Information Meetings

Feb 22   Home Health 11:30-1 & 5-6 Break Room

 Feb 22   Tri-River 12-1:30 Community Room

Feb 27   Hahnemann 12-1:30 2nd floor Conference Room

Feb 28   Shrewsbury Radiology 11-1 Break Room

March 1   ACC 11-12:30 4th floor Conf Rm (near elevator)

March 2   Farmhouse 12:30-1:30 Basement Conference Room

March 5   University 11:30-1:30 S1-123

About the Contract Extension . . .

Hi all. A mailing has been sent out to each SHARE member at their home regarding the Contract Extension proposal. Everyone should receive that some time this week. The mailing includes a description of the raises and the pension committee. You will be able to calculate your own raises thanks to enclosed directions. The mailing also includes a quick update regarding what we know about layoffs (so far, that's nothing that isn't also in the newspaper.) There is a list of voting times and locations for the Contract vote, which will take place on Tuesday, March 6th. And there's a list of Information Meeting times and dates. Information meetings have already begun. Please help us get word out in particular to those locations whose lunchtime info meetings are happening this week:

Wed Feb 15 Sleep Center 12:30-1:30

Thurs Feb 16 Barre 12-1

Thurs Feb 16 Shrewsbury Medicine 11-1 (Break Room)

Fri Feb 17 Memorial 11:30-1:30 (Memorial 1 Conference Room)

If you have questions or comments about the Contract Extension, or would like help calculating your own raise, please come to one of the scheduled Information Meetings, or give us a call in the SHARE office (508-929-4020).

Thanks everyone! And happy Valentine's Day!

Contract Negotiations--Tentative Agreement!

We are happy to announce that we have a tentative agreement with UMass Memorial. The agreement would extend our current contract until September 30, 2012, with:

1. A Raise for all SHARE members for this year
2. The creation of a labor-management Pension Committee
3. No other changes in the contract

Details coming in the mail:

We will be sending every SHARE member a letter with the details of the agreement, a list of information meetings, and locations and times to vote on the proposed contract extension. If a majority of the SHARE members voting vote “Yes”, then the agreement goes into effect.

The Raise:

The letter you get will explain the raise in detail, show the new ranges, and allow you to figure out exactly what you would get.  There are two parts to the raise:  an across-the-board base increase that moves everyone in SHARE up along with their grade, plus a step increase/bonus for everyone hired before 10/1/2011. The step increase gives SHARE members credit for another year of service, and moves them closer to their grade max. The bonus is for any part of the step increase that would be over max. The bonus would be based on the number of hours paid in 2011, including overtime.

In order to get a big enough raise, we would agree to have it go into effect January 1 instead of October 1. In effect, we would trade part of the retro we are owed for a bigger base increase.

The Pension Committee:

One of UMass Memorial’s big priorities is to reduce the cost of benefits. As part of this effort, the management negotiating team made a proposal about making changes to the pension. The SHARE negotiating team could not negotiate about anything that important without a great deal of research and discussion. And we didn't want SHARE members to have to wait that long for a raise. So we made an agreement that would set up a "Joint Pension Reform Committee" to look at the pension, its cost and future sustainability, management’s proposed changes and what effect they would have, and other options.

The committee’s job would be to make a recommendation to the SHARE and management negotiating teams in time for them to negotiate about the pension in our next contract. No changes to the pension would be made in this current extension. Any changes to the pension that might be made in the future would not affect any pension benefit you have already earned.

Questions:

We hope to answer everyone’s questions soon in the letter we send to home, in information meetings, and in one-to-one conversations. Please be patient as we get this information out. We will be in touch soon.

Thank you,

The SHARE Negotiating Team:

Sandy Alafberg

Rob Beatty

Bill Brennan

Sheldon Brown

Rita Caputo

Deb Clark

Kirk Davis

Deb Engvall

Kathy Girouard

Carol Hehir

Jana Hollingsworth

Taylor Morgan

Deb Pawlina

Sharon Pichierri

Joan Powlics

Elisabeth Szanto

Alana Wesson

Upcoming SHARE Info Meetings

Hi! Please note the upcoming SHARE information meetings:

Mon 1/30        CBO                   12-2                      4th Floor Conference Room

Tues 1/31        Farmhouse     12-1                     Basement Group Room

Thurs 2/2       Hahnemann    12-1:30             2nd floor Conference Room

Fri 2/3             Tri River         12-1                      Community Room

Tues 2/7       University       11:30-1:30            S1-123


More to come . . .

Whoa. Snow.

Holy Toledo! How much is it going to snow this year? SHARE reps have had lots of conversations recently about the hospital's severe weather policy. The full policy is posted below. The shortest summary is probably this: "All employees are expected to report to work, unless the severe weather plan in their department allows them to stay home."

Please take good care when making decisions about traveling in extreme weather. Also, please contact us if you have questions, or would like help to develop a plan in your own department.
Severe Weather
UMass Memorial is an essential community service and as such will continue its operations without regard to weather conditions. However, UMass Memorial and SHARE recognize that severe weather conditions can interfere with the ability of employees to come to work, and agree to the following:

Staffing plans

The CNO, CMO, Hospital President and Vice-Presidents are responsible for developing a fair and equitable staffing plan to ensure continued essential services, and for informing employees of staffing and attendance requirements.

In order for employees to know what their responsibilities are in the case of severe weather, departments are encouraged to develop plans for their areas within the framework of the hospital plan described above. Employees are encouraged to participate in the development of the plan for their department. Department severe weather plans could include: what staffing level is required in the case of severe weather (such as full staffing, skeletal staffing, or no staffing necessary); how employees will find out if they are required to be at work that day, who to call and how to reach them; and whether there is a difference in their department between the plan for severe weather and the plan for a declared state of emergency. Department managers should review the severe weather plan for their department with all employees annually before winter weather begins.

All employees are expected to report to work, unless the severe weather plan in their department allows them to stay home.

Staying at work

Employees who are working during severe weather conditions are expected to work through the end of their assigned work shift unless they are excused earlier. In extreme situations, employees may be required to work beyond the end of their normal scheduled work shift if the manager determines it necessary to meet patient care and operational needs. SHARE overtime rules will apply.

Department closing, early dismissal
If a department is closed for all or part of the day due to severe weather, employees may go home (see pay for missed hours) or choose to report to/remain at work. The hospital may assign people who stay at work to perform different functions than their normal job. For a work assignment in an area other than your own, page the nursing supervisor/bed management: for the University campus, pager #2044; for the Memorial campus (on evenings, nights, weekends and holidays) pager #3318.

Grace period for late arrivals
The office of the CEO or his/her designee may establish a paid grace period for arriving late to work. The length of the grace period will be based on the severity of the weather conditions.

Pay for missed hours

Other than late arrivals covered by an established grace period, employees who miss all or part of their work shift may use earned, vacation or personal time, or choose to go unpaid for the hours they missed. When appropriate, an employee may make up the time that week, by mutual consent between the employee and the supervisor. Made up hours will be paid at straight time unless weekly hours total more than 40.

Excused and unexcused absences
If an employee does not work because the department is closed, or because they are not required to come to work, it will be considered an excused absence. Late arrivals covered by an established grace period will be considered an excused absence. Other absences from work on a severe weather day will be considered unexcused.

Transportation

When severe weather makes travel unsafe, or in a state of emergency, transportation assistance may be available. Requests for assistance should be directed to the nursing supervisor/bed management: for the University campus, pager #2044; for the Memorial campus (on evenings, nights, weekends and holidays) pager #3318. When necessary, communication with external bodies such as the National Guard and ambulance carriers will be coordinated through these offices.

Information Meeting in Barre

One more update for the Information Meeting Schedule: we'll have a lunchtime gathering on September 1st from noon to 1pm at Barre Family Health Center.

Contract Negotiations & Information Meetings

SHARE enters contract negotiations with hospital management this week. We'll have an ongoing series of information meetings to keep you up-to-date. This week there will be meetings at the following locations:

• CBO 5th floor conference room: Tuesday (8/9), noon-1pm
• Memorial conference room 1: Thursday (8/11), 11:30-1:30

You should receive a postcard in the mail this week listing more of the meetings to come. It looks like this:

We'll add more dates! Keep checking this blog!
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