Negotiations for our new contract will resume on Friday, May 3 with the University campus committee, and Monday, May 6 for the Memorial/Hahnemann campus committee. Last week the UMMMC negotiating team put forth a pension compromise proposal at each of the two respective bargaining tables to move negotiations forward toward agreement for a new contract. Both committees presented a comprehensive package that included a pension counterproposal at their negotiating session. The pension counterproposal was the only change/addition to the comprehensive package we presented last week. The sessions ended early as management told us they needed to review our proposal with their pension consultant before they could respond to our contract package.
In presenting this compromise, we made it clear to management that we expect a significant improvements to staffing on both campuses, including strict limits on patient assignments to no more than 5 patients at any time, language to prevent further erosion of our staffing levels on all units, improvements to ED staffing and the addition of STAT RNs ,and a guarantee of reduced or no assignments for charge nurses on all units. We hope this will break the logjam in negotiations and that we can move to a settlement that improves patient care at our facilities when we meet again on May 3 and 6.
New Open Meeting Scheduled
Thursday, May 9 at 1:30 & 6 pm
Coral Seafood Restaurant
225 Shrewsbury St.
For updates on negotiations, decisions on next steps
What You Can Do
In the meantime, we encourage all members to stand together and to show their solidarity for this cause by:
- Wearing black and/or blue scrubs every Wednesday, what we are calling MNA Black and Blue Day, to show our solidarity as nurses stand up against management’s dangerous staffing practices and onerous contract proposals.
- Wearing your "UMMMC Nurses Stronger Together" and the new "I Will" Button every day.
- Contact your committee representative to sign up for the strike picket schedule. We are hopeful for a strong settlement with staffing protections, but we must continue to prepare for a strike if management refuses to agree to the protections we and our patients need.
- Staying informed by signing up for our email blasts, or by visiting and joining our "University Messenger" Facebook group page, located at: https://www.facebook.com/massnurses#!/groups/152126544939667/?fref=t or our " Memorial-Hahnemann Messenger Facebook group page, located at: https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/529295190425023/?fref=ts.
Other News
Great Letter to the Editor by UMMMC Member Published in the Telegram & Gazette
Check out this great letter to the editor by UMMMC University’s Beth Keenan, published in the Telegram over the weekend. Way to go Beth! We encourage all of you who have something to say to submit your own letter to the Telegram about your concerns for safe staffing and a fair contract. We all have a role to play in telling our story to the public. Keep your letters under 250 words and email them to letters@telegram.com If you need help with your letter, feel free to email me a draft.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130425/LETTERS/104259838/1055/letters
UMMMC Nurses Testify at Health Policy Commission Hearing on Mandatory Overtime – Highlight Poor Staffing
UMMMC Memorial Campus Co-chair Colleen Wolfe and committee member Lisa Cargill presented powerful testimony at a Health Policy Commission Hearing at the State House last Friday. The hearing was held to assist the commission in developing a clear definition of what would constitute an emergency situation when mandatory overtime might be allowed. Colleen and Lisa testified about how our administration has chronically understaffed our facilities and then abused the practice of mandatory overtime to compensate for their mismanagement. Their testimony was very well received by the commission. Below is a photo from the hearing and a link to the MNA web page where you can review their testimony.
http://www.massnurses.org/news-and-events/p/openItem/8276
Lisa Cargill testifies at Health Policy Hearing, while Colleen Wolfe looks on
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