Local 5107 UMC Union Update, July 2024

Last week, your union negotiation Team met with management for our quarterly Labor-Management Committee meeting. Some Items we discussed included:

1. Safety: We are working with management to create a UMC-Wide Workplace Violence Policy. UMC does not currently have one.
2. Staffing: We reviewed Staffing Variance forms you submitted to identify problem areas/shifts, especially the sub-acute units. Management will be conducting a time study to further identify problem areas. We will use these results to help come up with solutions.
3. Staffing Regulations: As a result of years of lobbying by our Union and other healthcare unions, The Centers for Medicare Reimbursement, a Federal Government Agency, has issued new minimum staffing requirements for nursing homes. As a recipient of Medicare funds, UMC must develop a staffing plan and comply by September. We are setting up a separate meeting with the people at corporate who are responsible for developing this plan.
4. Staffing Grievance: We continue to fight for staffing improvements through the grievance process. However, Management is insisting it has the right to force you to fill CNA shifts. We have offered several compromise solutions, but Management has not budged. We will be taking this issue to Arbitration.
5. Health and Safety Committees: Each facility has a health and safety committee that meets monthly to discuss solutions to health hazards. Our union has the right to appoint one member per facility to this committee. If you are interested in health and safety issues, let your reps know so you can be appointed and trained. Meetings are monthly. If the meeting is during your shift, you do not have to clock out to attend. If the meeting is not during your shift, you can clock in to attend.

What You Can Do:

1. The for-profit nursing home industry has convinced its allies in Congress to hold votes that would not only kill the new CMS Staffing Rules, but also ensure that it can’t release staffing rules to improve nursing home care in the future. Use this link to send a message to your representatives to support safe staffing: https://act.aflcio.org/letters/congress-protect-our-loved-ones-safe-staffing-over-corporate-interests/
2. If you would like to attend our meeting with Corporate (likely via Zoom) to speak on the new staffing plan, please respond to this email or reach out to your reps ASAP.
3. Out our last union meeting, many people expressed interest in UMC Nurses becoming part of the HPAE Retiree Medical Trust. You can find more information here: https://www.hpae.org/resource/rmt/

In solidarity,

HPAE 5107 Negotiations Team