National Bargaining Tentative Agreement Reached

May 2012

At 2:45AM today, UNAC/UHCP and the Coalition of Unions reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser covering 95,000 Kaiser employees across the country. While we are not yet part of the national coalition, when we ratify our final contract, we will be covered by the National Agreement. This will give us increased bargaining power in years to come.

Without the active support of thousands of our members, the contact the coalition negotiated would not have been possible. During bargaining, over 1500 UNAC/UHCP members and retirees came out to support the bargaining team. Yesterday, an overflow room had to be opened during the day just for our members. Over 30 nurses camped out until the final agreement was signed early this morning. Throughout three months of bargaining, our members' presence was described as a "sea of blue" by other partner unions.

It is this sort of unity that is required to achieve a strong contract. When we head back to the bargaining table on June 12, remember that it is your support that will move management.

If you have any questions about the national contract, please ask your UNAC/UHCP organizer, or a bargaining team member.