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Organizing
President Val Holstrom was contacted May 5th 2005 by a group of nurses looking to organizes in their workplace. They came to us wanting a strong, viable grievance procedure and a voice in the workplace. The nurses said they wanted to affiliate with a Union that would stand strong and help them in their efforts to organize. They choose Teamsters Local 690 as the Union that best fit their needs, said President Holstrom We met with a committee of nurses and explained the commitment of time and energy it takes to mount and maintain an organizing campaign from the grass roots beginning to the ultimate goal of a first contract. The Registered Nurses eagerly accepted this challenge and pledged, with the help of Local 690, to do “whatever it takes” to win an organizing campaign and remain united through the negotiating process to win a first contract.
Local 690 asked Joint Council President, Al Hobart for help. President Hobart reached out and received a commitment from IBT Director, Jeff Farmer, and West Region Organizing Director, Manny Valenzuela, for assistance. The IBT assigned various Organizers to work with the Local Union during this campaign. The Nurses were committed to mounting a thorough and extensive grass roots organizing campaign. This slow and sometimes arduous campaign lasted approximately 16 months and through the unselfish efforts and dedication of many Nurses and Teamster staffers from around the country the nurses voted Teamsters Local 690 as their exclusive representative. Proposal meetings were held and negotiations began. Twenty months, and four successful ULP’s later the negotiating committee finally reached agreement and gave its recommendation, which the Nurses ratified their first contract by an overwhelming majority. We believe this is the first organized labor agreement for Registered Nurses in Idaho, a right to work state. The commitment of the Nurses at BGH to hang in there and “do whatever it takes” for 36 months to organize and obtain a contract is unparalleled in our Local Union. The last few months of negotiations were critical to motivate the Hospital to complete the negotiations. Local 690 reached out, again to our Joint Council President, Al Hobart, and asked the IBT for help. We received assistance from the Organizing, Communications, Training and Development Departments as well as having an IBT Organizer assigned. Local 690 stepped up its community awareness campaign. We took out ads in the local paper and 450 community members responded by letting us use their names in future ads, we had ads on the local radio stations, participated on local radio talk shows, distributed 500 yard signs (in support of the nurses), various community members had editorials published and over 65 community members volunteered to attend a rally and march through the City of Sandpoint. These combined efforts enabled the negotiating committee to put the final pieces together to achieve a recommended offer.
In addition to Spokane, more than 4,100 UPS Freight workers have submitted cards to become Teamsters in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Indiana, California, Florida, Arizona, New York, Kentucky, New England, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Tennessee, Michigan and Seattle, Washington. Principal Officer, Secretary-Treasurer, Justin “Buck” Holiday along with the staff of Teamsters Local Union No. 690, stayed in constant contact and worked very hard with these drivers. We now have completed the first step towards concluding a successful campaign and getting them a first contract, reported President Val Holstrom. President Holstrom said “the workers are looking forward to getting a strong and fair contract that improves their lives and working conditions. |
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Thirty six months of Organizing and Negotiations resulting in a new beginning for 110 Registered Nurses at Bonner General Hospital (BGH).Local 690 is proud to announce on May 14th the Registered Nurses ratified their first collective bargaining agreement with BGH, by an overwhelming majority
