Local 5185 Union Update, February 4, 2025
Union Meeting: There will be a Union Action Meeting 2/10/25 in the 2a Innovation Center (glass room across from the A Elevators).
8:00 AM, 4:00 PM, and 8:00 PM. Attend on personal or break time – NOT Work Time.
Survey: We will be in contract negotiations again soon. This is our best chance to win better pay, benefits, and staffing. It will be a difficult fight, but when we stick together, we win. The first step is to fill out the bargaining survey, so your bargaining team knows your priorities: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PRP2YWH
Letters: Many of us received a mailing related to the bankruptcy, advising of a vote related to the plan and disclosure statement. This notification is related to the accrued benefits and 401k claims that we have as employees.
To make sure that all members’ interests are protected in this process, our Union HPAE has retained bankruptcy counsel. You do not need to vote on the Plan as an individual. The union will vote a block claim on behalf of all members. And if necessary, we will also file an objection or reservation of rights to ensure members’ claims are protected. We will provide more information as the case develops.
Benefit Accruals: CarePoint has ‘deleted’ benefit accruals over 40 hours. This is wrong – and we won’t stand for it! We have filed a grievance, filed charges with the Labor Board, and our attorney is also addressing it.
Last month, Union Members at all three hospitals packed CarePoint’s Townhalls and demanded they honor our contract.
We will continue the pressure until what we have earned is returned to us!
Taxes: Our friends at Citizen Action are providing free tax prep to households that make less than $75,000. Visit https://www.njcitizenaction.org/free-tax-prep – tell them you’re an HPAE Member!
Union Benefits: All Union Members are entitled to a wide range of benefits and savings. For more information, visit https://www.hpae.org/resource/benefits/, and https://www.unionplus.org/ (Use AFT as your International when prompted).
Smoking & Cell Phones: Management is cracking down on smoking and cell phone use. To protect yourself; do not smoke on campus and do not leave campus to smoke unless you are on your lunch/break.
Immigration: Some members have expressed concerns about the potential for immigration enforcement raids in the hospital. We have received the following advice: To protect yourself; politely direct any Agents to your supervisor and do not under any circumstances violate HIPAA. It is legal to say to someone demanding healthcare information to say: “I cannot give you information about a patient without their consent due to HIPAA law. You must speak to my supervisor.”
If you have any personal legal concerns (immigration or other), all union members are entitled to a free 30-minute legal consultation and discounted legal rates: https://www.unionplus.org/benefits/home/legal-help (Use “AFT” as your International when prompted).
In solidarity,
HPAE local 5185 Executive Board