May 28, 2008  
Bargaining – 5/22/08
 
...their paltry wage increases will be far below the increases in the cost of living; our earning power will actually get lower! Last year, cost of living increased about 4.5%, and as the price of gasoline goes up, pushing the cost of everything else up, our administration will make sure we get poorer and poorer in the years ahead.

From what I gather, last time management presented what they called a comprehensive package on the remaining non-economic issues. There was no agreement on these issues per administration. Charlie, our chief negotiator, said that there was some wiggle room on one or two issues, but basically management's stand is far from the union's; for example:
• Committees with binding arbitration; management wants mediation which is not binding, and leaves them able to interpret findings as they please. The union says this would allow them to ultimately ignore problems workers want addressed.
• Field reps and stewards – management still wants to limit employee access.
• No strike no lockout – management still wants to punish employees for their own personal actions done off duty and directed toward resolving problems being ignored by management [see the first bullet (•) above].
• Change of ownership – the union wants to require any new owners to honor job security and any contract with the employees that has already been agreed to.
• Organizing rights – we want to make sure that other Enloe employees will have freedom from harassment by management for organizing and voting on union representation, so that they won't have to go through the years of intimidation and one-sided propaganda the service unit went through.

We have gone as far as we can on non-economic issues. The suggestion was that we go ahead with the economic issues. Enloe's attorney also proposed that very thing saying "we need to get it done." Management left the room to caucus on this but were not sure if they’d get their counter proposal on the table today. They left and we waited.

Management came back at 16:25 with their counter proposal on wages and benefits stipulating that it’s a "package deal" and must be accepted or rejected as a whole. The unresolved non-economic issues were also presented as part of the whole package. The administration insists that the bargaining team must accept both of their economic and non-economic counters together as a whole or it’s no go.

THEIR REVISED WAGE SCALE
They included a revised wage scale that is still embarrassingly far below those of any other north state union hospital. This wage scale added – to what they had previously proposed – only another 1 or 2% the first year of the contract, and 0.5% the 2nd and 3rd years. Some of us will still get only a 2 or 3% increase (the amount of increase depends on which department one works in).

In every case, their proposed increase still leaves all of us well below industry standards. It has become clear why they have refused giving us any of their so-called "market survey" increases: they intended all along to "include" them in their wage scale proposals! The contract would be for three years. Add last year with no wage raise at all, and you have four years, then, to divide into their "increase." For most of us, this averages out – for each of those years – to be below [!] the hospital's market survey increases. And in every case, their paltry wage increases will be far below the increases in the cost of living; our earning power will actually get lower! Last year, cost of living increased about 4.5%, and as the price of gasoline goes up, pushing the cost of everything else up, our administration will make sure we get poorer and poorer in the years ahead. Most of us in the service unit will hover around the poverty line, and will continue to struggle from paycheck to paycheck.

Even though their revised wage scale is very low, it does show a tiny movement on management's part, even if it appears sadistic to your bargaining team.

ON HEALTH INSURANCE
The administration did put zero premiums into their Value Plan health insurance for employees and their families. Some, however, said that this plan is not good for parents with children. You can’t pick your own doctor, and you'd still have to go to Enloe, because it’d be more expensive if you went elsewhere; vacations away from Chico would be risky. Out of pocket costs would still be higher, as well as costs for drugs.

The union will counter on Friday, 6/6/08, pushing for more fair wages and better health insurance coverage. Please come and join us on the 6th at the Oxford Suites any time from 9am till around 5pm.

Whether we ignore, hate or love what our bargaining team and union is doing, we can’t escape the pending contract. It will affect us all, and we need to take it seriously. In the end, we will only have ourselves to thank or to blame. A small group can initiate change, but 600 united can accomplish it. So, is it worth our time to listen to what the messenger has to say? We owe ourselves the courtesy to take these negotiations to heart. The next time a bargaining team member gives or tells us something, remember, it’s for OUR collective good. Really, don’t we all want the same things? You know, patient safety, safe staffing, job security, fair wages and benefits. That's why we signed that petition to our CEO and the Board of Trustees. Let’s go the extra step to work with each other. We can get it done, and done well. We do stand for these principles, don’t we?