Apr 02, 2008  
Bargaining – 3/31/08
 
The union's 'unreasonable, irresponsible and excessive' !?! ...not as unreasonable as Enloe's fees that are higher than other hospitals in the north state; not as irresponsible as their legal fees spent appealing the union win and trying to bust both the nurses' union and ours; and not as excessive as Enloe’s executive wages compared to their local area counterparts.

Today the negotiating team presented its wage proposal with a few changes. The start and stop pay rates remain the same. The difference is the change to our yearly steps; down from 4% to 3.5% with a 4.5% increase at 10 years, up from 2%. Per our counter, our 1st year raises are capped at 50% of the increase needed to bring us up to UHW standards. We have reduced our increase requests from 49% to 47% in steps over 3 years costing Enloe $1 million less over the life of the proposed contract. This is in contrast to management’s claim that the entire increase was in the first year.

Year.....Base Payroll......Wage Increases......Base Increase.......% over Base Pay
...1.........13,126,909............17,586,716...............4,459,807.....................34%
...2.........13,126,909............19,647,465...............6,520,556.....................50%
...3.........13,126,909............20,784,644...............7,657,734.....................58%
Totals....39,380,727............58,018,825.............18,638,097.....................47%

The administration suggested that this proposal was shooting for the moon and that the negotiation team submitted these percentages to aim high and settle lower. Charlie said that what we asked for is just and matches wages of other north state UHW hospitals. We don’t compare ourselves to non-union hospitals or "Steel," referring to the union at Oroville Hospital. The administration now wants to wait until we have TA'd all the other articles set aside by the union negotiation team before going any further with the wage negotiation. They suggested that our requests are unreasonable, irresponsible and excessive. Charlie retorted: not as unreasonable as Enloe's fees that are higher than other hospitals in the north state; not as irresponsible as their legal fees spent appealing the union win and trying to bust both the nurses' union and ours; and not as excessive as Enloe’s executive wages compared to their local area counterparts.

The administration then countered on Standards Preserved sidelined earlier in negotiation, and made movement closer to the union proposal. The bargain team caucused and made some revisions changing the heading from Complete Article to Scope of Agreement on part C. This part covers all issues raised during these negotiations and recognizes that issues may come up that may not have been covered, that we will meet and negotiate trying to reach mutual agreement. If not agreed mutually; neither party will impose change on the other, deferring it to the next agreement or contract. Charlie said we’d agree to this article if management agreed to the union proposal on Sub-Contracting and No Strike No Lock Out. This is in response to the administration's insistence on finishing all tabled articles. We will try to revisit the other sidelined articles like Field Reps and Visits, Committees and Grievance and Arbitration next time we meet on Friday, 4/4/08.

Don't forget to come to one of the short membership meetings on this coming Thursday, 4/3/08, at the Heritage Inn next to K-Mart. You have five times to choose from: 7:30 AM, 12:30 AM, 3:30 PM, 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM. Get information on bargain updates and plans to win industry standards. And, most importantly, when you come, VOTE on the informational picket. You can vote when you come for a meeting, or if your schedule is tight, come at any time of the day (7:30 AM to 8:00 PM) to just vote. Unions practice democracy, and we make decisions by vote.

We all need to get involved and stand together letting the administration and Enloe’s Board of Trustees know we want a fair contract now. The sooner we act, the sooner we get those standards of fair staffing, wages, security, and a real voice.