HPAE Local 5141 - Newton Hospital Nurses
Dear Fellow Nurse:
A majority of Registered Nurses at NMH have made a decision to go forward without union representation. Now it is time for us to put the vote behind us and continue to advocate for our patients and our profession as we have always done. However, there are some things we have gained from this experience that we cannot put behind us. No matter how each of us voted, we have gotten to know each other, across units and across shifts. We have learned about common challenges that we all face and specific challenges confronting us on our specific units. As long as we continue to have conversations and to support each other as Registered Nurses, we will continue to make progress moving forward at NMH. We will never go back to being isolated from each other.
Sincerely,
RNs of the HPAE Union Negotiating Committee
If you have questions or concerns, you can contact pbachman@hpae.org.
Updates:
NLRB Sets Date for Vote
October 5, 2010
The National Labor Relations Board has set dates to conduct a vote on whether we will continue to have union representation. While the bargaining process will continue, the election for union representation will be held Oct. 27 (5:30-8am, 12-2pm, 6-8:30pm) and Oct. 28 (5:30-8am).
The choice for NMH nurses is clear: Should we have a legally recognized say in our wages benefits and working condition or should our administration be able to dictate all those conditions.
Should we have our jobs protected by a contract or should we be "at will" employees with no job security.
We know that since the merger with Morristown and Overlook has been approved by the NMH Board, it is more important than ever for us to have a real, legall recognized voice in how these changes that are coming will impact our working conditions.
VOTE YES TO KEEP OUR VOICE AND OUR UNION!
Bargaining Bulletin
September 28, 2010
We met with management today to try to resolve the remaining contract issues. Some progress was made, as we signed off on two tentative agreements (temporary closure of a unit and return from leave of absence). On several other issues, we had a good discussion, but we still remain apart on all of the key issues.
On Monday, September 27, Tom Senker put out a letter to employees in which he said that the merger with Atlantic Health will be resolved by the end of the month. In order to provide protections for NMH nurses, the Local 5141 Negotiations Committee proposed a side letter agreement regarding the merger. The side letter says:
Side Letter on Merger Protection
The union is presenting this proposal to protect the rights of the members of the bargaining unit and to ensure that that they are secure in their positions in the event of a merger between Atlantic Health and Newton Memorial Hospital.
Therefore in the event of a merger, Newton Memorial Hospital agrees that:
- Members of the Bargaining Unit will not be laid-off
- Members of the Bargaining Unit will not be forced to have their shift hours changed
- Members of the Bargaining Unit will not be forced to change their work schedules
- Members of the Bargaining Unit will not lose their health benefits or have a reduction in their health coverage
- Adequate Staffing
- A reasonable amount of sick time for those who care for the sick
- A decent retirement income
- A salary package that allows us to retain and recruit qualified staff
- Staffing
- Sick Time
- Pension
- Wages
- Discipline and Discharge – This language says that the Hospital must have just cause - a good and verifiable reason - to write up, suspend or terminate a Member of the Bargaining Unit.
- Grievance and Arbitration – This gives us the right to file a grievance and have a hearing, with representation, if we believe we have been unjustly disciplined or the Hospital violates our contract. If we are not satisfied with the outcome of the grievance, we will have the right to bring it to arbitration, where an independent third party will hear the case and make a binding decision.
- The Hospital continues to insist that it is Management’s right to make decisions about areas that nurses may or may not be qualified to work in.
- The Hospital also insists that staffing is solely their concern and they are resistant to the idea of having language in the contract on staffing.
- The Hospital wants the right to change shifts and work hours and make other adjustments that could have a negative impact on our work and personal lives.
- The Hospital still has not given us an economic proposal, except to say that these are challenging economic times and they are interested in maintaining the status quo.
Bargaining Bulletin
August 31, 2010
From the very beginning of negotiations, we have emphasized that staffing and quality patient care are important priorities for our first contract.
We had a long and, at times, heated discussion about our staffing proposal at last night’s negotiations. As you know, our staffing proposal calls for Nurse to Patient ratios and the implementation of a Joint Staffing Committee. The Staffing Committee would enable Union and management representatives to meet on a regular basis to resolve any staffing issues or challenges that may arise during the length of the contract.
One would think that the Hospital would be happy to have real input from Nurses, who are at the bedside everyday. After all, we as Nurses just want to protect our patients and our licenses, and help our Hospital to continue to be successful.
However the Hospital does not think it is appropriate for Nurses to have a voice in staffing, even though we produced a posted ICU schedule with seriously inadequate staffing, even though we demonstrated days when only 1 Nurse is scheduled in SDS in spite of a the patient load, even though Nurses, on some units, are seeing their patient load rising to dangerous levels.
We don’t understand why the Hospital is so afraid of letting us help them find solutions to the challenges we face every day. We know we can make a valuable contribution and help find real solutions to staffing issues and we need to make the Hospital understand that we will not settle for less.
The same lack of understanding is evident in the Hospital’s position on sick time. The Hospital continues to insist that our sick time is competitive with other area Hospitals. We all know that is not true. In fact, our sick time is not even competitive with Shop Rite. Coming to work sick is not good for us and it is not good for our patients; and it is probably not good for the reputation of our Hospital. Many of our patients are more vulnerable to illnesses simply because they are already having medical problems. It is not comforting to our patients to be receiving care from a Nurse who is sick. Does the Hospital want us to come to work when we should really be home taking care of ourselves? This is not acceptable to us. We, as Healthcare Professionals, deserve the time to properly recover when we are ill.
We, the Members of the Negotiating Committee, have put together a full calendar of activities including outreach to politicians, the press and the community that our Hospital serves. If you are interested in helping with some of these activities please contact a Member of the Committee. We will be contacting you soon with additional updates.
Lisa Arbolino, Joellen Barrett, Diane Edgett, Sharon Fraunberger, Laurel Gerardi, Karen Hengge, Michele Jenkin, Sue Kiss, Mary Ellen Levine, Barbara Masters, Diana Matthies, Karla Messerschmidt, Julie Osborne, Dana Pietrodangelo, Diane Plumb, Diana Powers, Jackie Stachura, Kim Thompson, Donna VanSchaik
August 24, 2010
Union Membership Cards
Congratulations to everyone who has signed a Union Membership card. A strong majority of eligible Nurses have signed cards! With this level of support the Hospital has no choice but to recognize our commitment to winning a fair contract. As you know, Union dues are 1% of your salary ($10.00 for every $1000.00) and dues can not be deducted from our salaries until our contract has been ratified. If you haven’t signed your card yet see a Member of our Negotiating Committee.
Newton Nurses Go To The Fair
Congratulations also to all the Nurses that helped us run our booth at the State Fair! The days were long and the weather was unusually hot, but the overwhelming community support kept us going! We will be presenting our community petitions to the Hospital at our next negotiation.
Negotiation Dates
We will be negotiating on August 31, September 7, 26 and 29 at the Holiday Inn in Newton beginning at 4:30pm, and on September 14 and 16 at the Holiday Inn in Mt. Arlington also beginning at 4:30pm. This contract will benefit every RN at Newton and we encourage everyone to attend and be part of these negotiations.
Contract Negotiations
Instead of spending their time trying to find ways to reach an agreement with our Union as they have promised Administration continued having meetings with all levels of management to prepare for a strike.
Why would the Hospital do this?
There is no apparent reason for the Hospital’s actions. Our Negotiating Committee has never, in any way, indicated to management that we have any to intent to strike. We have no intent at any point to advocate for a strike. In fact, no strike could be called without an overwhelming vote of the RNs at NMH.
So what is this about?
This is clearly a scare tactic to promote the decertification petition that is being circulated and try to weaken our position in negotiations!
Our Hospital would be better served by it’s Management dealing with the key issues in our negotiations:
We deserve nothing less!
Bargaining Update - Hospital Stalls
July 29, 2010
A federal mediator, Peter Donatello, attended our last bargaining session on July 27. He spent many hours going over each unresolved issue with representatives from HPAE and the Hospital. We are happy to have a neutral person working to bring us closer to a settlement. However, we have no significant progress to report from this session.
There are several things that are becoming very clear to us. From the start of these negotiations it was apparent that, while many of our immediate supervisors do try to treat us fairly and advocate for nursing, the top Management of our Hospital is out of touch with the day to day operation of nursing within the Hospital. Their lack of knowledge about how each unit operates and their general lack of respect for the profession of nursing has been, at times, shocking. The Hospital’s position on many of our outstanding proposals is equally shocking.
The Hospital continues to resist the idea of nurses having a real voice in staffing. They prefer to continue to make unilateral decisions about staffing and patient care, rather than listen to the nurses that are in the units and at the bedside who have thoughtful, legitimate input regarding these important issues.
The Hospital is maintaining its position on sick time. They seem to believe that one week of sick time, or three days for those of us who work 12 hour shifts, is more than enough. In fact they have gone so far as to insinuate that we take advantage of the small amount of sick time we have. That’s outrageous! We take care of the sick everyday, yet when we are sick we are not afforded the opportunity to take care of ourselves.
The Hospital is maintaining its position on our pension plan. It seems that they simply do not believe that we deserve the opportunity to retire with dignity. The Hospital enjoyed a savings of approximately 1 million dollars by cutting our pension - 1 million dollars for all Hospital employees who suffered this cut, not just the RNs. We are facing challenging economic times; however, the Hospital continues to be financially healthy. In fact, as of March 10, 2010, the Hospital had $82.7 million dollars in net assets! The Hospital could have found better ways to save that money to begin with. Increasing their contribution to our pension plan now is certainly well within the Hospital’s financial means.
Newton Memorial Hospital does not belong to a few people in top Management positions. Newton Memorial Hospital belongs to this community and we know that this community supports us as nurses. It is time for us to start reaching out to this community in several ways and we will be asking every nurse in the Union to help in whatever way possible, recognizing the personal obligations and demands that each of us has. This contract will benefit every nurse at NMH and it will take the involvement of every nurse at NMH to win the contract we deserve. A member of our Negotiating Committee will be contacting you in the near future to discuss our next activities.
In Solidarity,
Lisa Arbolino, Joellen Barrett, Diane Edgett, Sharon Fraunberger, Laurel Gerardi, Karen Hengge, Michele Jenkin, Sue Kiss, Mary Ellen Levine, Barbara Masters, Diana Matthies, Karla Messerschmidt, Julie Osborne, Dana Pietrodangelo, Diane Plumb, Diana Powers, Jackie Stachura, Kim Thompson, Donna VanSchaik
Nurses’ Union Issues Call for Mediation in Negotiations with Newton Hospital Issues 30-day Notice of Dispute
HPAE Public Policy
Friday, July 23, 2010 (All day)
By Jeanne Otersen
For Immediate Release: July 23, 2010
Contact: Jeanne Otersen (201)262-5005 cell (201)280-9279
Emerson, NJ
Using the legal channels at their disposal, the union representing 300 Registered Nurses at Newton Memorial Hospital officially requested federal mediation in their negotiations with hospital management. The notice to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) is an indication that nurses believe the negotiations have been stalled and outside assistance to help reach a contract is needed. The FMCS notice is required by law prior to bringing in a federal mediator. The union, the Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE), said the notice was triggered by the limited number of upcoming bargaining dates agreed to by the hospital.
“For more than eight months, we have come to the bargaining table with our patients and their care as our priority – seeking policies that would help us establish strong staffing guidelines; policies to help us recruit and retain qualified nurses; and policies that ensure our right to speak up for and participate in assuring quality patient care,” said Lisa Arbolino, a Registered Nurse and member of the HPAE bargaining committee. “Needless to say, we were disappointed when hospital management only agreed to 2 days of bargaining in August. That slows down our progress, and leaves too many issues unresolved. It is way past time that nurses had a contract that protected our rights, our patients and our profession.”
Nurses expressed concern with a pattern of stalling by the hospital – pointing to the months of delay in winning their right to a vote for the union in early 2009, caused by hospital legal challenges and hearings. When the nurses finally voted in May of 2009, the hospital filed further challenges, delaying the official vote count by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) certifying the union until August of 2009. Bargaining between the nurses and hospital management began in November of 2009. Among the issues are protected union rights, retirement security, restrictive sick leave policies and staffing levels.
“We are looking for every way possible to resolve our contract and move forward with continuing to build our hospital’s reputation for quality care – in collaboration with our hospital. We hope they would meet us in that spirit, and we believe mediation may help at this point, concluded Arbolino.”
HPAE is NJ’s largest union of nurses and health professionals, representing more than 12,000 healthcare workers at hospitals throughout NJ, and its members regularly advocate for laws and regulations providing quality patient care and health and safety protections for healthcare workers.
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Constitution Overwhelmingly Ratified
July 23, 2010
Congratulations on a great turnout for the vote on our new constitution. By an overwhelming majority, the members voted to approve the Local 5141 constitution.
In the near future, we will begin accepting nominations for President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the local. Once the nomination process is completed, we will then schedule an officers' election. We need these elected officers and the Union Reps to be in place to begin enforcing our contract immediately after it is ratified by the membership.
Negotiating Committee to Send 30 Day Notice
We have made a lot of progress in negotiations, but we still have many proposals to resolve. We are having serious discussions about the issues that are our top priorities:
Unfortunately, we have not seen any substantial movement from the Hospital in these key areas. That is why it is necessary to send a "30 days".
July Negotiating Dates Announced
July 9, 2010
July dates for negotiations are the 13, 15, 19 and 27 beginning at 4:30 at the Holiday Inn in Newton.
Golf Outing
July 13, 2010
On July 12th, members of Local 5141 handed out free golf balls to attendees of Newton Memorial's Golf Outing. Here are some pictures & video...
(left)Here we are with the sign we set up thanking attendees for contributing to the hospital by participating in the event.
(right)And here we are passing out information and golf balls, simply asking for support.
Vote on Our Constitution July 14th and 15th
Take time to review our constitution, then come out and vote on Local 5141's constitution:
Also, take a look at HPAE's constitution here.
We will have recourse!
June 17, 2010
We made significant progress during our last two negotiating sessions on June 15 & 16. We reached tentative agreements in several areas including two of the most important articles in any Union contract:
The Hospital will no longer have the final say! When our contract is settled we will have real recourse for the first time in our careers at NMH!
Protection from unjust discipline was one of the top 5 priorities we identified in our contract surveys. Other priorities included sick time improvements, wage increases and removal of the wage cap, pension improvements and staffing.
We encourage you to join us at negotiations and be part of the discussion about these important issues.
beginning at 4:30p
Marriot Courtyard, Mt. Arlington
For more information speak to a Member of the Negotiating Committee
Your negotiating committee consists of: Lisa Arbolino, Joellen Barrett, Kendra Doran, Diane Edgett, Laurel Gerardi, Karen Hengge, Michele Jenkin, Sue Kiss, Mary Ellen Levine, Barbara Masters, Diana Matthies, Karla Messerschmidt, Julie Osborne, Dana Pietrodangelo, Diane Plumb, Diana Powers, Jackie Stachura, and Donna VanSchaik.
Hospital Gives Wage Proposal
June 15, 2010
At our last bargaining session, on June 8, the Hospital gave us their idea of a wage proposal. They proposed a 0% raise this year, 1% in 2011 and 1% in 2012. They also proposed that the salary cap for long time employees would remain in place. We realize that this is the Hospital’s first wage proposal and they are not serious about the percentages. However, the idea that the Hospital would find it necessary to put this type of proposal across the negotiating table is just one more indication of top Management’s continued disrespect for the profession of nursing. You may recall their initial proposal on floating districts, which was essentially: "a nurse is a nurse is a nurse". Our response was to wear the ‘My Specialty’ stickers and the Hospital modified it’s proposal to something more respectful of our profession.
While we know the Hospital is not serious about it’s proposed percentage increases, we do believe they would prefer to keep the wage cap for long term employees in place. This is one of the main reasons that we chose to negotiate our raises rather than accept whatever management wanted to give us. Many Nurses at NMH have given years of their lives to this Hospital and their reward is a one time annual bonus and a wage rate that remains frozen. We don’t think this is fair. Every Nurse at NMH, regardless of years of service, deserves a real wage increase!
If you would like more information about the status of our proposals, we encourage you to speak with a Member of our Negotiating Committee, keep checking back here, or better yet - attend a negotiating session. You can feel free to come any time after 4:30 and stay for as long as you like.
Your negotiating committee consists of: Lisa Arbolino, Joellen Barrett, Kendra Doran, Diane Edgett, Laurel Gerardi, Karen Hengge, Michele Jenkin, Sue Kiss, Mary Ellen Levine, Barbara Masters, Diana Matthies, Karla Messerschmidt, Julie Osborne, Dana Pietrodangelo, Diane Plumb, Diana Powers, Jackie Stachura, and Donna VanSchaik.
Upcoming Negotiations You Can Attend
Meeting with Hospital's Medical Executive Committee
May 25, 2010
On Thursday morning, May 17th, Lisa Arbolino, Joellen Barrett and Karla Messerschmidt met with the Hospital’s Medical Executive Committee. Lisa gave a brief presentation on some of our contract priorities such as staffing. The presentation was very well received. We would like to thank Dr. Owens for giving us the opportunity to speak at the meeting as well as all of the Doctors that continue to be supportive.
Congratulations to all who attended the Negotiating Session on May 17th. This contract will have an impact on the future of every Nurse at NMH so it is crucial for all of us to understand the process and stand behind the priorities we set in our contract surveys.
Progress at negotiations continues to be slow. We reached agreement on 3 more issues at the last session, including definition of seniority. We also made progress in other areas, including work schedules.
However:
We understand that the times are challenging and we also understand that the Hospital continues to be financially healthy even in these challenging times. Our economic proposals are modest and will allow the Hospital to remain competitive. Money is definitely not our first priority. However the Hospital needs to understand that we are professionals and deserve an economic proposal that is respectful of our profession!
We urge you to attend our next negotiating session on:
Newton RNs - Active in Community
May 25, 2010
Mary Ellen Levine, supportive spouse Doug Levine and Maria Campanile ran a 5k race in Sparta on May 8th in HPAE t-shirts.
Negotiations Committee Presents Wage And Staffing Proposals To NMH
(Photo: Negotiating Committee)
On March 11, the HPAE Local 5141 Negotiations Committee presented to NMH the last two of our initial proposals. These proposals concerned wages and staffing.
Many of us have reached the top of the pay scale at NMH and have gone without raises in our base rate for years. Many of us are just beginning our careers at NMH. All of us deserve wages that recognize the work we do as professionals, as well help to recruit and retain qualified staff.
We presented the Hospital with an experience-based wage scale that would guarantee all of us fair wage increases every year and the vast majority of us would also receive an experience increase on our anniversary date. We proposed a 5% across the board wage increase each year of a two year contract. The Hospital did not respond to our wage proposal. To be fair it will take them some time to digest it.
While wages are important, wages were not the reason we organized the Union.
Throughout these negotiations, when discussing matters that have a direct impact on nurses and patients, the Hospital has said repeatedly that it is their Hospital and they will decide how to run it. Their position on staffing is that they want the discretion to staff the Hospital as they determine. Patient care is their business, not ours.
We have a different perspective on staffing. We think that nurses, as professionals who provide direct patient care, should have input and a voice in how NMH is staffed. Our proposal calls for the establishment of a joint Staffing Committee that would be a forum to discuss staffing concerns and issues. We also proposed nurse/patient ratios in various units that would ensure safe staffing and quality patient care.
We are licensed professionals. We are responsible for the care of our patients. We take that responsibility seriously. Also, many of us live in this community. We provide care for patients that are often our friends, neighbors and even family. We will no longer allow the decisions about the care of our patients to be made without our voices.
We organized the Union because we recognized the need to have a say in these decisions! It is our Hospital too!
Please see "Our Contract Goals" below to view copies of our proposals
Sincerely,
Local 5141
Negotiating Committee
Our Contract Goals
Since the first bargaining session between the HPAE Local 5141 Negotiations Committee and representatives of Newton Memorial Hospital on November 9, 2009, our Committee has presented over 100 proposals to NMH for our first contract. These proposals provide nurses with a “voice” at the workplace and a process to ensure that nurses are treated fairly. Our proposals also provide for better working conditions so that we can give quality, professional care to our patients. Finally, we are proposing improvements in wages, differential payments, and benefits so that NMH can retain and recruit qualified staff.
Through the contract surveys and membership meetings, the Committee has identified priority proposals. Here is an update on some of these proposals and the Hospital’s responses:
Pension Improvements – We have proposed that NMH’s pension contributions be increased to 5% (where they were before they were cut to 3%) for the least senior employees and gradually increased to 6.5% for the most senior employees. NMH has not responded to the proposal.
Protection from Unjust Discipline – Both sides have proposed language for a “grievance and arbitration procedure”, which will provide us with a means to correct unjust disciplines or violations of the contract. We are currently working out the details of the procedure.
Staffing – We have proposed staffing language that will help to ensure quality patient care and enable nurses to do their work in a professional manner. In addition to creating a joint staffing committee that will allow nurses to provide input on staffing issues, we are proposing nurse to patient ratios and guaranteed staffing levels in some units. NMH’s proposal is that the hospital will have complete discretion in staffing, meaning that they do not want to agree to any staffing levels or criteria in the contract.
Click to see our staffing proposal.
Preference for Staff Over Agency – We have proposed language that would give NMH nurses preference for all bargaining unit (nursing) work over any agency or contract nurses. NMH has agreed that NMH nurses should have preference, but we still need to resolve some issues regarding this proposal.
Improvements in Time Off – We have proposed one additional week of sick time and increases in Benefit Time. NMH has not responded.
Cancellation Abuses – Nurses are forced to use Benefit Time when the census is low or forced to be “on-call” for a ridiculously low amount. We have proposed that, when cancellations do occur, the nurse will have the choice of various options. NMH’s proposal would essentially keep the current situation in place.
Retiree Health Benefits – We have proposed that NMH contribute, on behalf of the nurses, to the HPAE Retiree Medical Trust, which funds a medical expense reimbursement program for retirees. NMH has not responded.
Click to see our retiree health benefits proposal.
Floating – We’ve proposed to limit floating by establishing a float pool, creating float districts, providing for a “float differential” payment, and prohibiting floating when a nurse has not been properly oriented to the unit or does not have the competencies to function effectively and safely. NMH believes that floating is necessary and may need to become more frequent. They have proposed some guidelines for floating, but we don’t think those guidelines are adequate enough to ensure safe patient care and that we are working within the scope of our practice.
Wages – We have proposed that nurses be placed on an experienced-based wage scale, and then receive a 5% increase each year of a 2 years contract, as well as “step” increases. With an experienced-based scale, senior employees would always get a wage increase (not a bonus) each year. NMH has not responded.
Click to see our wage proposal.
Membership Meetings:
Membership meetings are held the last Thursday of every month at Tri-Co Federal Credit Union, Rte 206, Augusta 5:00p & 7:30p.
Local 5141 Newsletters and Contract Updates
Bargaining Bulletin #2 - January 11, 2010
Bargaining Bulletin #1 - November 20, 2009
November 2009 news
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Upcoming Events
HPAE New Officers' Training
February 1
Strategies for Winning Grievances Workshop
February 15
The Impact of the Cullen Law & HIPAA on Your Practice
February 22
9:30 am to 12:30 pm
Kenilworth, NJ
Click for More Info
HPAE Education Days
March 6 & 8, 2012
Click here for more information and to register.
Women in Leadership Development (WILD) Conference
March 30 & 31
Hilton East Brunswick Hotel
East Brunswick, NJ
