Jul 16, 2008  
Bargaining – 7/14/08
 
...The bargaining team is suspicious of their methods, both past and present, but in the end we agreed to meet with them on Tuesday, 7/29/08. For those of you who totally do not trust the administration and are raring to strike, please be patient. On the 29th we will determine if they are serious with a real counter, or if they come back with more of the same....

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Enloe’s management team reviewed the union’s latest proposal today, sent to them about a week ago. They came in with questions concerning areas that showed movement and others showing little or no change.

This proposal covers all the unresolved non-economic issues such as subcontracting, committees, change of ownership, shop steward visits, and no strike-no lockout. It also covers wages which is an economic issue, of course.

There are also areas of agreement which are:
• Union membership – as proposed by the employer
• Grievance and arbitration – as proposed by the employer
• Terms of agreement – being three years
• PTO/ESL – as proposed by the employer, except:
....1. The addition of 8 hours of PTO yearly for Martin Luther King Day,
....2. Moving the maximum PTO accrual from 320 to 400 hours,
....3. Moving the maximum ESL accrual from 400 to 500 hours,
....4. No 10% penalty for cashing out one's PTO.

The administration also questioned the levels of pay for certain job classification steps such as Chart Analysts I, II and III; Lab Techs I and II; and the difference between Distribution Clerk and Distribution Clerk Central Supply. Bargaining team members from the relevant departments explained the need for their different steps, basically being determined by differing levels of responsibility, knowledge and/or effort.

Charlie Ridgell, our chief negotiator, then brought up the fact that employees are still being pulled away from their jobs to translate for non-English speaking patients, even though it is hospital policy to use the "language phones" for this. Some of our members said that at times no phones are available, so they seek an employee who speaks the language, but is not certified for this. The hospital does not have or feel the need for these trained translators. This policy of the hospital could put the staff member – and the hospital – in a compromised situation. The union maintains that we need certified translators.

The Wage Scale...
We also explained the cost our latest wage scale proposal over the life of the contract. Below is a little chart:

YEAR........Base Payroll....With Wage Incr.....Cost Over Base......% Incr. Over Base
..2008........$13,744,638........$14,998,019............$1,253,381..............9%
..2009........$13,744,638........$17,578,347............$3,833,709............28%
..2010........$13,744,638........$20,366,312............$6,621,674............48%
3-Yr.Tot....$41,233,914........$52,942,678..........$11,708,764............28% (3 Yr. Total)

Timeout for a little explanation...
• Each year's increase would take effect July 1st of that year.
• The "Base Payroll" is the present payroll cost to the hospital. Hypothetically for this chart, it stays the same each year of the contract, though in actuality, it would most probably increase each year, though how much know one knows.
• Note that the three-year total cost of the union's latest proposal is $11,708,764. This is a massive reduction of $6,778,956 from our original proposal which would have had a three-year total cost of $18,487,719. We still will reach the "Red Bluff Industry Standard" by the end of the three-year contract. You may be asking yourself, "How'd we do that with such a massive reduction?"

We did it by moving the "take effect" dates of each of the contract years to July 1st instead of our originally proposed January 1st, and by "backloading" our raises instead of "frontloading." Backloading means getting the biggest raises in years 2 and 3. Frontloading means getting the biggest raise in the first year, which is typical in most contracts.

Back to bargaining...
Management wanted to focus on the 48% increase of the third year, implying it was too much, but Heath Madom, our union researcher, explained that the focus should be on the actual total cost of the increase: the $11,708,764.

We know the hospital can afford our wage increases, making millions in profits every year, and they have claimed more than once, "We never said we can't afford it." The question is: are they willing – in the spirit of Planetree and Employee Engagement – to bring our wages out of the near-poverty level they now are in?

The administration then caucused. Afterward, they returned asking for another bargaining date noting that we have moved in a positive direction by reworking our proposal. They claimed they didn’t want to slam the door on the movement made by the union, yet they did not commit themselves to having another counter proposal when we next meet. Charlie asked them why we should meet if the administration won’t commit to a counter. Tom Dowdalls, their lawyer, said we have moved from the "brink" (perhaps meaning a strike). Management said they want to review the proposal and that they would not have asked for another date if movement on their part was not possible.

The bargaining team is suspicious of their methods, both past and present, but in the end we agreed to meet with them on Tuesday, 7/29/08. For those of you who totally do not trust the administration and are raring to strike, please be patient. On the 29th we will determine if they are serious with a real counter, or if they come back with more of the same.

Two, maybe three, other bargaining days were also set, in case they will be needed: 8/1/08 (possibly), 8/4/08 (definitely) and 8/6/08 (definitely).

We had several coworkers – new to bargaining – at today’s meeting. We truly appreciate their support of the team and what we are trying to accomplish. We would love to have more service unit members at our next meeting (or meetings). Please come. The meeting place has not yet been set, so if you do not find out where it will be as the 29th approaches, please call to find out: Pat Alvarez at 624-4256, or Jim North at 521-6723.

Meanwhile, we will continue to move forward on several fronts as we try to get a fair contract for all of us. We can’t stop now; we are so close.