We want to know what you think: Cafeteria Survey

We understand that UMass Memorial management will soon be negotiating a new contract for our hospitals' cafeterias. We would like to encourage them to use this opportunity to make significant improvements in our cafeterias, and in the culture around eating in all of our facilities. We can make this case best if we know what you think.

Please take our  Cafeteria Survey!

Your responses will be anonymous. The survey should take five to ten minutes to complete. Thank you!

Union Dues Increase

We are writing to let you know that the dues will increase in 2013 by 7 cents per week.

• The regular rate, for everyone over 20 hours/week, is going up to $8.12 (from $8.05)
• The rate for people scheduled for 20 hours/week is going up to $6.10 (from $6.07)

The first week at the new rate will be the week ending 1/5/2013, so it will show up in the 1/10/2013 paycheck.

The dues usually go up a bit every January, but for the past 2 years there has been no increase.

How is the dues increase decided?

The annual dues increase is set by our national union, AFSCME. They calculate the increase by looking at the average raise in the previous year for AFSCME members across the country (over a million people, with many in the public sector). We have had pay raises for the past 3 years. Unfortunately for AFSCME members in general, however, the average of pay raises, pay cuts, and unpaid furloughs has been zero for the past 2 years, and is low this year. Fortunately for us, this has resulted in no dues increase for 2 years, and a small increase this year.

If you have any questions, please call the SHARE office at 508-929-4020, or email Comment@theSHAREunion.org.