Local 5185 April Union Update
Some Updates from Your Union Officers:
Your Union Officers are BMC employees who you’ve elected to fight for you and your coworkers.
- Thanks to everyone who showed up to march with HPAE in the Bayonne St. Patrick’s Day Parade. We had one of our best turnouts in years! Our next steps to showing Management we are Strong, United, and Ready to do Whatever it Takes for a good contract for ALL is to be sure to sign our Petition, wear the HPAE Pulleys (Badge Holders) and lanyards your reps have been handing out, and continue filling out Unsafe Staffing Forms.
- Add your name to the petition: our next negotiating session is April 15: we will deliver management a petition with hundreds of HPAE members’ names to show we’re Strong and United for a good contract for ALL! Add your name here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/bayonne-medical-center-union-members-standing-strong-for-a-fair-contract/
- Bonuses: Many managers have been falsely claiming their departments are not approved for bonuses without ever requesting approval from management. If your department/classification does not have a ratio and you want the $10.00 bonus shift, continue to write “Bonus” in the Availability Book. If your manager claims your department is not approved for bonuses, ask that they email Dr. Rabines and Trina again and notify a union rep/officer. If you want bonus shifts, DO NOT ACCEPT EXTRA SHIFTS UNLESS YOUR MANAGER STATES IN WRITING IT IS A BONUS SHIFT.
Labor-Management Committee
The Labor-Management Committee (LMC) is a monthly meeting where your Union Officers bring your concerns to management.
Some Updates from the March LMC Meeting:
- 401(K)s: Check your 401(k). If your 401(K) is missing contributions, Please let HR and your Union Rep know immediately so it can be resolved.
- Staffing Grievance: last week, our Union filed a Hospital-wide staffing grievance. Because everyone has been filling out so many staffing forms; we have been able to make a new argument that BMC’s internal staffing rules and procedures are part of our contract and enforceable (this is especially important for Techs and Service/PCPs/CNAs). We had our initial discussions on Wednesday. This grievance has not been resolved yet, but we have made good progress. More updates to come.
- Insight: CarePoint has signed a 10-week “Management Services Agreement” with Insight, an out-of state company. Currently, Insight is involved in negotiating supply contracts This is not
currently a take-over or purchase, although that is a possibility in the future. We have requested a copy of the Agreement with Insight.
This also does not necessarily mean the potential deal with Hudson Regional is off, however, it does not appear that there has been any movement on this front for several weeks. We have filed three separate Unfair Labor Practice Charges against CarePoint and Hudson Regional over our right to more information. - There are still no current plans for bankruptcy. HPAE has engaged a bankruptcy attorney just in case.
HPAE-AFT Information
HPAE-AFT is the largest union of health care professionals in New Jersey. HPAE members include nurses, social workers, therapists, technicians, medical researchers and other healthcare professionals. We work in hospitals, nursing homes, home care agencies, blood banks and university research facilities.
Fighting for Safe Staffing: A new bill has been introduced by Senator Vitale and Assemblywoman Quijano, appropriately named the “Patient Protection and Safe Staffing Act.” This new legislation revises the nurse to patient ratios, now includes ratios for unlicensed assistive personnel and sets financial penalties for facilities that repeatedly violate the set ratios. Our union is fighting hard to get this law passed.
Welcome to HPAE: Case Managers at Inspira Health voted YES to join our union on March 6th.
Stay in Touch: If you or someone you know isn’t getting union texts and/or emails, reply to this message and you will be added to the list.
Your Local Union Leadership:
President: Christine Crimaldi – 2R
Vice President (Service): Danielle Hallenbeck – 2R
Vice President (Techs & B.O.C.): Marisol Mateo – OR
Vice President (RNs & Professionals): Joan Zitzman – ICU
Secretary: Mary Ramos – PACU
Treasurer: Sue Sienkiewicz – Respiratory
Grievance Chair: Nanette Rivera – Physical Therapy
Your union benefits:
Your HPAE Benefits | Your AFT Benefits
Questions
/ Concerns may be sent to BSILVA@HPAE.ORG