September 20th 2024 Bargaining Update

Tuesday (9/17) was a Caucus day, which means we didn’t meet with the Employer but spent the day working on our proposals and looking ahead. We met with them on Thursday (9/19) and made several counterproposals to articles and MOUs, most importantly on health & safety.

We have only 4 more weeks of negotiations before our contract expires on 10/30.  We still have a lot of work to do and have agreed to three additional negotiation days in October. We were surprised at the lack of urgency from them on Thursday.  We have not yet started on the economic proposals, which are typically the proposals that take the most back and forth.

We go back to the table on Tuesday, October 1st. Please look for a Facebook update next week after our BAT meeting on Thursday.

Our team also noticed that a virtual nursing position was posted on PeopleFluent. It was posted as a non-represented/non MNA position. When brought to the attention of the Employer, they removed the posting and claimed it was an "experiment" on the part of Talent Acquisition. We continue to push for answers on how this happened.

This week’s DID YOU KNOW?

The Health Reimbursement Account (for retirement), vests after 5 years and 1000hrs. The employer contributes to that for us and is used for medical care after retirement. Click HERE to go to our contract and head to page 111 for more information on Article 45.3 and the HRA.

FAQs of Negotiations:

How does bargaining team identify what issues to work on?

The team identifies key issues by reviewing the survey results and taking top priority items from members as well as continuous conversations with members on key issues as they are discussed at the table. It’s important that we hear from members like you to know what issues matter most. 

How does the bargaining team progress through negotiations?

The team starts out addressing MOU's (Memorandum of Understanding) and non-economics at the beginning of the negotiations process, then moves on to economic issues.

What happens if our contract expires before we have a new one? 

It’s the goal of the bargaining team to achieve a new contract before expiration on October 30th, 2024.  If we do not have an agreement after contract expiration, the terms and conditions of employment remain status quo until we work to reach a new agreement. The parties are required by law to continue to negotiate in good faith to reach a new agreement. There are a few exceptions to items in the contract that do not continue such as our contracts prohibition on strikes and lockouts.

Have more questions that you want answered?

Our next Bargaining Action Team (BAT) meeting is on September 26th from 5:30pm - 8:00pm at the St. Luke Lutheran Church (in close proximity to the hospital).