This week, the Employer offered their first round of counter proposals on economics. Overall, the Employer’s proposals would negatively impact both PECSH-MNA members and our families.
The Employer maintained several of its initial proposals, including but not limited to:
Increasing the hourly requirement to 48hrs/pp for benefit-eligible employees,
Requiring a seven-day elimination period for salaried caregivers when off with personal illness or injury without increasing their PTO accrual,
Ending overtime until over 40hrs reached in a work week,
Freezing of the staffing fine and front-loading an account each year to be used for recruitment instead of accepting PECSH-MNA’s proposal of giving it straight back to the members who worked short,
Blending of several workgroups to fit their ability to form new units without involving input from frontline caregivers and their representatives, and,
Blending of the med-surg/intermediate adult staffing grids, overall decreasing the number of nurses needed each shift to safely care for patients.
Though they moved a little bit on differentials, the Employer made no movement on wages where they are only offering 1% increases each year. This is significantly less than cost of living increases. They also did not move from their position on healthcare. They must do better.
Nurses and healthcare professionals see other employers all over the state thanking their caregivers with large bonuses and wage increases in an attempt to retain the talent they already employ. Sparrow executives have yet to offer anything comparable. It’s becoming increasingly clear that the Employer has no interest in retaining its workforce – the very frontline professionals who have given everything to our communities during the biggest pandemic of our lifetimes.
It’s time for Sparrow to STEP UP just like PECSH-MNA nurses and healthcare have continued to do since the pandemic hit.
PECSH-MNA provided to the Employer counter proposals on:
Article 10 – Employee Status – proposing the addition of a second level of Per Diem status, with a differential, with a scheduling requirement that met the Employer’s ask
Article 16 – Attendance & Punctuality – maintaining most of the current contract language but offering a slight increasing in the clearing period of a discipline with the agreement of removing the “failure to clock out” language from our existing tardy language
Article 26 – Health & Safety – maintaining our proposal for increased environmental safety language, safety equipment including appropriate PPE and the establishment of an official Workplace Violence Committee that gives back a voice to our members in the way the Employer addresses violence against those directly affected.
Stay tuned for more updates as we figure out together how to respond to the employer’s increasingly alarming approach.