About Us

Meet your UPSC Officers, Contract Specialists and Staff Reps

Learn About Our History

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2023 UPSC Officers

President -
Michael Mattes,
PharmD

 

UPSC.PRES@unacuhcp.org

909-762-5616

Areas of Coverage:  

West LA, Woodland HIlls

Vice President - Ambulatory Care
Stephenie Ellis, PharmD

 

UPSC.VPAMCARE@unacuhcp.org

909-762-6133

Areas of Coverage:

Kern, Panorama City, Antelope Valley

Officer_Vy_Nguyen2

Vice President -
Central Refill Pharmacy/Mail Order Processing Center
Vy Nguyen, PharmD

 

UPSC.VPCRPMOPC@unacuhcp.org

909-762-5767

Areas of Coverage:

CRP/MOPC

 

Vice President -
Inpatient
Daniel Szeto,
PharmD

UPSC.VPINPATIENT@unacuhcp.org 

909-762-5926

Areas of Coverage:

Los Angeles (LAMC)

 

Vice President -
Outpatient
Grace Lee, PharmD

 

UPSC.VPOUTPATIENT@unacuhcp.org

909-762-5744

Area of Coverage:

Downey

 

Secretary -
Janine Dang,
PharmD

 

UPSC.SECRETARY@unacuhcp.org

909-762-6036

Areas of Coverage:

Orange County, South Bay

 

Treasurer -
Margaret Kee,
PharmD

 

UPSC.TREASURER@unacuhcp.org

909-762-6393

Area of Coverage:

San Diego

GodwinKam

Steward Coordinator North
Godwin Kam, PharmD

UPSC.SCNORTH@unacuhcp.org

909-762-5500

Areas of Coverage:  

Fontana/Ontario, Baldwin Park

Steward Coordinator South

Malinda Greene (pictured right)

UPSC.SCSOUTH@unacuhcp.org

909-762-6553

 Area of Coverage:

Riverside, Coachella Valley

2023 UPSC Contract Specialists

CS Eric Guzman

2023 Contract Specialist Inland

Eric Guzman, PharmD

UPSCInland.CS@unacuhcp.org

909-929-5693

Areas of Coverage:

South Bay, West Los Angeles, Fontana/Ontario, Riverside

Christina Jenkins CS

2023 Contract Specialist South

Christina Jenkins Jimenez, PharmD

upscsouth.cs@unacuhcp.org

909-962-9757

Areas of Coverage:

Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego

Grace Lee

2023 Contract Specialist North

Grace Lee, PharmD

upscnorth.cs@unacuhcp.org

909-962-9750

Areas of Coverage:

Downey, Baldwin Park, Panorama City/AV, Kern, Woodland Hills

UPSC Staff Representatives

Leadership 2023-8478

Kathie Varisco, PharmD

 

Kathie.Varisco@unacuhcp.org

909-541-0241

Areas of Coverage:

Riverside, CRP/MOPC, Downey, Baldwin Park

PSX_20200907_131739

Fred Aziz,
PharmD

 

Fred.Aziz@unacuhcp.org

909-344-0940

Areas of Coverage:

LAMC, Woodland Hills, Fontana/Ontario, PC/AV, Kern

PSX_20201118_134103

Max Wang,
PharmD

 

Max. Wang@unacuhcp.org

909-407-0746

Areas of Coverage:

San Diego, Orange County, South Bay, West LA

OUR HISTORY

We are the United Pharmacists of Southern California (UPSC), a labor union composed entirely of Kaiser Southern California Region pharmacists.  

We decertified from the Guild for Professional Pharmacists in 2015 and elected to join UNAC/UHCP as its newest  affiliate, UPSC, with our own affiliate Constitution, Financial Policy and elected Officers.  Our primary goal was to join a parent union (UNAC/UHCP) that had the influence and power to restore our pensions which had been frozen at our last contract negotiations in 2011.  

Incredibly, UNAC/UHCP was able to negotiate with Kaiser a restoration of our frozen pensions, along with strong contract language for long overdue improvements to working conditions to parallel those of the UNAC-UHCP nurses and other healthcare professionals.  As a bonus, we procured the job security that comes with being a Kaiser Labor-Management Partnership Alliance union, something we were not part of as a Guild for Professional Pharmacist union.  With that famous 2015 contract, we became UNAC-UHCP’s 51st affiliate.  

We enjoy a high degree of autonomy as an affiliate of UNAC/UHCP.  Our Officers bargain our own UPSC contracts, pharmacists represent pharmacists in investigations and grievances, and despite having our wages frozen for the first 2 years while we struggled to bargain our pension back, our wages are now the highest for pharmacists within the Kaiser organization.  

We are strong defenders of patient safety and quality of care, are highly involved in political policy in Sacramento, we participate in community service events, we have UPSC Stewards at every Kaiser Medical Center and we strive to communicate regularly with our members through newsletters, a dedicated website, emails and membership meetings. 

We are proud and we are strong.

Together we are UPSC!

 

 

UPSC is one of twenty-nine affiliates and chapters of UNAC/UHCP in California and Hawaii. Each local affiliate is autonomous, with its own constitution, elected officers and local contract.

By virtue of being a UNAC/UHCP affiliate member, you’re entitled to hundreds of benefits, including scholarships, free continuing education, legal assistance, discounts, and much more. Learn about these benefits HERE.

The Guild for Professional Pharmacists negotiated our labor contracts as a tiny voice outside the Coalition of LMP.  Becoming an affiliate of UNAC/UHCP in 2015 allowed us to have a stronger voice at the bargaining table. In 2018, twenty-two local unions (including UNAC/UHCP) formed an Alliance with a deep commitment to each other and continuing partnership with Kaiser Permanente to improve patient care and make Kaiser the best place to work, and worked together to improve our National Contract.

The Alliance includes locals of AFSCME (which includes UNAC/UHCP and therefore UPSC), UFCW, USW, IBT, KPNAA, IUOE, OFNHP (AFT), UNITE HERE, ILWU, and HNHP. Together these unions represent over 50,000 members across hundreds of job classifications in nearly every geographic area where Kaiser Permanente has a presence.

In 2018, Alliance Unions updated our Labor Management Partnership National Agreement after several meetings with management. The original Agreement, first negotiated in 1997, had not been updated in the intervening 21 years. The updated National Agreement fully preserved our employment security and union rights as well as met our other key goals: a good wage increase, better benefits, and a plan to get our LMP back on track.

Prior to joining UNAC/UHCP as an affiliate union in 2015, Southern California Kaiser pharmacists were not part of the National Agreement and so did not have the benefits of Ben Hudnall education assistance, the $3,000 annual Tuition Reimbursement, Contract Stewards, Steward Training and the levels of Partnership cooperation with Investigatory and Issue Resolution meeting that we have now.

The Alliance has been in constant talks with Kaiser during the COVID pandemic, advocating for PPE, employee protections, protocols and benefits that are industry-leading. 

Childcare grants, along with the extra COVID-related sick leave, are a reflection of the strength of the Alliance fighting for all the affiliates, including UPSC.