Vice President of Leadership Development

            Kathy Schmidt, RN
Critical Care Float, KSMC

Kathy has been an RN for the past 32 years. She is currently employed in a float position at KSMC, providing care for the patients in the Critical Care Arena. She was hired into the Intensive Care Unit in 1978.

While working in that position, she became active with her colleagues in learning about collective bargaining and the search for a union to represent the RNs in the Kaiser Northwest region. She was a member of the organizing committee that chose the AFT as our national union and after winning union elections in both the hospital and the clinic, served on the 1979 bargaining team that negotiated the landmark first contract for the RNs.

In 1981, she was elected as OFNHP President and went on to serve until 2001 when she accepted a National Coordinator position with the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. During her tenure as OFNHP President, she was the spokesperson for all the contract negotiations for OFNHP RNs, including the 1988 contract that brought the 58-day RN strike to an end. In 1992, she supported organizing the Kaiser Techs and Registered Dental Hygienists into OFNHP and negotiated the initial contracts for both groups. The last local contract negotiation she coordinated was in 2001 for the 900 members of the Kaiser NW Pro group, who had voted to join OFNHP.

While OFNHP President, Kathy also developed the role of the OFNHP steward and mentored hundreds of new leaders as they learned to unify their colleagues in achieving and enforcing excellent contracts. She looks forward to mentoring the next generation of union leaders to carry that important body of work forward.

Vice President of Legislative & COPE

            Melissa Pond, RN

Chronic Conditions Case Manager

Melissa has been a Registered Nurse for 15 years, most of them at Kaiser primarily in Ambulatory Care. Melissa has held positions at Kaiser ranging from Advice Nurse at East Interstate to multiple Case Management roles including Diabetes, Transitions, Chronic Conditions, and New Medicare Members.

Melissa is an active union steward and is currently the partnership labor representative for the Case Management work group.

Melissa believes a union is only as strong as the members who are actively participating. She is dedicated to helping promote unity and transparency which are keys to a strong, democratic union. Melissa believes our influence can be strengthened when we raise our unified voice to bring awareness to those issues that drive excellence in patient care while preserving our work-life balance. Melissa is committed to a member-driven union.

Vice President of Retirees
Dave Charlton, PRO
Mental Health Therapist TUA