Yesterday, we held our third bargaining session with United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 324, the union representing our Orange County-based AMAs.
While there is still work to be done, we are optimistic about the progress we’ve made. As with any decision impacting our staff, it is important to us that we balance the desire to move quickly with the need to be thorough and thoughtful.
WHAT WE COVERED
During this session, we focused on the non-economic terms and reached a tentative agreement on several new topics:
- Non-discrimination
- Union membership, including terms of being a member and dues deduction
- The grievance procedure
There are some additional non-economic topics we have yet to cover, but we are pleased that we have been able to make headway on many of them at this point. We have also committed to providing additional information, as requested by the union, beginning as soon as this week, so we can continue to move discussions forward.
There are five additional bargaining sessions scheduled for the remainder of the year. We remain committed to working quickly, providing the union with information in a timely manner, and bargaining in good faith to reach an actionable and sustainable contract. And, as always, our top priority is to deliver on our mission by caring for our staff, our patients, and the communities we serve.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Our next session will be Monday, October 21. We also have sessions scheduled for November 7 and 22, and we added sessions on December 5 and 20.
WHERE TO LEARN MORE
Please visit PPOSBCtogether.org for more information about negotiations, including key dates, updates and FAQs.
