Keck/Norris bargaining update #5 (March 31, 2021)

Published Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Dear NUHW members, 

We had our fifth session today, with lots of NUHW members present. We are focused on addressing non-economic issues, and reached agreement on Appendix A – Department Groupings, which comes into effect if there are layoffs. 

We are closer to agreement on Article 5 Job Vacancies – where the employer conditionally withdrew their proposal to prohibit employees from applying to new positions if they have disciplines in their file. 

We are also closer on Article 9 – Grievance Procedure where our timelines are intact. The only hang up is they want the loser of an arbitration to pay for all the costs. This has always been a shared cost in the spirit of collective bargaining – we cannot accept their proposal. 

In other areas, they are holding to several unacceptable provisions: 

1. Ban on picketing / leafletting – this is a fundamental right we need as union members to enforce our contract and go public with concerns we have as staff. 
2. They have proposed a vague workplace violence provision which erodes our job security.
3. They rejected entirely our proposed correction of the attendance policy the company rolled out last year.  This is unacceptable. We need to correct the punitive attendance policy and restore our rights under the law with respect to kin care and sick hours. 

We have another session tomorrow where we will try to advance these non-economic issues. Then we will begin to craft our economic proposals as a committee. 

Stay tuned, and let me know if you want to become involved. 

We need to stay together and be ready to fight for what we deserve! 

In Solidarity,
Xochilt Olague, CST, Endoscopy Tech II