Familiar Faces in New Places

May 2014

Longtime UNAC/UHCP employees Vanessa Caballero, Armin Reyes and Olivia Quijano are on the move. Superstar organizers Caballero and Quijano are moving into representation and legislation. Reyes takes his representation talents to Lakewood and Garden Grove.

Vanessa Caballero is eager to tackle the new challenges that will come from staff representation. She played an integral role in organizing the Physical and Occupational Therapists and served on the bargaining team to win them a strong inaugural contract. It was a great experience “starting an affiliate from the ground up,” she says. “The transition from having no union to having a union is very exciting.” Her experiences in building this new affiliate inspired her to continue with them as a staff representative. “I like seeing the immediate results that come with representation,” she says. The members of United Therapists of Southern California (UTSC) are in good hands.

For the past year, Armin Reyes represented members at Kaiser Fontana, and recently worked with members at Kaiser Ontario Vineyard as well. He says representing the members at Fontana and Ontario Vineyard has been a great experience for him. Reyes looks forward to re-establishing ties with the affiliate officers and members of Lakewood Registered Nurses Association (LRNA), where he previously serviced, and building relationships with the Garden Grove Registered Nurses Association (GGRNA). He is already thinking about LRNA’s next negotiations and believes that he will be able to help win the members another outstanding contract by utilizing his relationships with local leaders and politicians. UNAC/UHCP is pleased to have Reyes back after the completion of his recent eighteen-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

“I’m thrilled to be moving from helping health care professionals find a voice in the workplace, to helping health care professionals find a voice in legislation that impacts how they do their jobs,” says Olivia Quijano, a staff organizer who is moving to UNAC/UHCP’s legislation and politics team. Quijano, a graduate of UCLA and the Pennsylvania State University School of Labor and Employment Relations, came to UNAC/UHCP in 2007. She’s worked with registered nurses at Chino, St. Francis, UHS Inland Valley and Rancho Springs, as well as testifying as a key witness in a NLRB trial.