Sep 05, 2008  
Bargaining – 9/3/08
 
Another problem the union is concerned with is the administration’s unwillingness to take into consideration ‘seniority’ in determining where to put employees on the wage scale. The administration wants to use their present system that could lock in inequities by having some newer hires making more than employees with longer employment.

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We assembled as a team at 09:30 at the Oxford Suites. Then, the Federal Mediator with Heath our accountant, Charlie our chief negotiator and a bargaining team member left the room and met with a similar management team to review their wage scale counter to our last suggestion.

The union has adopted the hospital’s rather complicated ten-step wage scale into their latest proposal. Keep in mind that the life of the latest proposed contract would be for four years before negotiations would start anew. Each step in the wage scale represents a year, and going from one step to the next would give each service unit employee a 2.5% step raise. The step raises would occur on an employee’s hire anniversary. The step raises would be much lower than the actual yearly raises employees would get each year of the four-year contract. These yearly raises have yet to be finalized.

The bargaining team had questions about these step raises and how – and why – management included them in their calculations to arrive at the overall cost of the proposed wage scale. This “overall cost” is the cost above what the hospital now pays its service unit employees; the present cost to the hospital is called the “base cost.”

Apparently, Enloe’s administration included in their calculations a 2.5% step raise for every service unit employee for all four years of the contract! Doing this would, of course, give the overall cost of the wage scale a much higher figure than should really be the case.

The union pointed out to the administration that a very large part of the service unit is made up of employees who have been “topped out” (worked longer than ten years) and so would get NO step raise. These employees, of course, should not be included in the step raise calculations.

Also, the high turnover of employees in the service unit would also eliminate their step raises from the calculations. Employees who would replace those who left would not receive any step raise until their second year starts.

The union team has already made huge compromises by reducing the overall cost over the “base cost” from the union’s original 43% to around 24%. That 43% increase over “base cost” would have put the service unit employees immediately at about the same level of wages as those paid at St. Elizabeth’s in Red Bluff. That is how far behind the service unit employees are in comparison to other north state union hospitals. The presently proposed 24% increase over “base cost” would allow the employees to gradually catch up to present Red Bluff wages only by the end of the four-year contract. At the last bargaining session, Enloe management said that our 24% over 4 years was “in the ball park” and was doable.

The two teams’ figures didn’t jibe. We went back and forth most of the day with the union side incredulous either at the administration’s lack of understanding the math, or, at their attempt to yet stall again.

Another problem the union is concerned with is the administration’s unwillingness to take into consideration ‘seniority’ in determining where to put employees on the wage scale. The administration wants to use their present system that could lock in inequities by having some newer hires making more than employees with longer employment. Our bargaining team feels that our scale, which accounts for seniority, would be fairer; experience, if it applies, could be adjusted into the scale.

We ended the day with both sides agreeing to have a few members from each side meet to work out the ‘numbers’ before our next scheduled meeting on Tuesday, 9/9/08 at the Oxford Suites. This needs to happen for us to move on. The figures are important, as they will carry us through the next 4 years. At this next session, we will also deal with other dangling issues that are still unresolved. These include: Staffing Committee with Arbitration, No Strike language, Layoff and Outsourcing, Subcontracting, PTO/ESL, and Health Insurance. If you can make it, please try to come to the next session. It could be the last time for you to have any input in these negotiations. Be there, or beware!

If there is any change, we’ll inform you. Please contact any bargaining team member for further information.