Sorry about the format. Ill post text version... may not be organized as well.: ________________________________________ From: Vanessa DeGier Sent: Friday, August 08, 2014 4:44 PM To: Vanessa DeGier Subject: Message from Bob Eisen: Strike FAQ#2 ****Sent on behalf of Bob Eisen, Regional VP, Human Resources**** Dear Colleagues, Please find below and attached additional information that we hope provides helpful answers to your questions regarding how the Queen will continue to provide high quality care in light of CNA’s notification of a strike at our hospital. Please stay tuned for detailed logistics during the strike in the coming days. Thank you and, as always, do not hesitate to contact your manager or HR Consultant if your questions are not answered here. Q1: When will the strike take place? A: The CNA informed us of its plans to conduct a strike beginning on Thursday, August 14, at 7:00 a.m. and ending on Friday, August 15, at 6:59 a.m. Accordingly, we have taken steps to ensure that patient care is uninterrupted and have contracted with a well-respected agency to provide a sufficient number of highly qualified and experienced temporary replacement nurses. The agency requires a five-day minimum contractual commitment to secure its services. This means that replacement nurses will be at the hospital during the strike (beginning August 14, at 7:00 a.m. and ending August 15, at 6:59 a.m.) and through the four-day replacement period that ends on August 19th at 7:00 a.m. The hospital tends to do this also as a punitive measure, but that seems like the flavor inside the hospital currently anyway. More so reason to participate in the strike. Q2: Why did the CNA call this strike? A: We believe the CNA is striking in an attempt to gain even higher pay increases and greater benefits than non-represented employees will receive. The CNA, however, claims that it plans to strike in protest of staffing ratios. Our staffing proposal sets forth the state-mandated staffing ratios. In addition, we have proposed staffing language that is comparable to language that is agreed to in all three other St. Joseph Health/CNA ratified contracts. We believe, due to the hospitals response of piling ‘take-aways’ on top of ‘take-aways’ in negotiations instead of for once engaging in actual Good Faith Bargaining is their plan to make a precedence to take away all these things, benefits and pay, from all hospital’s union and non. They have done every one of us wrong by not negotiating at all. Q3: Will a strike impact patients? A: We are doing everything necessary to ensure patients are not impacted by this strike. That is why we have contracted with an agency to support patient care. Please be assured our patients and their families can count on the same high quality and safe patient care they have come to expect from the Queen. Our patients will be ok, and in the event there is an emergent situation, the union will have assembled a Patient Care Taskforce ready to be called upon if the hospital needs the assistance of our own DEDICATED professional nurses. The team is comprised of a variety of nurses of a wide skill set to match all the what ifs during a strike. Q4: Why haven’t we reached agreement with the CNA union? A: Negotiations began on September 10, 2013 – just 10 months ago – and to date we have reached tentative agreements on 28 articles. We have also presented a comprehensive compensation proposal that is market competitive and a benefits proposal that is consistent with the new benefits offered to all our employees. The CNA has rejected these proposals. The remainder of the contract, financial and non financial is currently in the hands of the Hospital, not the nurses. Instead of coming back to the table in GOOD FAITH and negotiating, the hospital piled a new SET of take-aways in addition to NOT negotiating in good faith. In addition to said take-aways, the hospital went a step further in insult by proposing a take-away from our PTO benefits, something they proposed earlier to leave alone at its current state. This is also known as aggressive bargaining. …perhaps to aggravate a strike. We continue to bargain in good faith and want to reach an agreement. We are committed to a fair contract for our nurses. Fairness would be to have equality in contracts existing at Petaluma Valley Hospital and Santa Rosa Memorial, the most immediate St. Joseph’s owned hospitals. They have a perverted definition of Good Faith or Fairness, as they have proposed inconsistent and inferior language into our contract and refuse to acknowledge the fact that the other St. Joe’s facilities are honored with substantially higher pay and benefits while the QUEEN stands under constant attack. Q5: What, specifically, is the hospital offering nurses? A: The hospital’s recent offers included: * Wage scale that preserves nurses’ wage structure in the top 75th percentile of their peer market. We are the lowest paid of the three SF Bay Area hospitals that St. Joseph Health owns, Petaluma chiming in at as much as %10 more per hour than QVMC. * Transparent step scale with movement based on years of experience: The hospital did wonderful work drafting up a beautiful wage scale that only included advances of pay peaking at %1.5 a year, not even enough to cover cost of living expenses, our insane increase in health benefit employee contribution, or our most recent cuts in PTO, Disability Reserve, and Retiree benefits! * Same benefits as other non-represented hourly QVMC employees: A very general statement describing a very detailed ‘raping’ of our benefits that we have accrued over many years of dedicated service * Staffing language comparable to language agreed to in all three other St. Joseph Health/CNA ratified contracts: A very bold lie if they are trying to refer to the conflicting wording in the Benefits and Retirement articles. …Have them produce these contracts they speak of, because our Union Reps will be glad to show you PVH’s and Eureka’s contracts which contain no wording as such. Again, the CNA has rejected our proposals, and is demanding more than what other hospital employees receive. A lie as well, as we have emphasized that we wish EQUALITY and Fairness consistent with the other St. Joseph’s hospitals. They refuse to even engage in such a conversation. Q6: How will I get to work during the strike? A: Information regarding logistics during the strike, including parking, entering and exiting the hospital, and more will be provided to you on Wednesday, August 13. Please rest assured we will provide a safe and secure workplace for all employees. Q7: Will RNs be “locked out” from work during the strike? A: No. Under the law, nurses are free to cross a picket line and come to work. Nurses who choose to strike are choosing to not come to work. There is NO LAW requiring the hospital to illicit contract work for the duration they describe, nor is there a law requiring them to lock nurses out. That part is all them. Q8: What pay will RNs who choose to come to work receive? A: Nurses who come to work during the strike and four-day replacement period will receive the same pay and benefits as they normally do. And the contract workers will be making a ton more. If there are any questions regarding that, google Alta Bates Scab Pay to see how much they got paid last year during their strike. Q9: Will striking RNs demonstrate in front of the hospital on the day of the strike only, or will they continue to demonstrate on the four subsequent days? A: Striking nurses have the right to demonstrate in legally permissible areas during the 24-hour strike and the subsequent four-day replacement period. Q10: Can RNs who choose to participate in the strike stay on hospital property and be inside the hospital once the strike begins? A: Pursuant to the hospital’s Solicitation and Distribution policy, employees who are not on duty should not be inside hospital buildings unless they are seeking medical attention or visiting a friend/loved one who is a patient in the hospital. Please refer to the policy for additional information.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 20:27:30 +0000
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