In 2020, healthcare workers’ lives and the work we did changed instantly with COVID 19. Overnight, UNAC/UHCP members were asked to carry the weight of a global pandemic while often working without the staffing, resources, and protective equipment needed to safely care for patients and protect one another.

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As bargaining approached in 2021, the membership was confident that the sacrifices made over the previous years had placed the union in one of the strongest bargaining positions it had ever entered negotiations with. Coming off the heels of a worldwide pandemic, public support and perception of healthcare professionals was at an all time high. Healthcare workers were regularly labeled as essential workers and heroes. Many believed the union finally had the leverage necessary to force meaningful progress on staffing, working conditions, and the economic realities facing healthcare workers and their families.

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That belief was not matched by the outcome.

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After the 2021 contract was ratified, many members were frustrated with the contract and with UNAC/UHCP leadership.

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Heading into bargaining again in 2025, the UNAC/UHCP membership believed that we had learned from the failures of 2021 and were finally prepared to deliver the results the membership had been waiting years for.

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Once again, that belief was not matched by the outcome.

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This past year forced difficult conversations across our union. Members stood on strike lines, lost income, spent time away from their families, and put themselves through one of the most difficult contract fights many had ever experienced.

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On those strike lines, people showed up for one another, supported each other through uncertainty, and continued fighting because they believed the sacrifices being made mattered for the future of this union and the people within it.

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The contracts that followed did not reflect, by any honest measure, what our members were fighting for. The lack of success at the bargaining table comes from disconnected leadership and a membership mobilized too late. This demands accountability.

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A contract is not a win because leadership declares it one.

It is a win when the members who stood on strike lines, walked away from paychecks, and fought for safe patient care look at the outcome and say it was worth it.

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That is the standard.

 

That is what I am running to deliver.