University Hospital Local 5089 Contract Negotiations Update July 19, 2024
We met with University Hospital on July 19, 2024 for our second negotiations session.
Our committee presented our Staffing Ratio proposals at the table in this session. As a committee we were clear to management there is no room for negotiation on this proposal. HPAE is at the forefront of the NJ staffing ratio legislation, and we will have enforceable staffing ratios in this contract by the end. Our HPAE sister locals throughout the state recently won their own staffing ratios and we will be the next HPAE union to do so. Our proposal includes the definition of enforceable contract staffing ratios, the establishment of a Staffing Committee to enforce these ratios, expedited arbitration process for violations, and clear ratios built into our contract.
We are excited to report we made our first set of economic proposals including: increased differentials for weekend work, shift differentials, charge nurse, education/certification differentials, and on-call. We addressed New Jersey Earned Sick Leave and proposed a separate time off bank for the use of NJESL.
Additional financial proposals presented today are increases to the tuition reimbursement amount for full and part time employees. Increased uniform allowance amount as well as employee option to use the uniform allowance as proposed for all including Psych department for clothing allowance. We propose to streamline the Inclement Weather process for our negotiations unit employees for increased pay and expanded use. We also proposed eliminating the parking fees for our local.
The use of agency nurses was addressed today as well. Our contract has minimal language currently regarding the use of agency nurses. We proposed a specific contract article which would limit the use of agency nurses and expand the rights of our negotiations unit employees.
We signed our first TAs (Tentative Agreements) today. We updated the information that is provided to the Union in Article 2.03 to increase our negotiations unit employee’s security. We expanded our benefits under Article 7.11 Jury Duty to include paid time for those who work night shift prior as well as the night after to assigned Jury Duty.
Our next session is scheduled for August 8, 2024, and the Hospital stated they will be coming to the table to present their own proposals and provide counters to our proposals on the table. We plan to propose wage increases at our next session
Take a moment to show your support to the negotiations team and sign up to be a Contract Action Team member. We need the support of everyone in the unit to be successful in our contract fight.
Signup here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/local-5089-uh-contract-action-team-signup/
In Solidarity,
HPAE Local 5089 Negotiations Team:
Banita Herndon HPAE President, Cynthia Baez-Lugo HPAE Treasurer, Wendy Bobcombe HPAE Secretary, Joe Ulanday, Wanda Caudle HPAE Vice-President UH-Med-Surg Division, Dara Skinner HPAE Vice President Perioperative Services