May 9, 2020 Negotiations Update
Day 6 of bargaining. HMH responded to many of our proposals by rejecting everything related to health and safety, workplace violence, staffing, transition and oversight, and the pandemic.
Adam Witt, President of Local 5058, addressed the egregious PPE issue from last week on Mehandru 5, where nurses and staff didn’t have gowns for several hours. Ellen Angelo, JSUMC’s Chief Nursing Officer, told the bargaining committee that gowns were on the unit, but under a desk. The negotiating team responded, asking if it’s usual for someone from management to be verbally aggressive and refuse direct requests for PPE. Both the lack of PPE and the attitude of management are unacceptable, and this is now the subject of an added complaint to OSHA.
Anna Pona, President of local 5138 at SOMC, raised that many payroll issues continue to plague members at SOMC and JSUMC. She used this continuing failure to fix payroll problems for why HMH needs to have a standing committee that can address and remedy PTO, payroll, and benefit issues on a regular basis. We demanded that someone from payroll come to the negotiations to explain why this has been so problematic since changing over to Peoplesoft.
Management’s response to our staffing proposals was to say that there is no staffing shortage at our hospitals and that positions are posted but have not been filled. We countered that the issues since harmonization have made HMH an employer to avoid. JSUMC, alone, has over 100 open nursing jobs. Neither hospital has been able to run without the help of agency for some time. That’s a staffing shortage.
On harmonization, HMH used that excuse to deny proposals about better access to ESL. They rejected a $20/hr hero incentive going back to March, stating the 1.5% base increase accounts for hero pay. We disagree and will continue to demand compensation for what we’ve been through since early March.
After concerns were raised about unit seniority factoring more heavily in open positions on a home unit, that proposal has been withdrawn.
We’ve faced so many problems with HMH this year. Despite this, we have signed up for shifts, worked in unsafe conditions, and done what we need to for our patients and our co-workers. The employer’s rejection of our proposals is a slap in the face. We don’t need chocolate bars and parades. We need to be treated fairly, have our concerns addressed, and have problems fixed. That demand will never change.