SHARE Rep & Executive Board Elections — Contested in Region C
The SHARE Rep and Executive Board nominations period has closed, and we are excited to see so many members actively engaged to keep our union running strong. There were sufficient openings for all of the nominated SHARE Rep candidates, and most of the open EBoard positions were uncontested. There is one contested election in University Technical & Diagnostic Region C. Eligible voters are being sent a link to vote from ElectionBuddy at their work email address and cell phone number that SHARE has on file. ElectionBuddy, a virtual voting platform, is compliant with Department of Labor standards for union elections. To learn more about this election, including whether you are in a department which is eligible to vote, read more here. We will post a full list of 2022 SHARE EBoard and Reps after August 9 when the election is finalized.
SHARE 2022 Signature Poster
As always, SHARE members are coming together this negotiations in support of our negotiating team and shared interests. One way we’re doing this is through our 2022 Signature Poster. You can find examples of posters from past negotiations in departments throughout UMass Memorial, with thousands of signatures and photos of SHARE members standing together. Our 2022 statement addresses the difficulties we’ve worked through and continue to face: working through Covid, working in short-staffed areas, and working while financially stressed. We’re calling on our hospital to agree to raises that will make it smart and sustainable to stay in our jobs at UMass Memorial, and to recruit and retain co-workers to help us keep our hospital running strong. Read the full statement, and learn how you can sign on, here.
Final SHARE Survey Report
SHARE members completed over 4000 surveys on 4 different subjects earlier this year to help steer the SHARE Negotiating Team’s priorities in our current contract talks. SHARE prepared this comprehensive multi-page Survey Report which served as the core of our opening statement in negotiations with management.
This is only the first page of the full report . . . to read the rest, click the red button below
Contract Negotiations
The central SHARE and UMass Memorial negotiating teams continue to work toward our next Contract Bargaining Agreement. Here are some highlights:
Given the primacy and urgency of wages in these negotiations, SHARE and UMass Memorial have taken an unconventional approach, agreeing to begin discussing raise-related issues early in our talks.
SHARE presented to management about the needs of SHARE members when it comes to wages, pulling together data about the spikes in living costs, informed predictions about things to come, and stories about hardships currently faced by SHARE members.
Management described concerns about absenteeism in the context of the hospital’s staffing shortage.
Delegates from both negotiating teams met together with leaders from the Patient and Family Advisory Councils (PFACs) to discuss how to better involve patients’ interests directly in our negotiation process. Although the PFAC will not be bargaining, we do want to recognize where their interests align with those of SHARE members and our hospital.
The next proposed negotiation subject will be a presentation by hospital management about UMass Memorial’s finances.
Equity Seed Program Now Accepting Applications
The Health Equity & Inclusion Seed Program is currently accepting grant applications from departments with ideas for projects that use “cutting-edge approaches to generate new findings and resources to eliminate health disparities.” Learn more about this program, including how your department can apply for funding. Grants are already being distributed.
AFSCME Free College Program Discontinued
The SHARE office has received the unhappy news that the US Department of Education now disallows educational programs such as the ones offered through the AFSCME Free College and UnionPlus benefits. Many SHARE members have benefitted from these programs over the past several years. It appears that currently-enrolled students can continue in their programs. Read more here.