Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King weekend is here. Although that involves holiday pay and even a three-day weekend for some SHARE members, we also want to thank those SHARE members who will be working, as always, helping patients and our hospital.
Dr. King was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers who sought unionization when he was assassinated.
SHARE has many reasons to honor Dr. King and his legacy, including because of his deep commitment to unions. "The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress," King said.
Because MLK day is not recognized at Marlborough Hospital, SHARE members there will all be working as usual; the SHARE negotiating team is currently pushing for the holiday to be recognized in its upcoming contract agreement.
KRONOS
SHARE continues to work with UMass Memorial and the Attorney General’s office to fix the Kronos mess. The hospital says they are moving as fast as possible to get this fixed.
SHARE will work to make sure SHARE members get their pay fixed accurately.
SHARE will make sure SHARE members who have been overpaid can set up a repayment plan that works for them.
SHARE is escalating situations where SHARE members got no paycheck to get them paid.
SHARE is proposing to the hospital to give a pay “advance” to anyone who needs it – a cash loan for people who need to pay their bills now.
In our last blog post about Kronos and Payroll, we included a link to outdated information about the hospital’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which now administers the EASE fund for financial relief in hard times. We’re sorry for any confusion or frustration this may have caused you. UMass Memorial’s EAP is now run by an outside company, Optum. This is the correct contact information to reach them:
By telephone: 866-263-3525 (This is the best way to reach EAP)
Online: www.LiveandWorkWell.com, Company Code: umassmemorial
Mobile device: Visit the above website for instructions on downloading the app
Another COVID Surge: Volunteering to Help and Possible Redeployment of SHARE Members
As the hospital cancels outpatient procedures and adds surge spaces for COVID beds, they may need staff to help in different areas.
Volunteering for Extra Time and Over-Time: SHARE members who want to pick up time where they are needed can email laborpoolnonproviders@umassmemorial.org. (Include your name, job title, department, campus location, personal phone number, work email, and what days/times that you would be available to work beyond your current schedule.)
The more people who volunteer, the fewer people will potentially need to be deployed involuntarily. SHARE and UMass Memorial will continue to discuss possible redeployment as plans become more clear. For reference, you can see the agreement we made for the last surge.
In the News: Federal Student Loan Relief
In case you missed it, the federal government has extended the Federal Student Loan Payment pause until after May 1 of this year. Our parent union, AFSCME, has been fighting for this, and it’s a great help for many Americans during the pandemic. AFSCME also provides help to individual union members with student debt. We’ve reprinted this letter from AFSCME to our blog describing the opportunities for those who have student loan debt.
AFSCME Free College Benefit
Of course, one great way to avoid student loans is to avoid having to pay for college altogether. Thanks to the AFSCME Free College Benefit, union members and their families can earn a variety of online degrees at no cost. Many SHARE members have already benefitted from this program, which continues to add more degree programs and affiliated educational institutions. For details and the latest offerings, visit the AFSCME Free College Benefit website.
