Keck Hospital bargaining update (June 17, 2021)

Published Thursday, June 17, 2021

We had our fourth joint bargaining session as a united group between Keck / Norris, the Clinics and the Call Center. In the morning we focused on the wage scale that the employer presented to us last Thursday. We talked about the various problems we found and how we have concerns about the structure of the company’s proposal. We also had some dialogue about the direction we want to head in regarding our wage scales.

In the afternoon, we had some productive discussion around some universal concerns and department specific problems that we are attempting to address. We plan on having in-depth discussion next week on how to resolve our attendance and time off systems.

Later in the afternoon we made counter proposals on multiple articles including education benefits where we are asking the hospital to compensate us for required courses needed to maintain our employment with Keck and Norris. We also made some tweaks to our health and safety proposal which we have spent a lot of time on in order to be prepared for any future pandemic or major health scare. We believe we are closer to coming to an agreement. Additionally there were some outstanding non-economic items, including Article 18 which the employer tentatively agreed to for the ambulatory clinics. In the call center we pointed out contradictions and inconsistencies in the employer’s proposals on management rights, work stoppage and union security.

Our next bargaining session is Tuesday. As a committee, in the next few days, we will be working on developing counter proposals on our wage scales, economic articles, and attendance/time off, so that we can move closer to an overall agreement.

Stay Tuned!

Judy Oliva
Cook – Keck Cafeteria
NUHW Steward and Bargaining Committee