Local 5004 contract negotiations proposal updates

HPAE Negotiating Team Is Demanding:

• Better Staffing throughout the facility;
  Charge Nurse no assignment on days and evenings in M/S;
  Reduce night ratios to the same as days on all units (see handout for details);
• Improve Professional Standards by guaranteeing CE, appropriate training and competencies for all areas and improving orientation and preceptorship;
• Defining Units as a single location and name units by service and not location;
• Wages: 4 % across the board each year, continued Step Movement, increase Longevity Bonus for those off the scale;
• Ability of FT, PT and Weekend Flex to convert to PD as they need;
• Ability for Nurse on LOA to bid for positions on their own unit;
• Protect existing Health Benefits and Improve Dental Coverage as well as offering ability to purchase Aflac policies;
• More reasonable Flu and Masking Policy;
• More reasonable Time and Attendance Policy;
• Guaranteed 12-hour shifts on 2K, 8D, Peds and 4 D and preserve existing 12 hour units;
• 2 Year contract recognizing fast changing Health Care environment;
• Limiting On-Call;
• Converting Preceptor Credits to Differential paid in cash;
• Annual Emergency Preparedness Drills and Training;
• Successorship – Guarantee contract survives beyond any future sale or takeover;
• Neutrality in future Union organizing campaigns;
• Protections for Impaired Nurses;
• Paid time for Nurse called to court or depositions on behalf of Hospital;
• Add nurses employed by medical practices to BU;
• BU work not to be performed by supervisors;
• Continued ability of Union leaders to take unpaid days off to enforce our contract;
• Update Council Model to include recent changes;
• Reduce use of Agency Nurses and BU employees not required to orient Agency Nurses;
• Ability to use vacation time in hours and not just full days;
• Ability and encouragement of Nurses to participate in Medical Relief and other missions;
• Include ALL DIFFERENTIALS in calculation of pension matching.

EHMC is Offering the following:

• Locking in a 4 year contract with minimal wage increases;
• Paying new employees more than current employees and increasing the potential sign-on bonus to $15,000;
• Continued Step Increases but no other increases until December 2018 – only 1% each December for 4 years. No increase in Longevity Bonus;
• Offer 12-hour shifts to Dean 8, Dean 4, 2 Kaplen, Mother/Baby and Peds to begin in June 2019 – only if every nurse on the unit agrees.
  EHMC Proposals – Continued:
• No Changes to Health and Dental Benefits;
• New On-Call for Endoscopy;
• “Professional Recognition Program:” $500 only for FT staff nurses (with Specialty Certification, BSN and who are preceptors) who are awarded the status without objective standards, no written criteria, and a limited number of nurses (potentially as little as 5 per year);
• “Success Pays Program:” gives nurses the ability to take ANCC certification without paying upfront {HPAE does not oppose this and has included it in our comprehensive professional development proposal};
• Prohibit ability to grieve any evaluations no matter how unfair;
• Make the arbitration process more expensive by requiring a court reporter (currently either party may opt to have one) and make the losing party to an arbitration pay all costs;

“…the Medical Center continually reviews our staffing needs, not only to meet or exceed every regulatory requirement, but to ensure our patients are cared for in an appropriate and safe manner.”          EHMC Negotiation Hotline 5/14/18

Tentative Agreements to date:

• Will use employee ID numbers instead of SS#;
• Will provide postings in PDF and Excel (currently just PDF);
• Requests for use of holiday time will not be approved until the posting of the schedule for which it was requested;
• Clarify that vacation minimums do not apply to Christmas week;
• Grievances do not need to be signed if sent via email;
• Change title of PCD to Nurse Manager throughout the contract;
• Cancellation notice reduced to two hours for management to cancel employee;
• Clarify procedure for requesting non-emergency leaves of absence;
• Huddles are not a substitute for Staff Meetings and are not the only method of informing staff about changes to clinical practice;
• JNPC minutes to be provided no later than 5 days before the subsequent meeting;
• Incorporate Layoff process clarification settlement in contract;
• Maximum retro for Education Differential to 6 months;
• Add Weekend Flex to Uniform Allowance recipients ($90 per year).