Labor Relations

Negotiations Recap for October 29, 2012

This recap details the 12th session for the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement between the UW/Harborview and SEIU 1199, and the third session to be facilitated by neutral mediators.

UW/Harborview Counter-Proposals

Preceptor Pay
UW/Harborview proposed an expansion of its previous proposal – to add electroneurodiagnostic (END) technicians to preceptor eligibility – by also extending eligibility for preceptor pay to health care specialists and social workers.
Rest Between Shifts
UW/Harborview proposed making anesthesiology and END technicians eligible for rest-between-shifts premium pay, and withdrew its proposal to establish a 10-hour standardized rest period across work groups.
UW/Harborview maintained its proposal to pay this premium to employees receiving less than their defined rest period only for the time worked within their rest period, instead of automatically paying this premium for eight hours regardless of the interruption.
Educational and Professional Development
UW/Harborview proposed language changes to clarify that the use of educational and professional leave is not required for mandatory training. UW/Harborview upheld its proposal to increase education support funds per full-time equivalent (FTE) across work groups, and to eliminate pooling of such funds.
Health Care Specialist Hire-in Rates
UW/Harborview proposed that the parties continue to discuss and review available data at the health care specialist joint labor-management meeting.
Floating
UW/Harborview proposed language to clarify that employees who voluntarily and/or regularly work in more than one department do not meet the definition of floating.
Paid Bargaining Time
UW/Harborview agreed to incorporate SEIU 1199’s proposed definition of what constitutes a “bargaining session,” with the added clarification that such time will not result in paid overtime or paid meal breaks.
UW/Harborview maintained its proposal to uphold the current practice of paying release time for 12 SEIU 1199 members to attend negotiations.
Clinic Staffing
UW/Harborview proposed that clinic social work staffing be discussed at joint labor-management meetings, and that clinic nurse staffing be a standing agenda item at the nurse staffing committee.

SEIU 1199 Counter-Proposals

Rest Between Shifts
SEIU 1199 proposed expanding the rest between shifts policy covering registered nurses to include anesthesiology technicians and END technologists, and expanding the rest between shifts policy covering social workers and health care specialists to include respiratory therapists and medical imaging technologists.
In-service
SEIU 1199 maintained its original proposal, that in-service education only occur during an employee’s normal working hours and within their FTE.
Paid Bargaining Time
SEIU 1199 proposed that UW/Harborview provide paid release time for 15 employees to attend negotiations.
Airlift Northwest Proposals Withdrawn
SEIU 1199 withdrew its proposals that Airlift Northwest management pay for an extra round-trip flight to Seattle for Juneau-based nurses, as well as for all nurse passport costs.
SEIU 1199 also offered several verbal amendments and counter-proposals to other Airlift Northwest-specific provisions.

Tentative Agreements

The parties reached tentative agreements on the following articles and memoranda:

Article 6.9: Certification
END technologists would be eligible for premium pay for one certification, and contract language for respiratory care practitioner certification pay would remain the same.
Article 7.3: Overtime
For the purpose of calculating overtime payment, health care specialists and social workers may select either a fixed shift or an adjustable schedule.
The fixed shift would allow for overtime accrual on a daily basis. The adjustable schedule would provide added scheduling flexibility, but would allow for overtime accrual only for time worked beyond 80 hours in their 80 hour work period.
Article 22.7: Layoff Notice
In the event of a layoff, a seniority list of the most recent hires would be sent to the union along with materials regarding the employees identified for layoff.
Article 22.15: Airlift Northwest Base Closure
The parties would maintain current contract language.
Article 23: Job Posting and Transfer
For health care specialists, job opportunities would be posted or emailed internally for seven days prior to posting externally, and for Airlift Northwest registered nurses, job opportunities would be circulated internally for two weeks prior to posting externally.
Medical Errors
The parties tentatively agreed to a memorandum establishing that if a medical error occurs, the surrounding events will be reviewed to determine mitigating factors before corrective action occurs.
KRONOS Committee
The parties tentatively agreed to language outlining the duties of the KRONOS Committee going forward, which includes monitoring the system’s accuracy and recommending improvements.
Clinic Social Work Staffing
The parties tentatively agreed that clinic social work staffing will be discussed at joint labor-management meetings.
Airlift Northwest Addendum: Mileage
The parties tentatively agreed that when a nurse must work at a base other than their home base, all mileage driven to the base will be reimbursed.

Further Dialogue

Membership Vote

SEIU 1199 explained that after the October 19 bargaining session it solicited its members’ opinions of the proposals put forth to date by UW/Harborview. SEIU 1199 pointed out that most of those who voted were not favorable toward UW/Harborview’s proposals.

SEIU 1199 expressed that based on this, it will continue its efforts toward a public action of some sort.

Bargaining Protocol

UW/Harborview requested that SEIU 1199 commit its outstanding verbal counter-proposals to writing.

Next Steps

The next UW/Harborview-SEIU 1199 bargaining session is currently being determined by both parties.