Local 5138 Bargaining Update: Session # 3, March 24, 2023
HPAE Local 5138 held its third day of negotiations with HMH today. We responded to HMH regarding their proposals and were able to sign off on another tentative agreement (TA) regarding one of our counter proposals to HMH that dealt with shift differential. Under this proposal, an employee will receive the $3.00 evening shift differential for the entire shift when 50% or more hours are worked after 3pm. Employees will be paid the $5.00 night differential for the entire shift when 50% or more of the hours are worked after 11pm.
In response to our focus on health and safety, HMH did a presentation in regard to Work Place Violence and Safety. Jill Hodge, Director of Network Security Services did the presentation. She went over what HMH’s overall safety and security plan is and the various steps that they take to follow up on their commitment to safety. She explained how HMH does their assessments to look at their security measures as well as issues such as intervention and de-escalation.
We thanked HMH for their presentation and asked some questions that were based on information from the contract surveys that were submitted by you. The questions included concerns about certain points of entry to SOMC facility, some issues regarding panic buttons, dealing with patients and/or their visitors, follow-ups from OneLink as well as several other topics. HMH appreciated our input and said that they will review and will get back to us.
Our next bargaining session is next Wednesday, March 29th and we are still scheduled to meet on March 30th as well. We continue to make positive progress and HMH understands that we are staying focused on wages, health and safety, and staffing. We want to say thank you to the current Contract Action Team (CAT) members and continue to invite anyone that may want to join the CAT team by clicking the link:
https://www.hpae.org/2022/10/local-5138-cat-signup-form/
As we have said, we will be putting out a member update after each bargaining session to keep you informed. You can also find information at https://www.hpae.org/local/local-5138/.
Throughout these negotiations, let us show our solidarity by wearing your HPAE pins! In addition, wear something else RED: headband, bracelet, red shoelaces… Go Union!
Let Hackensack Meridian Health Know:
RESPECT US, PROTECT US & SUPPORT US
Local 5138 Bargaining Team
- Anna Pona, President
- Corey Martinez-Tortorello, Vice-President
- Alice Howarth, Secretary-Treasurer
- Colleen Pignatelli, Grievance Chair