employers in our region. IAM has an excellent reputation and can provide the scale, influence, and resources necessary to help us win a strong contract.

About Union Organizing

  • What is the process of organizing a union?    Organizing is a democratic process that starts when employees who want to unionize sign authorization cards. Once a majority of eligible employees sign, our union will file these cards with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a federal agency tasked with overseeing labor law and labor relations. At that point, MultiCare will have the option of voluntarily recognizing our union. If they choose not to, the NLRB will schedule an election in which all employees in the potential bargaining unit are eligible to vote for or against representation
  • When I sign an authorization card or Petition, will it be submitted to my employer? No! Your employer is forbidden by law from asking if you signed an A card. The cards are a necessary show of democratic support for the NLRB to move forward with the election and certification process.
  • If I sign an authorization card, does this obligate me to vote for the union? No. We hope, of course, that our fellow Professional employees will vote for IAM representation, whether or not they signed an authorization card, but you are free to vote as you choose.
  • Our professions are very different; why don’t we organize separate unions?   We know from the example of other professional unions, like RNs, that there is strength in numbers. Even the largest of our disciplines is small by comparison, so the way to achieve a comparable negotiating position is to band together. We recognize that we have many areas of common ground, including advanced levels of education, licensing, and certification. These shared professional interests are also recognized under federal labor law.

About Union Dues

  • If I sign an authorization card, will I be required to start paying union dues? No, the authorization card is used to show support for gaining union recognition. For union dues to be deducted, a number of things will have to happen first, including formal recognition of your union and contract negotiations with MultiCare. Once contract negotiations are complete, you will have an opportunity to become a union member and vote on your union contract. Once your contract is approved and goes into effect – including negotiated raises – you will be eligible to start paying dues.
  • What do dues pay for? A portion of dues pays the salaries of professional union staff who assist with negotiations. The largest portion pays for rent of office space and equipment, representation, legal fees, grievance and arbitration fees, office supplies, printing costs, transportation, strike fund benefits, etc. The members must, in accordance with our Constitution, approve all expenditures.

 

 

 About Your Contract

  • After we win union representation, does MultiCare have to negotiate with us? Yes, Federal Law requires that employers “negotiate in good faith.” While some employers try to circumvent the law, the IAM Union has a remarkably good record of successfully helping employees achieve a first contract.
  • What is a union contract? A collective bargaining agreement or “union contract” is a document that is binding by law. It is negotiated with your employer and provides for, among other things, wages, benefits, hours and working conditions.
  • Who writes the contract? We all do. All employees in the bargaining unit contribute their ideas for contract proposals. Then your bargaining committee of peers drafts contract proposals with the help of professional union staff. Once priorities are established, negotiations start. Designated employer representative sit on one side of the table. On the other side, your bargaining committee and union staff will lead negotiations.
  • What can we negotiate? Areas where there is usually room for improvement include, but are not limited to: wages and inflation protection, employer-paid health insurance for employees and their dependents, effective grievance procedures, job security, seniority provisions, additional paid holidays, paid sick leave, improved vacations, and work rules that spell out your rights on the job.
  • Are there other areas of negotiation specific to health care Professionals? Yes, health care professionals are able to negotiate specific professional practice conditions, including protections for your scope of practice, training and development opportunities, and more. Some union contracts include clinical career ladders that create pathways for promotion based on professional achievement. We also have the right to negotiate over workload/caseload, staffing levels, and other conditions that affect our work lives and the wellbeing of our patients.

About Your Working Conditions

  • If we organize with other Professionals, will conditions have to be the same for all of us? The contract will ensure baseline protections for all Professional employees, but it does not have to be “one size fits all.” For example, a contract for Professionals will often include general provisions, like health and welfare benefits that all employees have access to, as well as articles or addenda for specific professions, such as promotion or scheduling frameworks.
  • If we like the way things are now, will we have to change them?  No, on the contrary, filing a petition to unionize affords “status quo” protections, which means MultiCare won’t be allowed to make policy changes without first negotiating with Professional employees. With a union, you negotiate UP from current wages, benefits, and working conditions. Without a union, MultiCare can unilaterally change policies, even against the wishes of direct supervisors (e.g., the decrease in merit pay levels required by MuiltiCare in the past few years).
  • Will we have to become hourly employees if we unionize? No, this is a popular misconception. Your union will negotiate for the conditions each profession wants. Having a union actually increases our power to protect salaried or hourly status, whereas right now MultiCare could change it at any time. On the other hand, if you and your coworkers are unhappy with your salaried or hourly status, unionizing also gives you an opportunity to address this.
  • Will unionizing change our relationship with our supervisor? It doesn’t have to. It depends on what your relationship is and what you want it to be. If you have a great supervisor who takes your concerns seriously, your union can be an additional way to collaborate with them. On the other hand, if you have a supervisor who is not providing the support you and your coworkers need, unionizing can help to create greater accountability to employees.