Santa Rosa Memorial: Union News and Views — March 2014

St. Joseph Hospitals, Sonoma CountyMarch 5, 2014

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More Union members get jobs with benefits!
A group of Care Partners and Union Shop Stewards joined together recently to win reclassification of Relief workers who did not have any benefits. Our campaign resulted in an agreement with Management to reclassify 15 former Relief workers, who now will have benefits for the first time! Management has agreed to review the hours worked by Relief Workers every month. They will review the average hours worked per pay period over 6 months – if a Relief worker has worked an average of 64 hours per pay period, they will be offered Reclassification if they want it, and will be reclassified to RPT4 or Full Time, depending on their hours worked, and they will also get some PTO and Disability Reserve credit. Questions? Ask your Shop Steward or call the Union Organizer.

Your next raise is coming May 1
All NUHW members will be getting a 2% raise effective May 1, 2014. This is called our Across the Board raise, which is negotiated in our Union Contract for all Union members. It is based on your base pay, excluding differentials. Additionally, members get raises when they move to their next Experience Step. Pay rates for all job titles are listed in the Contract, along with the increases by Experience Step.

What should you do if you’re told about “fact finding” or discipline?
You have the right to Union representation when you believe a meeting could result in discipline. You must be given 72 hours to arrange Union representation if you are being investigated. Often such investigations or Fact Finding do not result in any discipline. If you are being disciplined, get a Shop Steward or call the Organizer to be represented at the disciplinary hearing. Then the Steward, the member, and the Organizer will discuss how to further represent the member, including possibly filing a Grievance against the discipline. The most important thing to remember is – don’t go it alone!

Union still demanding effective safety glass in the ER waiting room
After months of campaigning for bullet-proof glass to protect the ER Registration personnel, Management presented the Union with the planned design of the glass and we found it quite unacceptable. The design for the glass partition shows that the glass is raised about 12 inches above the countr, therefore it does not protect much of the Registration worker’s body! Come on, Management – have you been listening to our concerns? Safety, Safety, Safety!

Telemetry Techs campaign for patient safety
Management has announced a plan to centralize the Telemetry Stations – where trained technicians observe the patients’ heart rhythms. The Telemetry Techs and the Union opposed several aspects of Management’s plan. We felt only one Telemetry Tech to watch up to 57 patients’ rhythms is not safe and is too stressful for the technician. We were very concerned about the distance of the planned Telemetry Station from the nurses and patients, and over-reliance on the tech telephoning the RN when something goes wrong with the patient – which could be a matter of life and death. Telemetry Techs, the Shop Stewards, and Organizer have met with Management twice, and as a result their plan has been modified and implementation of it postponed. We continue to oppose aspects of Management’s plan – stay tuned for further reports!

Get involved!
All NUHW members are invited to Steward Meetings, which are held at 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month at IBEW Union Hall, 2525 Cleveland Avenue, Santa Rosa, 2nd floor.

Marilyn Albert Menfil Martinez Miki Bloom Tammy Alander Mito Gonzales Omar Rodriguez Nancy Timberlake Jack Nicholson Theron Berry Sal Rosselli Seated Sue Daly Jennifer Wilson 02

NUHW Organizer Marilyn Albert, Menfil Martinez, Miki Bloom, Tammy Alander, Mito Gonzales, Omar Rodriguez, Nancy Timberlake, Jack Nicholson, Theron Berry, NUHW President Sal Rosselli.
Seated: Sue Daly, Jennifer Wilson.

Meet Your Union Stewards:
Omar Rodriguez, EVS

I have worked as an EVS Service Rep at Santa Rosa Memorial for seven years. It is the first hospital I have worked in. I enjoy interacting with the patients – sometimes they just need someone to talk to.

I became a union steward because our department did not have one and we needed someone who would speak up. We need more education about our union contract and our rights. We need to understand what it will take to build our union’s strength and to grow.

I hope others will think about becoming union stewards!

Contact your organizer
Marilyn Albert, RN
malbert@nuhw.org
(510) 725-1880.

Contact your stewards

Miki Bloom
Labor and Delivery
mikibloom@comcast.net

Anne Beach
OR
anne2020@sbclglobal.net

Christine Hoex
Imaging
choex@sbcglobal.net

Connie Baker
SPD
conniebaker24@yahoo.com

Theron Berry
Imaging
theron.berry@gmail.com

Denise Tillman
Admitting
denise_tillman@yahoo.com

George Burmeyer
Echo
gburmeyer@gmail.com

Jack Nicholson
Imaging
jnicholson2020@gmail.com

Marlana Slater
Central Stores
primeinnovations@msn.com