Labor-Management Partnerships

Wanda Dyer – The labor-management partnership between the hospital and the SHARE union allowed us to be involved in a unit-based team (UBT), where I was comfortable talking about the challenges in the workflow. Thanks to UBT!

Louise Bachand – Being the supervisor has many challenges, but I have the great opportunity to still learn with the staff I work with each day by being on the unit-based team, which gives me the opportunity to chat with staff and open up many conversations throughout the day.

I’ve been a transit employee and an ATU Local 265 member since 2013. As a single parent of four children, I knew I needed a good job with good benefits so I could provide and sustain a financially stable foundation for my family. I was working in the medical field prior to becoming an operator, and I was just not making it. Through the Joint Workforce Investment Program (JWI Program), a labor-management partnership, I received a mentor right out of technical training. My mentor provided me with the soft skills I needed to be successful in my new career, helped me pave my own path, encouraged me to be involved with our union and inspired me to become a mentor the first chance I had. I wanted to give back to the program by assisting new operators with guidance I had received; I wanted to pay it forward. I have always enjoyed helping others. My experience coming to VTA and being an ATU Local 265 sister has been amazing, and I will be forever thankful for the opportunity I was given to do what I love to do.

I work at a 16,000-employee academic teaching hospital located in central Massachusetts. We describe the unit-based team (UBT) program as the crown jewel of our labor-management partnership. Not only do UBTs benefit staff, they also change how managers think about their own leadership and how they solve problems.

Growing up in the foster care system as a child and the justice system as a young adult I never knew that I would be able to access the same opportunities as others. I used to tell my adopted parents that when I grew up, I was going to be a bus driver just to make them mad, because I knew they wanted me to go to college. Which I did, as a single mother, I earned a BA in Psychology and still decided public transportation was where I wanted to be. I started at [my transit company] in 2015, right when they were starting their apprenticeship program through [my college]. I love the labor-management partnership that they offer. This program has allowed me to master operations, become a mentor, and now one of the coordinators for the program. Having been homeless and addicted to drugs I always felt my glass ceiling was predetermined and set super low. I now realize the doors are always there, you must be brave enough to walk through them.

Established in 1997, Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions and the Alliance of Healthcare Unions have maintained a labor-management partnership (LMP). Their LMP is guided by a founding agreement that lays out core principles, structures and commitments. A 2021 alliance national agreement renewed both parties’ commitment to working in partnership. The Kaiser labor-management partnership is regarded as a national model for businesses and unions interested in establishing their own cooperative partnerships. A case study of the partnership’s early years offers useful insights for business and labor alike.

A series of accidents once placed Entergy’s Arkansas Nuclear One facility among the nation’s lowest-rated nuclear power stations. When Entergy’s Arkansas Nuclear One power plant potentially faced a forced shutdown — and the loss of 900 direct jobs — union workers and employers collaboratively made significant changes, including a commitment to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ Code of Excellence and quality job training. Seven years later, the facility officially ranks among the best.

The Culinary Academy of Las Vegas is a nationally recognized nonprofit hospitality training institute offering 16 different programs in hospitality work, digital and employability skills training, and language instruction for entry-level and union hospitality industry workers. The Culinary Academy is a labor-management trust with partnerships with the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, Bartenders Union Local 165, and 36 major properties on the famous Las Vegas Strip. The organization trains people for successful, family-sustaining careers with a living wage, benefits, employer-provided insurance, and career advancement opportunities. Through partnerships with public and private agencies, the Culinary Academy provides tuition assistance and supportive social services to over 90 percent of applicants and works with students to create pathways from public assistance programs to self-sufficiency and financial independence.

The 1199SEIU Funds Labor-Management Project supports the partnership of labor and management healthcare teams to achieve positive work environments, excellence in care and overall community well-being. The project has been operating for more than 20 years, and works today with hospitals, nursing homes, ambulatory sites, and community-based healthcare organizations in New York, Maryland and Florida. The project offers a broad range of strategies to foster labor and management cooperation to develop cost-effective and high-quality strategies and promote communication and collaboration and shares resources on its website.