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Flu Season Reminder

UMass Memorial is currently encouraging employees to comply with the hospital flu vaccination policy. At our hospital, whether you get the shot or decline, you are supposed to turn in one of two forms to Employee Health: either the hospital flu vaccine form, (which you can bring with you when you get your shot to have completed by your own regular care provider, drugstore clinic, etc.) OR, the declination form, if you choose not to be vaccinated.

Hospital-sponsored flu clinics are listed below. The Centers for Disease Control recommends vaccination for most individuals over six months of age, especially those who work in healthcare. This short video featuring UMass Memorial physician Dr. Fozia Qamar addresses some of the most common questions about the vaccine.

As in previous seasons, when flu season hits, the hospital plans to require unvaccinated employees working in patient care areas to wear a mask.

UMass Memorial Flu Clinics 2017

Remember to bring your Kronos' Badge OR Driver’s License with you.

 Monday 12/18   University Campus  RM HB 376  7:00a.m. -3:30 p.pm

                           291 Lincoln St   Suite 100    7:00 a.m.  – 5:00 p.m.

Tuesday 12/19   University Campus  RM HB 376  6:30 a.m.  -3:30 p.m.

                          291 Lincoln St Suite 100  7:00a.m. -5:00 p.m.

Wednesday   12/20   University Campus   RM HB 376   7:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

                         291 Lincoln St Suite 100   7:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.

Thursday  12/21   University campus  RM HB 376 6;30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

                          Memorial Campus   RM MB 2624  12:30p.m. – 3:30p.m.

                          291 Lincoln St   Suite 100   7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Friday  12/22   291 Lincoln St Suite 100 7:00 a.m -5:00 pm

AFSCME Free College Benefit: Register Now for January Classes

It’s a great time to be online with AFSCME's Free College benefit. Spring 2018 classes start January 16th, so don't delay. Get started right away to take advantage of this opportunity for you and your family, and you won’t have to pay a penny out of pocket. Thousands of AFSCME members have already signed up for classes and are sharing this benefit with their spouses, children and grandchildren as well. Spouse to spouse, parent to child or grandparent to grandchild, AFSCME’s partnership with Eastern Gateway Community College allows members to share this valuable college degree opportunity awhere it means the most. Right in your own home with your own family! Eastern Gateway Community College is a public, fully accredited, open-access college in Ohio, and credits are transferable. No entrance exam or placement test is required; you only need to complete the EGCC application, send in your high school or GED transcript, and apply for and use any available federal financial aid. AFSCME Free College will cover the difference for tuition, fees and e-books. The AFSCME Free College benefit is bigger and better than ever, so spring into action with us this January. Visit us at FreeCollege.AFSCME.org or call toll free at 1-888-590-9009 to take the next step to a brighter future.

Career Counseling Appointments for SHARE Members

Brought to you by The SHARE-UMass Memorial Workforce Planning Partnership Committee

Are you interested in professional growth and development?

Quinsigamond Community College’s Center for Workforce Development and Continuing Education will be offering career counseling to interested SHARE members.

Benefits of Individual Career Counseling

• Discover personal interests, skills, and work values
• Identify factors that influence career development
• Explore career options
• Locate sources of career information and support
• Determine next steps and develop a plan to achieve goals

Meet privately with a certified career counselor who can guide you through a step-by-step process to explore options, set goals, and take action.

To Register for an afternoon appointment on Wednesday, December 6 at University Campus or Wednesday, December 13 at Memorial Campus:

• Contact Jackie Kaczowka, Administrator Center for Workforce Development at QCC at 508-751-7911.
• You will be asked to provide your name, address, date of birth, and email address.
• Complete an online* assessment prior to your meeting. Instructions will be emailed to you upon registration. The assessment takes approximately 20 minutes to complete.
• After meeting with the counselor and reviewing your report, a follow up meeting will be scheduled.

*If you do not have access to a computer, please contact Christine Staub in Human Resources at Christine.staub@Umassmemorial.org

SHARE Members Featured in Upcoming Art Exhibition

We're excited to announce that artwork by two SHARE members, Bayda Asbridge and Elsa Benavides, is being displayed during the month of November. Scroll down for the exhibition flyer, or visit the Healing Fibers website to learn more about the show, as well as the organization's mission, including its support of refugee artisans in Worcester.

SHARE Supports Raise Up for a $15 Minimum Wage and Paid Family/Medical Leave

SHARE Organizers Jihelah, Eve, and Dylan
collected signatures outside the White City Trader Joe’s this week! 

This Fall, some SHARE organizers have been supporting the Raise Up coalition to bring two questions to the public on election day 2018. We have been working on gathering the number of signatures required to get a $15 minimum wage (phased in slowly over four years) and paid family/medical leave on the ballot next year so that we, as citizens of Massachusetts, can decide if we want these changes in our state.

Raise Up is a group of unions, churches, and small community organizations from across the state who are committed to positive changes for working families here in Massachusetts.

At SHARE, we see how valuable these changes would be for our members, and for all working people in MA. Many SHARE members have family and dependents at home who make the minimum wage. We believe that everyone deserves the ability to support themselves and their family, and right now, working 40 hours a week for the current $11 minimum wage just isn’t cutting it. And we know that a raise in the minimum wage helps to support solid raises for SHARE members when we negotiate with hospital management.

The Paid Family/Medical Leave proposal is also a better deal for working families. That proposal would provide up to 26 weeks of job-protected medical leave at 90% of pay if an employee is sick, and up to 16 weeks of job-protected family leave at 90% of pay if they have to care for a family member or have a new baby at home. A higher standard would help SHARE as we negotiate leaves-of-absence in our own contract in the future.

Some of our SHARE reps have been volunteering their time to collect signatures so that we will have the chance to vote on these two important issues next fall. If you are interested in joining that effort, or if you have questions about these two initiatives, please email eve.feldberg@theshareunion.org or call/text (617) 620-4091.

SHARE Raise Delivered in October 13 Paycheck

UMass Memorial Human Resources has confirmed that the SHARE raises will be on time. SHARE members started earning their new rate on Sunday, October 1st. That new amount will show up in paychecks next week, October 13, and should be visible on-line starting on Saturday.

Most SHARE members are getting a 2% across the board raise, plus the annual SHARE platform movement amount. The across-the-board raise keeps you up with inflation, and the platform movement gives you credit for another year of experience and moves you up toward the grade max.

This is the final raise negotiated under our current contract. We expect to begin negotiating the next contract, including raises, in the Spring-Summer of next year.

MEMBERS at their GRADE MAXIMUM

. . . will receive the entire raise to their base pay, unless their raise would put them over the new higher Max Cap. (Only eleven SHARE members will be at the Max Cap for their grade. They will be contacted directly by SHARE staff about their raise, a portion of which will be paid-out as a bonus.)

MEMBERS in PEER-BASED POSITIONS

We have completed a great amount of the work involved to slot individuals onto platforms. Thank you to everyone affected for your help in making sure that the hospital has the correct experience data on record for you. We are still working with management to finalize the process, and will contact you all with a further update.

DETERMINING your NEW RATE of PAY

For most SHARE members, those whose current rate of pay is already on a platform, you can identify your new rate by locating your current rate in the online Pay Grids, then moving one column to the right and one row down.

For more detailed instructions about using the pay grids -- or if you current pay is between platforms, at max or over max, or in a grade without platforms -- please contact the SHARE office for help. 508-929-4020

So Fun! 20th Anniversary Celebration on the University Campus

SHARE: 20 Years Old
&
3200 Strong

By the Numbers

Nine hundred attendees, give or take a few. That’s how many people popped in last for SHARE’s 20th Anniversary Celebration on the University Campus. SHARE members came down during lunchtime to the Faculty Conference Room from desks and bedsides and lab benches, and even bussed over from other campuses. Thank you to everyone who made time to make the event such a success!

It was a pretty good day for two unions recognizing a shared anniversary. And in other nifty statistics, our celebration had nine raffle winners. More importantly, altogether, the raffle participants contributed $535 to the UMass Medicine Cancer Walk and Run.

SHARE Rep Rich Leufsted
reprises his famous "SHARE Song"

A Festive Atmosphere

We were excited to catch up with old friends: SHARE retirees, SHARE members who have been promoted to management positions, and some beloved SHARE members who have moved on to other careers. Joining us, too, were many guests, including students, nurses, executive leaders from our Hospital and Medical School, members of sister unions, and even a few folks who just wandered in wondering what the hubbub was about.  

We ate. We sang. We marveled a bit at how SHARE’s values of kindness and respect have translated into policies and work systems that enable SHARE members to participate at work. We did an awful lot of smiling.

SHARE-UMMS EBoard Member AJ Iaconi
describes how a Joint Working Group
at the Critical Care Unit has improved working conditions
and patient care

Support from an Old Friend

Congressman Jim McGovern returned to the University Campus where he championed our union in

Congressman Jim McGovern
commended the courage of employees
who voted to unionize

the beginning. He reminded us that, twenty years ago, the formation of SHARE was the result of the largest organizing effort central Massachusetts had seen in over sixty years.

As he looked over the crowd, Jim McGovern noted members of the senior leadership team participating in our big day. He called it a testament to SHARE's commitment to partnership and non-adversarialism. As he pointed out, especially in those earliest days, University and Hospital management have not always recognized the value of our union. He praised our union's earliest pioneers, who didn't know how management would react, and had to believe that we could create the kind of union that would make our community stronger.

Congressman McGovern remembered our earliest days so well that he even teased us about the unscoopable frozen-solid ice cream that we chiseled into servings at that ice cream social, back-in-the-day. And he encouraged us to continue being brave in our efforts, saying that SHARE members were not only important to one another in the room, and to our hospital, but because we’re a vital union that makes the middle class possible.

More to Come in SHARE’s 20th Year

SHARE Rep and PCA Kona Enders
describes how SHARE members
stick together

The event also served as a great show of our spirit and our strength leading into next-year’s contract negotiations. Both SHARE at UMass Memorial and SHARE at UMass Medical School will sit down at the table with our respective employers next year.

In the coming year, at anniversary events throughout our campuses, we’ll continue celebrating, and reflecting, and thinking ahead together. To keep up, be sure to subscribe to the SHARE blog, and check in to learn about developments at www.theshareunion.org/20years

SHARE Hospital Treasurer Kathy Girouard
and Organizer Dylan Goodman
tended the photobooth--until the crowds took over the space

New SHARE/JOIN Fellow Eve Feldberg explains

how an increased minimum wage

benefits SHARE members and other members of our community

Nice shout-out from Congressman McGovern on his Facebook page!

Twentieth Anniversary Celebration This Thursday

It's here! Happy anniversary! This Thursday, we kick off a year of celebrating throughout our campuses with a bash on the University Campus. Join us for some fun!

SHARE 20th Anniversary Celebration

Thursday, September 21st

11:45-1:15  

UMMS Faculty Conference Room

• Food! Including sub sandwiches, homemade treats, and -- of course -- chocolate!
• Songs! New and old, written by SHARE members
• Special guests! Including Congressman Jim McGovern, returning to congratulate our union, which he championed on our campus 20 years ago
• Raffle! Enter to win one of several baskets. All proceeds go directly to support the Cancer Walk
• Memories, Friends, and More! Including free SHARE Union schwag!

Both our Hospital and Medical School unions will enter contract negotiations in the coming year. This is a perfect time to show off the good things our unions have done, to highlight our goals, and to demonstrate to the community our strength and aspirations. Let’s eat, and laugh, and enjoy!

Developments, details, and other anniversary events can be found at www.theshareunion.org/20years

Help Keep Your Union Strong

Hi blog reader!

We really appreciate that you’re keeping tabs on your union’s news. There are now a few hundred subscribers to the SHARE blog . . . not to mention all of our unsubscribed readers. Thank you!

Never have our connections to one another been more important than now. Our unions have grown to include over 3,200 members. If you’re a faithful blog reader, or have been around our union for a bit, you know that person-to-person conversations make our union strong. That's a lot of conversations.

This Thursday, we’re hosting our first big event to celebrate SHARE’s 20 Year Anniversary. Throughout the year, we’ll be celebrating on all of the campuses, and we want to kickstart things right. We encourage everyone who can to come out to this one. Every member deserves to have a meaningful connection to their union, and we would love your help.

Here are a few things you can do now . . .

Ten Easy Things You Can Do this Week to Help Keep SHARE Strong

1. Come to our keystone event, the 20th Anniversary Celebration, on September 21st.
2. Bring a plate of finger foods to that party.
3. Email a photo of yourself, along with a quote about what SHARE means to you, to kirk.davis@theshareunion.org.
4. Print a flyer or three, and post them in your area.
5. Send an entry to the Great SHARE Recipe Swap.
6. Hand out postcard invitations to friends and co-workers (ask your SHARE organizer for some, or contact the SHARE office: 508-929-4020).
7. Help plan to celebrate on your campus . . . contact your SHARE organizer for details.
8. Subscribe to the SHARE blog.
9. Warm up your voices and be ready to sing.
10. Ask your co-workers to do any of the above!
11. 
    

SHARE at Fenway Park

SHARE Union Co-President Bobbi-Jo Lewis

on deck to be recognized

during the pre-game ceremonies

There’s nothing like that feeling of being in the ballpark with friends, with the bright lights all around, as a talented singer nails those last few bars of "The Star Spangled Banner." And when Martha Vedrine stepped her voice up an extra interval near the end of her recent performance of the Anthem at Union Night, it was a magical thing. The stands erupted. Martha is a member of our sister union at Harvard University, HUCTW, where she works at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.  

HUCTW member Martha Vedrine
singing the National Anthem

At the Red Sox game at Fenway Park on Labor Day, over 220 of the seats were filled by members of SHARE and HUCTW. Union Night is designated to recognize what unions do to improve the lives of working people.

Our own SHARE Hospital union co-president, Bobbi-Jo Lewis, was recognized during the ceremonies. "I've been bringing my kids to watch the Red Sox since they were little. It was really special for them to be in the stands while I got a chance to wave up at the crowd from the field," Bobbi-Jo said.

Bobbi-Jo's kids at the game:
SHARE member Emily Anderson
and her brother Tyler

We’re already looking forward to the next Union Day at Fenway. Although the Major League schedule hasn’t been announced for next season, we’ve got our fingers crossed for a day game, so more SHARE families can be able to come. We’ll keep you posted.

In the meanwhile, most any time that you go to Boston to see the Sox, you can listen to the musical skills of HUCTW member Josh Kantor. Josh is Fenway’s official organist. He has negotiated a flex-time arrangement with his supervisors at Harvard University’s Loeb Music Library so that he can perform at all of the home games. Next time you’re at a game, you can even Tweet him a song request!