Labor Relations

UW – SEIU 1199 Negotiations Recap for April 6 & April 13, 2017

Background

This recap details the 1st and 2nd sessions for the renewal of the collective bargaining agreement between the UW and SEIU 1199. Recaps are published online on the UW Labor Relations website.

Harborview Financial Presentation

Kera Dennis, Assistant Administrator for Harborview Finance, delivered a presentation reviewing Harborview’s financial situation and summarizing historical trends, financial health and associated risks.  Harborview is facing new expenses such as the Mission Support payment to King County, which costs $5 million a year over a 30 year contract term, as well as uncertain future for Medicaid and Medicare funding.

The financial presentation is available online.

SEIU 1199 Initial Proposals

Wages – SEIU 1199 proposed to increase wages across the board by 6% on July 1, 2017 and 6% on July 1, 2018.

Market Adjustments – SEIU 1199 proposed market adjustments of 10% for health care specialists, 8% for social work assistants, and 8% for ENDs.

Premium Pay – SEIU 1199 proposed to increase premiums for evening, night, and weekend shifts (except for shifts worked by registered nurses and health care specialists).

SEIU also proposed new and increased per hour premiums for the following:

  • Stat RNs – $2.50 (in addition to float premium)
  • Airlift Northwest RNs – $5.00
  • ECMO RNs and R.T.s – $6.50
  • Radiology RNs – $3.75
  • Emergency RNs float pay – $2.50
  • PICC RNs – $4.00
  • RNs with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree – $1.00
  • Ultrasound technicians (specifically related to dictation duties) – $2.00

Certification Pay – SEIU 1199 proposed to increase certification pay across the board.  The union also proposed:

  • Stacking of additional certification for RNs, imaging technologists, diagnostic medical sonographers, respiratory care practitioners, anesthesia technicians, and electroneurodiagnostic technologists
  • Healthcare specialists with specialized certification to be paid a premium
  • Eligibility for all employees to receive premium certification pay for the certifications required to do their job as well as advanced certifications

On-Call Pay – SEIU 1199 proposed to increase on-call pay for all relevant positions, except registered nurses.

Float Pay – SEIU 1199 proposed to add float pay for select Airlift Northwest RNs, per diem RNs, and technology float positions.

Preceptor Pay – SEIU 1199 proposed to add preceptor pay for pharmacy technicians.

Pay Scale Adjustments – SEIU 1199 proposed adding one top step to all department pay scales and a second top step for MIT supervisors and quality assurance/educational supervisors.

The union proposed filling in two ghost steps on the pay scale for social workers, pharmacy technicians, ENDs, and ATs.

The union proposed an adjustment to the pay scale for Hall Health RNs so that pay is more commensurate with experience.

Retroactive Pay – SEIU 1199 proposed 100% retroactive pay to union members if contract negotiations go past July 1, 2017.

Bargaining Unit Addition – SEIU 1199 proposed adding the Hall Health Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNPs) to all articles in the contract pertaining to healthcare specialists, and adding them to the same pay scale.

Break Relief – SEIU 1199 proposed the following:

  • To keep existing break relief/resource RN units
  • To add a break relief/resources RN to the Rehab Unit (4 West Hospital)
  • The elimination of alternative models for break relief
  • Pilot break relief RNs on one ICU unit and one Psych unit

Standby – SEIU 1199 proposed the following changes to standby:

  • The ability to call in sick after being on standby
  • No new areas to have mandatory standby
  • Standby and on-call will not be utilized to avoid fulfilment of vacant positions or predictable absences
  • A committee to evaluate standby throughout the hospital
  • To increase the minimum guarantee from 2.5 hours to 3 hours on call-back from standby

Furthering Education and Professional Development – SEIU 1199 proposed the following increases:

  • The provision of $100.00 for each full-time pharmacy technician
  • An increase from $1800.00 to $2500.00 for health care specialists/leads
  • An increase from $500.00 to $850.00 for Airlift Northwest RNs

Corrective Action in Employment Practice – SEIU 1199 proposed:

  • The reduction of the time frame for employee-requested removal of formal counseling documents down from 2 years (current) to 1 year in their employee personal file
  • All communication during the corrective action process will go through the union delegate

Committees – SEIU 1199 proposed an increase in representatives within the respective Joint Labor Management Committees:

  • Within the Social Worker Unit Committee, an increase to 8 bargaining unit representatives, a union representative, a labor relations office representative or designee, and 2 employer representatives
  • An increase to 5 bargaining unit representatives within the Health Care Specialist Unit Committee

Union Representation – SEIU 1199 proposed:

  • Increasing health care specialist bargaining unit union delegates to 6 delegates instead of 4
  • Increase the numbers of social worker unit delegates to receive delegate training from 2 to 4

Overtime and Work Patterns – SEIU 1199 proposed:

  • Elimination of rotating shift schedules
  • Limiting required shift changes to 1 per month with at least 48 hours between changes
  • That no employee should work more than 16 hours within a 24-hour period
  • Sick leave allowed to be counted towards the calculation of overtime pay
  • A guaranteed 12 hours rest between shifts for three additional job classifications – imaging technologists, diagnostic medical sonographers, and pharmacy technicians. If this is infringed upon, then the imposing time worked to be counted as time and a half

Nursing Scholarships – SEIU 1199 proposed:

  • An increase in funding of nursing scholarships from $100,000 to $150,000
  • The Scholarship committee to have 3 members appointed by the union

Joint Contract Administration Training – SEIU 1199 proposed:

  • Training with managers and delegates by the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) to reduce amount of grievances and misinterpretation of contract language
  • The introduction of previous contract language and seeks to jointly develop new contract language in an official training session

Next Steps

The next UW-SEIU 1199 bargaining session is scheduled for April 17th. At the next session the union will present the remainder of their initial proposals and then the UW will begin their initial proposals.