Get Involved: Participation Builds Strength

Learn about your contract. Take some time to read through it to learn more about the fair policies and rights we’ve won by working together in a union.

If you have a question about the contract, or you think a manager or supervisor isn’t living up to their end of the agreement, talk to your union delegate. Each work unit, department, or clinic elects our own delegate. Our delegates get training from our union on how to solve problems that may come up at work. Delegates help serve as our advocates when we want to raise a concern with management.

Attend meetings at your facility. We frequently hold meetings at our workplace to discuss issues. Going to these meetings is a useful way to stay plugged into what’s happening with our union.

Support your co-workers and other health care workers. Having a union in our facility allows us to speak with a united voice about issues thatwe decide management needs to hear our opinion about. With our union, we’ve also built a network to support other health care employees across Washington.

We also organize meetings, rallies, and other kinds of activities to raise the public’s awareness of the challenges of maintaining and improving our health care system. We work in coalition with groups in communities across the state in a common effort to make Washington a better place to live and work.

Participate in decision-making within our union. 1199NW members run our union through a democratic process.

In addition to our worksite delegates, we elect leadership of our own chapters. A chapter is a group of employees who are covered by a distinct contract. For example, RNs at Group Health have negotiated a contract together. They make up an individual chapter.

Each chapter elects a representative to the executive board which meets monthly to determine the course of action for the union. Twice a year, our elected delegates meet for delegate assemblies that plan the direction of our union and approve a budget. Every member is invited to attend these assemblies.

Every two years, we elect five officers — a president, executive vice-president, secretary-treasurer, vice-president for the private sector, and vice-president for the public sector. These officers manage our union on a day-to-day basis and also serve on the executive board.

Register to vote and help us hold politicians accountable. Outside our facility, our union leads a broad movement to improve health care. We support legislative standards for adequate staffing and safety in our workplaces, and we work to help elect leaders to office who will stand up for effective health care policies.