Local 5142 Update: It’s time to fight back!

As you know, Prime Healthcare Foundation has backed out of the sale of Salem Hospital. This does not change the fact that we need to continue to build our power as a union to win a fair contract and influence the direction of the hospital moving forward. CHS has continued to fight us at every turn, but we also continue to win. We recently finished negotiations that will end with significant back pay for nurses who were laid off when the OB unit closed. This would not have happened without bargaining with our union. It’s critical that we continue to organize ourselves and strengthen our power in order to keep fighting back!

What does this mean for our local bargaining: We will continue to bargain for a fair contact with CHS. At our last negotiation session with the hospital, CHS continued to fight us on key issues:

• Across the board pay increases: CHS wants “merit based pay.” Having your pay increases tied to “merit” creates a lack of transparency and opens up the door for favoritism. Having across the board increases is critical for us as a union.
• Union Security and “Zipper Clause” Proposals: CHS continues to fight to curtail you rights as Union members with proposals that would limit our power as a Union. We need to beat back these proposals!

How do we continue to build our Union:

• Local elections: It’s time to ELECT our Local Officers. We will soon be electing our first Local Executive Board. Our Board will consist of our President, VP’s and a Secretary/Treasurer. After our elections are complete we will have the governing body of our Local Union in place. Keep an eye open for the nomination ballot. We will be receiving it by the end of this month. Make sure you fill out the ballot and return it as instructed. Good luck to those who are nominated!
• Other ways to get involved: Our union is all of us, the membership, and the structure we create to build the power of our membership. We have already begun recruiting union representatives for every shift and department, and will soon be working to fill committees that will work on issues such as patient safety and staffing. To find out how you can get more involved, please contact Marcus Presley at (908) 337-8986 or mpresley@hpae.org. Despite the current uncertainty at the Hospital, one thing we do know is that when we’re organized, we WIN!