At the end of June, 163 pharmacists in the Mid-Atlantic region voted overwhelmingly to adopt their first union contract with Kaiser Permanente. The pharmacists, who joined OPEIU Local 2 in September of 2008, are now part of the same bargaining unit as the roughly 40 optometrists in the region.

Chuck Phillips, director, human resources and chief KP negotiator, said the four months of bargaining were open and collaborative and everyone at the table was engaged.

“We didn’t trade positions, we came up with mutually acceptable solutions,” he said.

“People supported job security, seniority, stability, the opportunity for job improvement recognition, and equality,” said pharmacist David Hawa, referring to the landslide vote in favor of the contract.

Pay disparities addressed

Among the biggest issues for union members, according to Hawa, who was at the bargaining table, was that some of the junior pharmacists hired right out of pharmacy school were earning more than some of their colleagues who had been with KP for years. Nor was there transparency in the pay scale.

“Until we sat at the bargaining table, we didn’t know the salaries of other pharmacists,” Hawa noted.

Phillips said KP recognized the need to keep salaries competitive, but that moving from a salary range system to a step system had proved a challenge—but one that the two sides successfully worked out.

“We all wanted to create more equity,” Phillips said.

New role as full LMP partners

In addition, pharmacists now enjoy benefits under the 2005 National Agreement, including income and job security, a Health Retirement Account and career development opportunities, to name just a few.

I never belonged to a union before. It’s given me a lot of confidence in myself.

Nahid Bokaee, Pharmacist, Local 2 Shop Steward

One of the biggest changes for pharmacists is that they now are fully engaged members of the partnership. Before joining the union, they sat on LMP committees but, as non-represented professional staff, were neither managers nor union employees.

That is changing quickly as the region’s pharmacies prepare to roll out their first unit-based teams.

“It gives us the opportunity to work on the same level and find solutions together,” said Nahid Bokaee a new OPEIU Local 2 shop steward and pharmacist.

For Bokaee, who participated in negotiations, it has been a life-changing experience.

“I never belonged to a union before,” she explained. “It’s given me a lot of confidence in myself.”