Union Plus Scholarship--DEADLINE TUESDAY!

The Union Plus Education Foundation is now receiving applications for their 2017 Scholarship Program. The awards range from $500 to $4,000.

The application deadline is Tuesday, January 31, 2017.

This is a competitive scholarship, and applicants are evaluated according to academic ability, social awareness, financial need and appreciation of labor. A GPA of 3.0 or higher is recommended.

Undergraduate and graduate students are eligible. The Scholarship Program is open to current and retired members of unions participating in any Union Plus program (e.g., AFSCME), their spouses and their dependent children (as defined by IRS regulations). At least one year of continuous union membership by the applicant, applicant's spouse or parent (if applicant is a dependent). The one year membership minimum must be satisfied by May 31, 2017.

The applicant must be accepted into a U.S. accredited college or university, community college, technical or trade school at the time the award is issued. Awards must be used for the 2017 - 2018 school year. You do not have to purchase any Union Plus product or participate in any Union Plus program to be eligible.

Applicants should note that the application requires you to list the national or international union name, local union number, local union's address, phone number and the name of the local union President or Business Manager.  You need this information for your union, your spouse's union or your parent's union (if you are a dependent).  If you or your family members are affiliated with multiple unions you must list this information for all.

As a member of SHARE, you are also a member of our parent organization, AFSCME, a qualifying union. Please note that the “local number” for SHARE on the hospital-side is AFSCME Local 3900. The SHARE hospital-side co-presidents are Bobbi-Jo Lewis and Rita Caputo.

For more details, and to access the online application dashboard, please see the Union Plus Scholarship website.

You're in Books!

SHARE is highlighted in a new book from the Cornell University Press, entitled The Evolving Healthcare Landscape: How Employees, Organizations, and Institutions are Adapting and Innovating. Our union is profiled in a chapter that describes labor-management partnership at six different hospitals, including our own.

IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF WORK LIFE

The book provides some background about SHARE’s history of “Joint Working Groups that bring together managers, providers, union members, and union staff to discuss issues.” It explains how, recently, our union’s philosophies have matched more with those of the hospital leadership, and align with the efforts of the Center for Innovation and Transformational Change (CITC). There’s even mention of the Patient Satisfaction project involving SHARE members in our hospital’s Central Scheduling department.

The chapter opens by pointing out that, according to previous studies, “labor-management partnerships have been an important and powerful process to improve the quality of services/products, control costs, and improve the quality of work life of employees as result of front-line staff and union involvement.” The chapter concludes with the idea that SHARE “believes strongly that members want to have a more direct role in the process improvement activities as well as improving quality of worklife issues.”

THE WORK AHEAD FOR SHARE

The authors note that we've got a ways to go. “The main challenge thus far,” they write, “is the unevenness of implementation: some departments are quite invested and committed to the process, while others have not adopted any of the new practices.” That certainly describes one of the big challenges ahead. SHARE wants every member to have the tools to improve her work life.

Fortunately, one thing that feels exciting to us is that, less than two months after being printed, the book is already a little out-of-date. The authors note with curiosity in the book that our union and hospital didn’t have any written agreements about our process improvement work.

Things have changed, however. Since our recent contract agreement, we now have a mutual commitment to spread Unit Based Teams throughout our hospital system, and further develop the ability for front-line employees to take the lead in the workplace.

FUTURE STUDIES OF SHARE’S EVOLUTION

We also find it fortunate that the authors, Adrienne Eaton and Becky Givan, have asked to continue to study our efforts. We’ve looked to their writing to better understand the successes and failures of labor-management relationships in the past, and are excited to welcome them to help us make sense of the work we’re doing here.

WANT TO READ MORE?

If you’d like to go farther back in the academic literature, you can read about SHARE in “Changing Work, Changing People: A Conversation with Union Organizers at Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center.”

Or dive even deeper into our history by reading the book about our sister union at Harvard University, We Can’t Eat Prestige: The Women Who Organized Harvard.

One-on-one Meetings with Fidelity about your 401K

In case you missed it, Fidelity is making one-on-one appointments available at UMass Memorial locations for people who want information about saving for retirement with a 401K.

Remember: Starting this month, the UMass Memorial "match" on the money you contribute to your 401K doubles, from $.25 on the dollar to $.50 on the dollar, up to 4% of your pay.

To schedule an appointment with Fidelity, call 800-642-7131 or register on-line at getguidance.fidelity.com. Fidelity suggests you bring any relevant account statements with you if that will help get answers to your questions. They require an appointment, and say they won't take walk-ins.

Date	Location	Room
Wednesday, January 18	Hahnemann Campus	2nd Floor Conference Room
Thursday, January 19	Memorial Campus	Memorial 1 Conference Room
Wednesday, February 1	University Campus	Goff S2-309D
Thursday, February 9	306 Belmont Street	Conference Room 1
Monday, February 13	Memorial Campus	Memorial 1 Conference Room
Wednesday, February 15	Biotech 1	Hospital Labs, 2nd Floor, Conference Room B
Tuesday, February 21	Worcester Business Center	Worcester State Conference Room
Wednesday, March 1	University Campus	Goff S2-309D
Thursday, March 9	Milford – 91 Water Street	2nd Floor Conference Room
Tuesday, March 14	Worcester Business Center	Worcester State Conference Room
Wednesday, March 22	Hahnemann Campus	2nd Floor Conference Room

January Is National Blood Donor Month

Sara and Jen at the University Campus
Blood Donor Center

The Blood Donor Center at UMass Memorial accepts the important gift of blood year-round, and January is a great time to resolve to give. Already in 2017 the American Red Cross has issued an emergency call for blood and platelet donations in response to a severe winter blood shortage. Blood is required for a number of medical conditions, including, of course, transplants, cancers, and traumatic injuries. UMass Memorial uses about 31,000 blood products each year to meet the needs of patients. The Blood Donor Center is located on the University Campus, downstairs from the Emergency Department. Walk-ins are welcome for whole-blood donations, or to schedule an appointment, please call 508-421-1950. To find other locations to give, visit the Red Cross website.  

SHARE Staff Organizer Will, giving some platelets.
[Not pictured:Will's normal smile]