Local 5030 4th Quarter Newsletter
We wanted to take this time to wish all members a Happy Holiday Season and hope you enjoy this time of year with family and friends. We have been working on several issues that have been brought to our attention and we also have some new announcements in this update that we will be sharing. We also had an arbitration settlement WIN for dietary in this newsletter to share. Get involved in your Union because when we all speak with one voice, we can make change! We are looking for union representatives for each unit. If you are interested, please let us know and we will provide you with the training. Please use our email address, listed below, to send us any communications and to address issues or concerns you may be having.
UPDATE ON SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL AND NEW WEEKEND DIFFERENTIAL
Article 16 of the contracts state that the next increase in the shift differential and new weekend differential will take effect January 1, 2025. After speaking with HR that increase will now be effective starting December 22 of this year
ESL FROM DAY 1
In negotiations this year we were able to get ESL from 1st day out for emergency room hospital visit and urgent care visit in addition to what we already had in article 20. If you are using ESL from 1st day out for one of those mentioned visits, please do the following:
- An eligibility form must be completed
- Fax the form along with the MD note to 201-854-5710 or you can walk it over to Occ Health.
- Your ESL can be used in hourly increments.
- If you are going to be out over 3 days (covid etc.) then you will need to contact Sedgwick.
DIETARY ARBITRATION SETTLEMENT WIN
On November 12 we were able to reach a settlement on the dietary hostile work environment arbitration prior to the hearing.
- All level 1 disciplinary infractions for 2024 will be removed
- HR will conduct a monthly meeting with all employees and HPAE Union to discuss any issues for 6 months without managers in attendance
- Management will be required to attend 2 anti-harassment/anti-discrimination trainings in a 12-month period and documentation of the training will be provided to the Union
- A 1-hour orientation to educate managers on the collective bargaining agreement and the NLRA will be conducted, and documentation of the orientation will be provided to the Union.
Thanks to Tony Ellis, Co-Grievance Chair for the dietary bargaining unit, for all the work he did on this issue and to all members that came forward to be part of this class action grievance.
STAFFING
We negotiated staffing ratios in the contract this year for the following units:
- Medical Surgical 1:5
- Adult Critical Care 1:2
- 3 East 1:4
- Special Care Nursery 1:4
- ED RN Guidelines: 7am – 5 RNs, 11am – 8 RNs, 7pm – 8RNs, 11pm – RNs and 7am to 7am 1 Triage RN.
A class action grievance was filed back in July for Palisades failure to follow these guidelines and for their failure to have ANMs and Nurse manager to take assignment when the ratios are not met. That grievance has now been submitted for arbitration. We will continue to keep you updated on the arbitration. Please let us know when you are having issues with the staffing ratios and please continue to fill out the short staffing forms as we need them for any grievance that is filed.
NEW CONTRACTS
The new contracts were distributed back on October 27. If you were unable to attend, please contact one of your union leaders or we have them stored in HR to obtain a copy.
GRIEVANCES AND WEINGARTEN RIGHTS – AZZA ELSAID, CO GRIEVANCE CHAIR
If you are called into your supervisor’s office, please tell your supervisor “If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated, or affect my personal working conditions, I respectfully request that my union representative be present at this meeting. Without union representation, I choose not to answer questions.” This is your right under the law.
When management violates the contract or your rights you have a right for a grievance to be filed on your behalf so that wrong can be corrected. The grievance procedure is the unions recourse to correct the matter on your behalf.
Your union has been successful this year in resolving several grievances for our members that have resulted in discipline being removed and pay being awarded.
EDUCATE YOURSELF AND YOUR CO-WORKERS – attend a meeting, share this flyer.
Please use the local email to better communicate with us Local50302@HPAE.ORG for all questions and issues you may have.
TELL HACKENSACK TO RESPECT US, PROTECT US AND SUPPORT US