Your elected Bargaining Team has been meeting with management for months. Bargaining together, across all three contracts, we’ve passed more than sixty proposals, focusing on our core issues of staffing, including recruitment and retention, safety, scheduling, and patient care. We see AHS as a place with real issues that need urgent attention. Unfortunately, with our contract set to expire on May 31, we have seen little urgency from management.

Our May 1 Day of Action across AHS is a crucial opportunity to show management that we need solutions now. Click here to RSVP!

Staffing

We have passed more than twenty-five proposals that directly improve AHS’s ability to recruit and retain skilled workers. So far, management has responded to only three.

We have proposed increased wages across the board and to add benefits to improve work / life balance and add staffing to ensure good patient care, including weekend work, meal breaks, and mandatory meet and confer meetings if the vacancy rate is above 5%.

Union Proposals:

• Comprehensive, across-the-board wage proposal (General Unit, RN, and San Leandro Hospital contracts)
• Simpler, broader access to overtime (GU, RN, SLH)
• Longevity pay (GU, RN, SLH)
• Longevity pay for SAN workers (according to hours worked)  (GU, RN, SLH)
• Increased bilingual pay for RN and SLH to match what’s in the GU contract
• Simplified pay schedule for SANs in GU contract
• Preceptor training pay (GU, RN, SLH)
• EVS custodial route premium for working outside bidded area (GU)
• Pay differential for Infusion Technician (GU)
• Staffing and vacancy: required meet and confer with SEIU 1021 if vacancy rate exceeds 5%, with mandatory month reporting to SEIU 1021 by management
• Equity and classification adjustments (GU & SLH)
• Internal pay parity, bringing all wages up to a shared standard where different contracts had different levels (GU & SLH)
• Increased speciality certification pay (RN)
• ACERA for San Leandro Hospital (SLH)
• MHS matrix improvement (GU)
• RN matrix improvement (GU & RN)
• Nurse Case Management improvement (GU & RN)
• Better step progression (GU)
• FSA rollover (GU, RN, SLH)
• Clarified step progression for APP (RN)
• Improved SNF staffing matrix (GU & RN)
• Restoring FTEs for workers who voluntarily reduced due to budget issues (SLH)
• Improved “share the savings” policy for workers who opt out of health care or have a spouse / partner who works for AHS

Management has not responded.

Career Advancement

We have passed five proposals helping AHS workers get ahead. Management has responded to only two.

Union Proposals:

• Education fund (GU, RN, SLH)
• Adding career ladder for PSR and Eligibility Clerk positions (GU)
• Ensuring training must be on paid time (GU, RN, SLH)
• Enhanced education leave (GU & SLH)

Scheduling

We’re working to limit subcontracting and protect our workers’s abilities to transfer and promote. Management wants to impose unilateral schedule changes and increase their ability to float workers between sites.

One of management’s few proposals has been to eliminate the KRONOS side letter and change the attendance policy.

Union Proposals:

• Added holidays (GU, RN, SLH)
• Adding the missed break law to the contract (GU, RN, SLH)
• Expanded use of bereavement leave (GU, RN, SLH)
• Clarified RN floating policy (RN)
• Clarified value for floating holidays (to match regularly scheduled shift) (GU, RN, SLH)
• Extra rest period for 12-hour shifts at SLH 
• Increased extended sick leave (GU, RN, SLH)
• Reduced weekend work requirements for long-time employees (GU, RN, SLH)
• Break nurse assignments to be made free of other work (RN)
• Meal breaks for nurses on 10 / 12 hour shifts (RN)
• Improved protections for ensuring all workers have at least every other weekend of (GU & SLH)
• Increased use of PTO for sick family members (GU)
• Allow SAN workers to roll over accrued sick leave if they convert to FTE (GU, RN, SLH)
• Adding diagnostic imaging and radiology workers to float pool (GU)
• Improved call back language (GU & RN)

Safety

We have proposed a comprehensive safety package for all contracts, addressing both worker safety on site and while dealing with patients and worker security in and around AHS buildings and parking areas. Management has not responded.

Patient Care / Common Good

We have proposed staffing matrixes and administrative time changes that we need to ensure high-quality patient care. We’ve addressed climate change and air quality, again, with no responses from management.

Union Proposals:

• Sets minimum time for appointments and doubles interpreter service time appointments (GU, RN, SLH)
• Improved administrative time for RNs (RN)
• Mandatory meet and confers over bad air days and excessively hot days

Improved Union Rights

Union Proposals:

• Expanded time and steward rights for investigations (GU, RN, SLH)
• Penalties for delayed payments for settlements and arbitrations (GU, RN, SLH)
• Increased paid release time for chapter presidents or designees (GU, RN, SLH)
• Added union offices to John George (GU & RN)
• Moving attendance issues out of Performance Improvement Plan (GU, RN, SLH)
• Clarifying and limiting investigatory leave time (GU, RN, SLH)
• Clarify and restrict clinical and administrative supervisory roles (RN)
• Limiting subcontracting (GU, RN, SLH)
• Improved union recognition language (GU & RN)