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Friday, October 1
Tropicana
2831 Boardwalk
Atlantic City, NJ
HPAE Local 5131 at South Jersey Healthcare Local
HIT Best Practices Checklist: How does your SJH measure up?
The AFT recently adopted a resolution outlining Best Practices that should govern the development, introduction, and implementation of Health Information Technologies (HIT) in our hospitals, including electronic health records (EHR); computerized physician order entry (CPOE); computerized time and attendance systems; automated pharmacy systems, etc [Click here to view the resolution]. HPAE was part of the Working Group that developed these Best Practices.
We’d like to hear how well your facility or your unit/department measures up to these Best Practices. Please complete and submit this HIT Best Practices Checklist. We’ll share the results of this informal survey with you and policy-makers.
Click here to take the survey and let us know how your facility measures up.
The Local Beat June 2010
Click here to read the Local Beat - Local 5131's newsletter
Thanking the hospital staff for quality care
June 22, 2010
My mom was admitted to South Jersey Healthcare Regional Medical Center in Vineland on June 1 and had to stay until June 5, due to pneumonia. It was her first hospitalization in her 77 years! I just want to send out a thank you of appreciation to everyone involved in her care. The paramedics were kind, caring and friendly. I'm sorry I didn't get their names.
The emergency room nurse, Noelle, was kind and we will never forget the genuine care she showed my mom. Everyone was top notch -- the X-ray technician, the nurse who had to draw blood and hook up the IV, and the doctors.
The nurses in the first floor Transitional Care Unit also were kind and loving. The respiratory therapist, Keith, was awesome and kept us entertained with his humor.
So, thank you again to everyone at RMC who took care of my mom so she could come home to finish her recovery.
Jami Fehrenbach
Daughter of H.J. Czechowski
Vineland
Tentative Agreement Ratified!
June 1, 2010
After a great turnout at membership meetings held throughout the day the nurses overwhelmingly voted to ratify the new 3 year agreement.
Highlights of the agreement include:
-1.75%, 1.75% and 2% across the board pay increases over the next 3 years and a 1% average increase per year in step raises.
-$.50 per hour National Certification Differential
-$.50 per hour Professional Ladder Differential
-Increased access to continuing education funds
-Development of an online staffing form
Below is a summary of the ratified contract. Click here to read the full ratified tentative agreement. And click here to read article 25 of the ratified tentative agreement, which got cut off during copying.
The new contract will be distributed once printing is complete.
A special thanks goes out to all involved, and we look forward to the next 3 years of building our Local and making SJH a great place to work.
SECTION I – Current Contract Language:
- Preserved our protection from being sent home during our shift
- Clarified procedure for getting work and meal breaks (Click here for more details)
- Prevented any erosion of our benefits, including health, disability, 403(b), target benefit & ancillary benefits
- Upheld our absolute right to distribute union literature in break rooms without threats of discipline
- Clarified process for resolving weekend scheduling disputes (Click here for more details)
- Preserved our option to participate in the HPAE Retiree Medical Trust
- Sustained union status of charge nurses
- Retained the Baylor program
- Prevented SJH from increasing PD minimum time requirement
- Continued current job posting procedure: bargaining unit nurses have preference to newly posted positions
- Continued payment of grandfathered BSN differential
- Ensured new employees’ rights to precepting/mentoring & maintained the differential for preceptors/mentors
- Sustained current layoff protections and severance benefits
- Maintained our access to PTO and LTS
- Protected nurses’ access to leaves of absence, military leave & release for jury duty
SECTION II – VICTORIES… New Contract Language:
- Average 8.5% pay increases over three years of the contract
- Restored $.50/hour National Certification differential – do not need to be on Professional Ladder
- Significant overhaul of Professional Ladder, including increased access to continuing education funds (Click here for more details on wages)(Click here for more details on education benefits)
- Strengthened nursing input into on call expansion and protections against using call to circumvent mandatory OT (Click here for more details)
- Clarified PD differentials – eligible for on call pay, float pay, charge pay, preceptor differential & PIP
- Union and SJH representatives will meet to create an electronic staffing form for reporting all staffing matters
- Increased access to bereavement leave, allowing for 24 hours paid leave over a 6-day period
- Defined clinical duties for CS employees eligible for pay (vs. administrative duties)
- Shortened period when prior verbal and written disciplines are considered in subsequent disciplinary actions
- An updated copy of the Bargaining Unit seniority list will be placed on every unit on a monthly basis
- Creation of a more equitable cancellation pool for Elmer, grouping ICU with Step Down and 2 South with 2 East
- Strengthened the floating districts to better reflect clinical duties
- Increased staff nurse input over how newly created units will be staffed
- Streamlined process of meeting with SJH over policy changes (i.e. workplace technologies, benefits, etc.)
- Recognition of Inpatient Hospice nurses’ role in the hospital at Bridgeton for the purposes of scheduling and PTO
- Protected Community Services RAHE case load
- Combined Labor Management and Staffing Committees to facilitate efficient resolution of member concerns
- New language protecting your shift hours from unilateral change, now requiring 45 days notice and the opportunity to find other solutions
- Better access to Union Days for Bargaining Unit Representatives
Section III – Arbitrations and Unfair Labor Practice charges:
Resolved Arbitrations and ULPs:
- SJH Using On Call to Circumvent Mandatory OT Law: Set benchmark – 4-hour on-call block kicks in when working more than one hour after shift
- SJH Improperly Implemented Mandatory On Call in ED: Immediately discontinued, new contract language will apply allowing nurses to meet with administration to find alternatives
- SJH Barring Union Literature from Break Rooms: No nurse will be disciplined or threatened for sharing union information in the break rooms
- Per Diem Weekend Pay: Nurses who worked Friday evenings (2:45 pm-6:45 pm) from July, ’09-May, ’10 will retroactively receive the weekend differential ($5/hour). Going forward, the weekend differential will be paid from Friday at 6:45 pm-Monday at 7:15 am.
- CS RAHE Holidays: When CS office is closed, RAHEs will not be asked to cover regularly scheduled appointments, emergencies only
Unresolved Arbitrations:
- SJH Violated Contract when Eliminating Grandfathered Differentials for ACLS, TNCC, etc.: no agreement, we will continue to work collectively for resolution as case proceeds to arbitration
- SJH Improperly Calculated PTO Accrual Rates for 200+ Nurses: no agreement, we will continue to work collectively for resolution as case proceeds to arbitration
- SJH Combines Holiday & OT Hour Worked in the Same Week in Violation of Labor Laws: no agreement, we will continue to work collectively for resolution as case proceeds to arbitration
SECTION IV – How we accomplished these victories:
- Unit meetings were attended by nurses from 38 different units from all facilities
- Surveys completed by 20% of the membership
- Identified key issues for negotiations
- Engaged members in Member Mobilization and Issue Round Tables
- Member activity around unacceptable issues: Elmer weekend schedule & mandatory on call in the Emergency Department
- File class action grievance and Unfair Labor Practice charge
- Unit meetings with affected members
- Petition supporting union grievance and ULP
- Affected members present petition to administration
- Nurses wear ribbons as show of solidarity
- Education Round Table
- Wrote and circulated Education Survey
- Identified key priorities and drafted Contract Proposals
- Presented proposals and rationale to SJH bargaining team in negotiations
- Membership ratified proposals at membership meeting prior to negotiations
- Gathered signatures on petition of support for negotiating team
- Members attended bargaining to support negotiating team and speak to issues
Ratification Meeting May 27
May 19, 2010
We reached a tentative agreement in contract negotiations early this morning. All members are expected to come to the ratification meeting on Thursday, May 27 at 8:00a, 4:00p, and 7:30p. It is important that all members attend, as the decisions are made by those who show up!
Contract Negotiations Update:
May 19, 2010
We reached a tentative agreement in contract negotiations early this morning. All members are expected to come to the ratification meeting on Thursday, May 27 at 8:00a, 4:00p, and 7:30p. It is important that all members attend, as the decisions are made by those who show up!
April 27, 2010
Negotiations began April 13th. First off, thank you to the nurses who came out to support the negotiating team. Administration needs to be reminded at every session that although seven of us make up the negotiating team, we are speaking for and representing the 800 RNs in our Union at SJH.
Each side gave an opening statement and we found that we can agree on at least one issue. Contrary to the dire predictions of administration when we were organizing, SJH has not only survived, but has prospered as a Union facility, achieving numerous awards, expanding and doing very well financially. We spent the morning presenting our proposals and administration took the afternoon to review them and ask questions.
The most surprising question/statement came in response to our request for the hospital’s staffing guidelines. The hospital attorney, who is their chief negotiator, asked if we anticipated that staffing would be an issue in these negotiations. When we said “yes”, he came up with the quote of the day when he said, “Are you hearing from the nurses that staffing is a problem, because we aren’t." Unbelievable!!!
Janet Davies, Ann McCartney and Michele Zucconi (who are sitting across the table from us at negotiations) also sit across from us every other month at the Staffing Committee meetings where we present the Unsafe Staffing forms filled out by the nurses. Although they steadfastly refuse to accept them, saying the forms are our documents, not theirs, we
still go through every single form submitted by the nurses and persistently present all the staffing concerns you bring to us. If they aren’t hearing us, we need to talk a little louder!!! Consistently fill out the forms and give them to us, call your manager or supervisor (or both) every time staffing is a problem, and come to negotiations when we talk about this.
We scheduled fifteen more negotiation dates before we left that day. Your team has worked for months, with the help of our roundtables, to come up with the proposals we presented. We are going to be working hard over the next five and half weeks to achieve the contract you have asked for, and get it done by May 31st, when our current contract expires.
Now I am asking you, what are you willing to do to make sure you get a good contract? When I say you, I mean YOU, the person reading this letter. If you haven’t participated in the roundtables, if you haven’t come to at least one negotiating session, if you haven’t worn a sticker at work, if you haven’t encouraged your coworkers to wear them, if you haven’t signed the petition in support of your negotiating team or helped to get other signatures, then you will have to take responsibility for not doing your part to get the best contract possible. This is YOUR CONTRACT and success depends on YOU.
Our next General Membership meeting will be May 19th. See you there.
Michelle Silvio RN
Emergency Dept.
President HPAE Local 5131
All begin at 10 am and will be held at the Wingate unless noted
Wednesday, May 5 at the Ramada Inn
Monday, May 10
Wednesday, May 12
Friday, May 14 at the Wingate
Monday, May 17
Tuesday, May 18 at the Hampton Inn
Wednesday, May 19 – GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING, 8 am, 4 pm & 7:30 pm
Thursday, May 20
Friday, May 21
Monday, May 24
Tuesday, May 25
Wednesday, May 26 – MOBILIZATION TEAM MEETING, 5:30 & 7:30 pm
Friday, May 28
Monday, May 31
April 13, 2010
Our union negotiating team had its first meeting with SJH administration today to re-negotiate our union contract. A special thanks to the group of supportive nurses that attended in solidarity with the negotiating team!! If you haven’t yet, please sign the petition of support for our negotiating team (see attached) and gather signatures from the nurses in your departments. Also attached is the first Bargaining Update of 2010.
The first session covered most of the formalities (ground rules, dates, etc.), and our negotiating team presented the union’s proposals. Our priorities are:
- Education – Support and recognition for our continued professional growth
- Recognition for improved quality for excellence in our areas of specialty
- Reimbursements for courses required to maintain our National Certifications
- Protect and increase differentials for Bachelors and Masters
- Make the Professional Ladder accessible to all nurses
- Staffing – Enforceable staffing guidelines to ensure quality patient care and prevent errors
- Charge Pay – Increase charge differential to make it competitive with other hospitals
- On-Call – Define departments where on-call is mandatory and clarify on-call procedures
- Hours & Wages – Strengthen protections against cancellations and ensure adequate pay increases
All negotiating sessions are open to our members, and at the next one, SJH Administration will be responding to our initial proposals. Please join us to hear firsthand how they respond to the issues listed above:
WHAT – SJH Administration responds to our initial proposals
WHEN – FRIDAY, April 23rd, meet beforehand at 9:30 am
WHERE – Wingate Hotel in Vineland
Click here to see how you can support your bargaining team
See you there, and call or email with any questions!
Adam Clark
856-663-0300 x301
Contract
Your Nov 19, 2007 - May 31, 2010 Contract
To download, click here.
Wages
- Nurses voiced concerns over consistent short staffing in ED – particularly on nights.
- As the department expands, reliable and tested solutions for chronic staffing problems, such as short-term contracts, should be utilized immediately instead of mandating on-call.
- Management accepted the petition and heard from the nurses how the change has negatively affected morale among the staff.
- Management said they are planning to re-evaluate the mandatory on-call program in May, which comes during our contract negotiations.
The support of union nurses from throughout SJH on this issue will be crucial in fighting for REAL solutions to short staffing and other issues during the negotiations, so keep standing united!!
No Mandatory On-Call in the Emergency Department!!
SJH Administration implemented a mandatory on-call schedule in the ED at the RMC and Bridgeton without negotiating with our Union. This is a violation of our contract and of Federal labor laws. We have filed grievances and charges with the labor board. Read More.
Message from the President
This is the first newsletter of 2010 and I want to say thank you to all the members of our local. We laid the foundation of our local in 2008. We recruited reps and trained them. We learned how to function as a collective bargaining unit. It was an education for everyone, the members, the hospital administration and your local officers and reps. The membership looked to the officers and reps to answer questions about the contract and file grievances over violations. Read More.
Staffing and Labor Management Report
It was confirmed with administration that employees who call out of work for flu symptoms per the CDC guidelines will not have those call outs counted as part of any discipline for attendance. Read More.
Newsletters
Local Beat - May 2010
Local Beat - March 2010
Local Beat - January 2010
Local Officers List
HPAE Local 5131
Executive Board
President: Michelle Silvio RMC
856-691-8169 msilvio5131@verizon.net
Grievance Chair: Karen Bailey RMC
856-785-1871 karena185@aol.com
Vice President: Beth Manganaro Bridgeton/CS
856-381-7414 sjskingaerorn@msn.com
Vice President: Debbie Pacitti Elmer
856-906-0189 debpacitti@aol.com
Vice President: Robin Hosick-Corey RMC
856-905-1148 robinhosickcorey@yahoo.co
Unit Rep Coordinator: Joanne Savidge Elmer
856-213-5339 savidgej@comcast.net
Secretary Treasurer: Kelly Hobbs RMC
856-455-6304 kel102289@aol.com
Click here to see the Unit Rep list
HPAE Staff Rep - Jeff Hayden (856) 663-0300 ext. 316
HPAE Support Staff - Sandy Theriaque (201) 262-5005 ext. 125
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