SHARE Updates: Upcoming Raises & The Benefits of Unions

First, a correction: we provided an incorrect email address in the last update. To contact SHARE, including to request a copy of the new contract if you’re unable to make it to a contract distribution event, please email us at share.comment@theshareunion.org.

You can also call and leave a message with the SHARE office: 508-929-4020. We apologize for any inconvenience from the mistake.

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October Raises

The next raise is coming soon! The raise will be effective 10/1/23, and reflected in the first paycheck after that date.

Your raise will be 5% of your current pay, or $1.25 per hour, whichever amount is larger.

For more information about the structure of the raise, and how to calculate your own, check out this page about raises.

Many more of the most common questions are answered in this FAQ from the last contract negotiations, including:

• How was the raise amount decided?

• How does the raise compare?

• What if I believe my pay is still too low?

• Do health insurance and union dues increases eat up my raise?

• and more . . .

Have more questions? Contact your area SHARE Rep or a SHARE Organizer!

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Treasury Department Releases First-Of-Its-Kind Report on Benefits of Unions to the U.S. Economy

The U.S. Treasury Department recently released its most comprehensive ever look at the role that labor unions play in the American economy with a new report.

Turns out, many of the benefits of unionization that we experience right here in SHARE are having the same effects nationwide. Key findings of the report include:

• Unions raise the wages of their members by 10 to 15 percent. Unions also improve fringe benefits and workplace procedures such as retirement plans, workplace grievance policies, and predictable scheduling.

• Unionization also has spillover effects that extend well beyond union workers.

• The diverse demographics of modern union membership mean that the benefits of any policy that strengthens today’s unions would be felt across the population.

• Finally, in addition to supporting the middle class, unions contribute to economic growth and resilience. And unions can boost businesses’ productivity by improving working environments and by giving experienced workers more of an input into decisions that design better and more cost-effective workplace procedures. 

For more, read the full press release.

Raise Retro Payment Corrections Update

As we noted last week, SHARE confirmed with Compensation that there were mistakes with the initial retro checks. Here’s a breakdown from the Payroll department of what has already been paid correctly, and what remains to be paid out in this week’s check:

If you get on-call pay, you should see retro this week to complete your on-call retro payment. In the end, the total retro should total the amount of your raise multiplied by the number of hours you worked between 10/30/22 and 11/26/22. The raise was included in your paycheck of December 8th, which includes the work week of November 27th through December 3rd. You should get retro in the amount of your raise for all hours paid in that period. (An exception may be for recent newly hired SHARE members who started after 10/30 and were hired at the new rate.)

Retro Payments Incorrect

Many SHARE members noticed that their retro amounts didn’t look correct when they showed up this week. SHARE has confirmed with Compensation that there are mistakes – mostly SHARE members not getting the full amount they should have gotten. (Not all SHARE members will get an additional difference, particularly if they work no overtime.) Payroll is hoping to get it corrected in next week’s paycheck.

The retro should be the amount of your raise multiplied by the number of hours you worked between 10/30/22 and 11/26/22. The raise was included in your paycheck of December 8th, which includes the work week of November 27th through December 3rd. You should get retro in the amount of your raise for all hours paid in that period. (An exception may be for recent newly hired SHARE members who started after 10/30 and were hired at the new rate.)

How Do I Find My 2021 Raise?

SHARE members will soon receive the final of the four raises negotiated under our current contract. The Year 4 raises (effective 9/26/21) will work out to roughly 3%, or better, for each member through one of two scenarios, whichever is greater:

• A 2.95% raise (This is made up of two parts: a 1% Across-the-Board raise (“ATB”), PLUS platform movement of 1.93%, which together compound to equal 2.95%.)

— or —

• a $0.60/hour minimum raise. 

Read on for more detail about the raise, which includes tools to help you calculate your own.

SHARE members have made consistent financial progress — including raises every year — during the more than twenty years of our union’s existence. With each contract, SHARE aims to provide consistent, predictable raises, and we expect the negotiating team will seek to maintain that standard when SHARE and UMass Memorial re-enter contract negotiations next year.

Don’t forget! Raise time can be a great time to set aside more money in your 401(k), and get even more benefit from the employer’s match. If you have questions, or would like help calculating your raise, please call or email the SHARE office.

WHAT ARE PAY GRIDS?

Our employer uses a common form of pay structure to arrange the hourly pay rates for SHARE members. The pay grid sets a minimum and maximum hourly rate, otherwise known as a “min” and a “max,” for employees in all SHARE job classifications.

Over the years, SHARE and UMass Memorial have worked to make the pay grids transparent and predictable. The pay grid is designed as a series of “platforms.” These platforms are intended to recognize a person’s work experience in the field, and to help her make financial progress as she grows in her job. In our contract agreements, we have agreed to ensure that each SHARE member makes no less than what’s deemed appropriate for her years of experience.

WHAT ARE THE TWO PARTS OF THE RAISE?

The SHARE raise includes two components:

• the “Across-the-Board” (or ATB), and

• the “Platform Movement”

The ATB is provided to all SHARE members; it’s the part of the raise that’s designed to keep employees from losing ground against inflation and the market. The Platform Movement is designed to recognize service to our hospital, and to allow SHARE members to make consistent financial progress.

If you’re working to understand your raise by looking at the pay grid, you can see the ATB raise by moving across a platform from your current pay. To see the additional Platform movement, you would then move down a platform. (See “How to Calculate My Raise,” above.)

Click the button at the top of the page — or this image — to view, download, or print the full worksheet to calculate your raise.

The button below links to the pay rate grids for all SHARE positions

WHAT IS THE “FLOOR” DESCRIBED IN THE RAISE?

Most SHARE members would be happy with a one percent raise . . . if their base pay was a million dollars per year. When raises are set as a percentage of base pay, it disadvantages the person who makes a lower hourly rate. To offset this, we’ve made an agreement that the smallest raise that a SHARE member can get is 60 cents per hour. For some SHARE members, 60 cents equated to a 4.5% raise.

HOW DO I KNOW IF MY RAISE IS 2.95% OR IF IT’S THE $.60/HOUR FLAT RATE?

It’s whichever number is bigger for you, based on your current pay rate.

WHAT IS “MAX?”

If you’ve worked in a SHARE job for very many years, you may know that the SHARE union and our employer have had different beliefs about members’ “maximum” pay amount. In our 2016 Contract, we negotiated a new kind of compromise about the Max, one that has been more satisfying among seasoned SHARE members. We’ll describe more about that in the following answers. Now, the Max applies only to new-hires to SHARE; it’s the highest amount a new member can be paid, regardless of their prior experience.

WHAT IS THE “MAX CAP?”

In our 2016 Contract, we reached an agreement with management that changed how Max would be handled. We both agreed that SHARE members could have the full raise applied to their base, even if they were beyond the Max. We made a new compromise, which set a new, higher limit on the amount that a member could make in her hourly rate. This new limit is called the “Max Cap.”

As SHARE’s agreement with the hospital describes: “The max cap is a hard stop.” It’s the highest amount that an employee can make in her base rate. Of course, from SHARE’s perspective, the amount of the Max Cap will need to increase. We will negotiate future increases to the Max Cap with the hospital.

WHAT IS THE “LONGEVITY ZONE?”

Although this term is not in our contract, it is how we in SHARE refer to the difference between the Max and the Max Cap. There are no pay platforms between Max and the Max Cap. No employees are hired or slotted above the Max. However, SHARE members whose raises fall into this range have their entire raise applied to their base pay rate.

WHY IS THERE A MAX?

Typically in this kind of structure, once an employee reaches the top of her grade, she’s ineligible to get an increase to her base rate beyond usual standard-of-living increases. There’s a limit to how much an employer will have to pay each hourly employee. This obviously helps employers project and cap their labor costs over time, and frustrates employees. The “max” implies that, at some point, the skills and experience that an employee brings to work reach a limit.

WHAT DOES SHARE THINK ABOUT MAX?

SHARE maintains that there’s ongoing, continuous value to the experience each member brings to our hospital. We believe that an employee’s value to our hospital grows over time. The longer a person works in our hospital, the more relationships they can develop, and the more institutional memory they carry. There’s no limit to that. So why would that not be reflected in ongoing raises?

HOW DID “MAX” WORK BEFORE?

Before we invented the Max Cap (i.e. when there was only a max), employees at the Max would receive the negotiated ATB increase to the max hourly rate. The remaining amount of any negotiated increase (i.e. platform movement) was paid out as a bonus. Although the money didn’t all go into the member’s base pay and compound over time, they did receive the raise. It was the best compromise we could reach at the time.

When a member was approaching the max (i.e. their ATB and/or platform increase would result in their pay rate surpassing the max), their pay rate stopped at the max and any remaining increase was paid in a lump sum.

HOW DOES THE MAX CAP WORK?

The arrangement we previously made regarding Max now applies to the Max Cap.

• When a member is already at the max cap at the time of any ATB and/or platform increase, their pay rate shall increase only to the extent that the max cap itself increases; any increase beyond the max cap will be paid in a lump sum.

• When a member is approaching the max cap (i.e. their ATB and/or platform increase would result in their pay rate surpassing the max cap), their pay rate will stop.

SHARE Blog Digest: 2020 Raises, Participating in SHARE, and More

2020 Raise

SHARE members are now receiving the third (of four) raises in our current contract. Year 3 (effective 9/27/20) equals 1% Across-the-Board raise (“ATB”), PLUS platform movement of 1.93%, OR a $0.60/hour minimum raise, whichever is greater. Read this post for more detail about the raise, which includes tools to help you calculate your own.

Get Active with SHARE

Although SHARE Elections have been postponed until Spring of 2021 due to COVID, SHARE encourages you to get involved . . . to help our union keep moving forward and making a difference. Read more in this update about our union’s elected leaders and other SHARE roles.

Kona Enders, SHARE’s First Frontline Leader Fellow

This month we welcomed our first SHARE Frontline Leader Fellow, Kona Enders. This is a new program designed to provide SHARE leaders with an opportunity to learn more about SHARE’s approach to organizing people and solving problems.  Kona has worked as a PCA on 3 West at the University campus for seventeen years, where she has long been recognized as a strong advocate for her patients and coworkers.  Learn more about Kona and the Fellowship.

ICYMI: UMass Memorial Surge Preparations in the News

In case you missed it, the Telegram & Gazette recently reported on the ways that UMass Memorial is preparing for a potential combined-surge of Flu and COVID patients in the coming weeks, especially its efforts to stockpile PPE.

Register to Vote!

There’s still time to register to vote in the November 3rd election. If you live in Massachusetts, you can register on-line (if you have a MA driver’s license) or by mail. The deadline is October 24th.

For info about how to vote in other states, click here.

The SHARE Union urges members to vote. To see our parent union AFSCME’s perspective on the upcoming election, click here.

How Do I Find My Raise?

SHARE members are now receiving the third (of four) raises in our current contract. Year 3 (effective 9/27/20) equals 1% Across-the-Board raise (“ATB”), PLUS platform movement of 1.93%, OR a $0.60/hour minimum raise, whichever is greater. Read on for more detail about the raise, which includes tools to help you calculate your own.

WHAT ARE PAY GRIDS?

Our employer uses a common form of pay structure to arrange the hourly pay rates for SHARE members. The pay grid sets a minimum and maximum hourly rate, otherwise known as a “min” and a “max,” for employees in all SHARE job classifications.

Over the years, SHARE and UMass Memorial have worked to make the pay grids transparent and predictable. The pay grid is designed as a series of “platforms.” These platforms are intended to recognize a person’s work experience in the field, and to help her make financial progress as she grows in her job. In our contract agreements, we have agreed to ensure that each SHARE member makes no less than what’s deemed appropriate for her years of experience.

WHAT ARE THE TWO PARTS OF THE RAISE?

The SHARE raise includes two components:

• the “Across-the-Board” (or ATB), and

• the “Platform Movement”

The ATB is provided to all SHARE members; it’s the part of the raise that’s designed to keep employees from losing ground against inflation and the market. The Platform Movement is designed to recognize service to our hospital, and to allow SHARE members to make consistent financial progress.

If you’re working to understand your raise by looking at the pay grid, you can see the ATB raise by moving across a platform from your current pay. To see the additional Platform movement, you would then move down a platform. (See “How to Calculate My Raise,” above.)

Click the button at the top of the page — or this image — to view, download, or print the full worksheet to calculate your raise.

The button below links to the pay rate grids for all SHARE positions

WHAT IS THE “FLOOR” DESCRIBED IN THE RAISE?

Most SHARE members would be happy with a one percent raise . . . if their base pay was a million dollars per year. When raises are set as a percentage of base pay, it disadvantages the person who makes a lower hourly rate. To offset this, we’ve made an agreement that the smallest raise that a SHARE member can get is 60 cents per hour. For some SHARE members, 60 cents equated to a 4.5% raise.

HOW DO I KNOW IF MY RAISE IS 2.95% OR IF IT’S THE $.60/HOUR FLAT RATE?

It’s whichever number is bigger for you, based on your current pay rate.

WHAT IS “MAX?”

If you’ve worked in a SHARE job for very many years, you may know that the SHARE union and our employer have had different beliefs about members’ “maximum” pay amount. In our 2016 Contract, we negotiated a new kind of compromise about the Max, one that has been more satisfying among seasoned SHARE members. We’ll describe more about that in the following answers. Now, the Max applies only to new-hires to SHARE; it’s the highest amount a new member can be paid, regardless of their prior experience.

WHAT IS THE “MAX CAP?”

In our 2016 Contract, we reached an agreement with management that changed how Max would be handled. We both agreed that SHARE members could have the full raise applied to their base, even if they were beyond the Max. We made a new compromise, which set a new, higher limit on the amount that a member could make in her hourly rate. This new limit is called the “Max Cap.”

As SHARE’s agreement with the hospital describes: “The max cap is a hard stop.” It’s the highest amount that an employee can make in her base rate. Of course, from SHARE’s perspective, the amount of the Max Cap will need to increase. We will negotiate future increases to the Max Cap with the hospital.

WHAT IS THE “LONGEVITY ZONE?”

Although this term is not in our contract, it is how we in SHARE refer to the difference between the Max and the Max Cap. There are no pay platforms between Max and the Max Cap. No employees are hired or slotted above the Max. However, SHARE members whose raises fall into this range have their entire raise applied to their base pay rate.

WHY IS THERE A MAX?

Typically in this kind of structure, once an employee reaches the top of her grade, she’s ineligible to get an increase to her base rate beyond usual standard-of-living increases. There’s a limit to how much an employer will have to pay each hourly employee. This obviously helps employers project and cap their labor costs over time, and frustrates employees. The “max” implies that, at some point, the skills and experience that an employee brings to work reach a limit.

WHAT DOES SHARE THINK ABOUT MAX?

SHARE maintains that there’s ongoing, continuous value to the experience each member brings to our hospital. We believe that an employee’s value to our hospital grows over time. The longer a person works in our hospital, the more relationships they can develop, and the more institutional memory they carry. There’s no limit to that. So why would that not be reflected in ongoing raises?

HOW DID “MAX” WORK BEFORE?

Before we invented the Max Cap (i.e. when there was only a max), employees at the Max would receive the negotiated ATB increase to the max hourly rate. The remaining amount of any negotiated increase (i.e. platform movement) was paid out as a bonus. Although the money didn’t all go into the member’s base pay and compound over time, they did receive the raise. It was the best compromise we could reach at the time.

When a member was approaching the max (i.e. their ATB and/or platform increase would result in their pay rate surpassing the max), their pay rate stopped at the max and any remaining increase was paid in a lump sum.

HOW DOES THE MAX CAP WORK?

The arrangement we previously made regarding Max now applies to the Max Cap.

• When a member is already at the max cap at the time of any ATB and/or platform increase, their pay rate shall increase only to the extent that the max cap itself increases; any increase beyond the max cap will be paid in a lump sum.

• When a member is approaching the max cap (i.e. their ATB and/or platform increase would result in their pay rate surpassing the max cap), their pay rate will stop

Don’t forget! Raise time can be a great time to set aside more money in your 401(k), and get even more benefit from the employer’s match. If you have questions, or would like help calculating your raise, please call or email the SHARE office.