Resources to Help SHARE Members Handle Hard Times

As you work the front lines, you are, as always, helping in invaluable ways to keep our community healthy and strong. Your commitment to what you do is as meaningful as ever. Thank you. 

However, each of us is also facing new personal hardships. Below is a current roundup of resources that may help you and your family now.  

Unemployment Resources 

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Massachusetts has expanded Unemployment Insurance Benefits. These benefits now extend to workers who have been isolated and quarantined, those who must be home to care for children as a result of school and daycare closures, and who must stop work due to “reasonable risk of exposure.”   

• Mass.gov: The official unemployment site for Massachusetts states “You should apply for unemployment benefits during your first week of total or partial unemployment. Most claims are processed within 21-28 days after filing. It may take longer if there is an issue with your claim.” 

• Changes to Unemployment Insurance, explained.   

• How to apply: UFCW Local Union 328 has developed this handy step-by-step guide. 

Federal Stimulus Checks 

Last week, the Federal Government passed historic legislation to provide economic relief in response to COVID-19. Some key provisions of this 2 trillion dollar aid package developed are designed to help small- to mid-sized businesses, and don’t apply to UMass Memorial. However, stimulus checks are being delivered directly to qualified US residents and Americans living abroad. Here’s some things to know.  

• The New York Times provides this FAQ about the Coronavirus Stimulus Checks, Unemployment, and the National Coronavirus Plan 

• You can estimate the amount of your own check using this Stimulus Check Calculator from the Washington Post. 

More Ways to Find Help  

As a SHARE union member, you’re linked to a broad network of resources. Our grassroots union at UMass Memorial Hospital, SHARE, is AFSCME Local #3900, a member organization of the AFL-CIO.  

• AFL-CIO COVID-19 resources 

• AFSCME COVID-19 resources 

• Hardship help is also available to union members at unionplus.org. This includes legal help, mortgage assistance, a medical bill negotiating assistance, and more. 

• Community Health, developed in partnership with UMass Memorial, provides a searchable database of food delivery, job training, and other services centered in Central Massachusetts.  

• Helpsteps also connects individuals to local health and human resources to alleviate disparities in health and social well-being in Massachusetts communities. Although the program was developed to provide resources to the greater Boston area, it has expanded to provide links to services throughout the state through Mass 211, including financial assistance, legal aid, food, mental health, addiction, education, elder care, and more.  

you can Help your union to Help Others

We’ll continue to round up links to services that could potentially aid you and your family. Sharing information helps keep our union strong. If you learn something useful from your experience with any of these services that we can help pass along to other members, please tell your area SHARE organizer, or give us a call (508-929-4020) and tell us your story.

Keeping Up-To-Date 

 The SHARE staff is working to keep up with news and information as it becomes available. For the latest, please see the news feed on the SHARE homepage, or follow the official @sharehospitalu1 and SHARE Organizer @sharekirk on Twitter.

UMass Memorial Labor Pool & Redeployment: A Message for SHARE Members

Dear SHARE member,

UMass Memorial leadership has just announced that all employees who do not currently have enough work to do in their own job during this crisis will be part of a “Labor Pool”, or float pool. The hospital wants to keep people on the payroll and available to be floated to where they are needed in this COVID-19 crisis, now and in the future. SHARE leaders have been talking with management about how this should work. We are advocating for fairness, transparency and employee choice.

SHARE will continue to communicate the concerns we are hearing from SHARE members to senior management, discuss concerns and problems together, and troubleshoot issues as they come up, large and small. We are acting as back-up for members who have issues that they can’t resolve through their manager, the Command Center or Employee Health. We are collecting questions and issues for management about this new plan, so please let us know what you are thinking.

There’s more: Link here for answers to questions about the Labor Pool & Redeployment,

What We Know So Far

The University campus recently got decorated with these messages, and we couldn’t agree more.

Staying Connected

It's as important as ever for our union to remain well connected. We'd really appreciate your help making sure that these messages are getting through to as many SHARE members as possible. Sometimes, we have incorrect email addresses -- if anyone you know isn't getting our emails, please send us their correct email address or have them contact us at SHARE.comment@theshareunion.org. Thank you.

sincerely,

The SHARE Organizing Staff

508-929-4020

Labor Pool & Redeployment Q&A

SHARE Questions and Answers

About the Labor Pool & Redeployment

What We Know So Far

Overview: What does the Labor Pool plan for SHARE members?

• Managers are submitting names of staff to the Labor Pool when work in their department is suspended or volume is reduced.

• SHARE members in the Labor Pool may be floated to help with the COVID emergency, in some way that fits your training.

• If you are in the Labor Pool, but the hospital does not need you to float right now, you stay home and get “admin” pay. You will not have to use your own time.

• HR Business Partners plan to contact each individual SHARE member whose name was put into the Labor Pool.

• It is possible to opt out of the Labor Pool. If you do so, you need to use your own paid time off to get paid. Or you could apply for unemployment.

• This plan will be in place until at least May 2nd.

What’s the Good News? Financial Security, Some Stability, and a Plan

• We are glad that UMass Memorial is announcing a plan that will allow all employees to be paid, even if there isn’t enough work in their departments. Before this decision, some SHARE members were told that they would have to use their own time if they did not have enough work. SHARE has been advocating for all SHARE members to be paid if they are willing to work, even if their normal work is going away.

• Having a plan through May 2nd gives everyone some stability. With many things changing every day, it is good to have this level of certainty.

• UMass Memorial is trying to be prepared for whatever comes with this COVID pandemic, such as the possibility of a “field hospital” at the DCU Center. Some other hospitals have done furloughs or layoffs. UMass Memorial is choosing to pay everyone even if there is no work for them right now, so that as many people as possible are available if needed down the road, and so that employees have a stable income.

Who Goes into the Labor Pool?

Department managers were asked how many people they need for the current levels of work. They were asked to give names of who is available for the Labor Pool. SHARE has recommendations about how this should work, but we don’t know how most managers made decisions.

SHARE has been advocating with management for:

• Transparency, so SHARE members understand how it was decided.

• Standards and guidelines, to avoid the appearance of favoritism.

• Choice for SHARE members, wherever possible.

SHARE’s recommended practice for deciding who goes into the Labor Pool:

1. The manager should decide how many people they need to keep in the work area. This could take into account how many of each role, any specific skills needed, and shifts that need to be covered. This information should be shared with the SHARE members, so it’s clear.

2. Ask for volunteers to go into the Labor Pool. If there are too many volunteers for the available slots in the Labor Pool, the most senior should be chosen first.

3. If more people are needed for the Labor Pool, it should go by reverse seniority, least-senior first.

How is the Labor Pool going to work?

Here’s what we know so far:

• The COVID situation is constantly changing, and plans to respond will continue to evolve.

• It’s in everyone’s interest for SHARE members to be assigned work that they feel competent and confident to do. Different SHARE members in the float pool will be qualified for different roles.

• A Human Resources Business Partner is supposed to contact each staff member whose name was put into the Labor Pool. They will discuss any department-specific processes and address any concerns.

• The Command Center is keeping a list of work they need help with. Needs have included helping with fit-testing masks, handing out masks, working in the testing tent, screening visitors, PCAs working to support co-workers on the inpatient floors, patient observers, staffing the supply donation center, etc.

• At the moment, some of these needs are short term, like a day, and some are longer term. SHARE believes that people may move in and out of Labor Pool assignments, and some staying at home, as this crisis progresses. The other possibility departments may want to consider is rotating who goes to work and who is assigned to the Labor Pool.
  

What if I’m assigned to the Labor Pool, but not given work?

This will probably be true for many SHARE members for now, especially those who do not give direct patient care. You stay at home, until you are contacted about an assignment. UMass Memorial is guaranteeing pay for people in the Labor Pool, whether or not there is work you are asked to do, at least until May 2nd.

Under the current plan, will my pay and benefits and budgeted hours stay the same if I am in the Labor Pool?

Yes.

What if I don’t want to be in the Labor Pool?

If you are not needed in your usual job and you want to opt out of the Labor Pool, you can use your earned time, or you can apply for unemployment. (Massachusetts came out with new guidelines to use unemployment when you still have a job but temporarily have no work because of the Coronavirus. SHARE will post more info soon about unemployment.)

SHARE has been advocating that floating should be voluntary. Of course, SHARE members who float will make crucial contributions to taking care of patients during this pandemic. The hospital’s view is that this is an emergency, and they need all hands on deck to deal with it. That’s why they will pay people in the Labor Pool, but those who opt out will have to use their own time.

If you have individual concerns about being floated, tell your manager, and talk with the HR Business Partner when they call you.

What if…..?

Individual SHARE members will have all kinds of questions about this new plan and their situations. SHARE suggests talking with your manager first. If the issue isn’t resolved, or you want help thinking it through, reach out to your local SHARE rep, or reach out to your SHARE Organizer. We want to help make this work for both the hospital and for individual SHARE members.

What’s going to happen in the future?

Like everyone in the hospital community, SHARE is working hard to prepare for changes that may come for SHARE members. None of us knows exactly what new challenges may arise. UMass Memorial is making decisions about how to prepare for a surge in COVID patients, with whatever information they have today. Changes are implemented on a daily basis, which can be incredibly frustrating for staff. Thankfully, SHARE has observed that UMass Memorial is doing a better job of communicating and informing staff than some other hospitals we have heard about, but there are still moments of miscommunication.

Going Forward

SHARE is working to communicate the members’ concerns we are hearing to senior management, and to act as back-up for members who have issues that can’t be resolved through their manager, the Command Center, or Employee Health. We are collecting questions and issues for management about this new plan, so please let us know what you are thinking.

Our hospitals play an essential role in our community, and our hospitals work because SHARE members do. Stories from SHARE members stepping up to help in so many different ways have been inspiring! Many are juggling complicated questions of how to take care of yourselves and your families, while helping the hospital as much as possible.

And, In Case You Missed It . . .

This email from hospital CEO Eric Dickson describes the current UMass Memorial plan . . .

Massachusetts Emergency Childcare Announcement

Massachusetts just announced that Emergency Childcare sites that will open Monday, March 23rd throughout the state, for frontline workers during the COVID-19 emergency. These programs are free to families and fully funded by the Commonwealth. Priority access will be given (but not limited) to healthcare workers, essential state workers, COVID-19 healthcare workers, grocery store employees, emergency response personnel, law enforcement, transportation and infrastructure workers, sanitation workers, DCF-involved families and families living in shelters. For more details and information please visit: https://eeclead.force.com/apex/EEC_ChildCareEmergencyParents

To view an approved emergency drop-in childcare provider near you and their hours of  operation, please visit the following directory: https://eeclead.force.com/resource/1584817665000/EEC_EmergencyProviderList. Parents will be responsible for reaching out to the programs directly.

Please let us know if you have any questions or if we can assist you finding more information.

COVID-19: A Message for SHARE Members

Dear SHARE member,

We’ve been inspired by the things we’ve heard from you about taking care of patients and our community during this critical time. Situations often arise in our hospital that call for genuine heroism from SHARE members, but never so widely as now. The last week has been a scary and disorienting one for all of us – a time when not only taking care of a sick patient but riding an elevator or shuttle with coworkers feels like a risk we’d rather not take. Thank you all for your brave dedication to our community.

Questions and Concerns about Corona Virus/COVID-19

Good communication is as important as ever. SHARE organizers have been in touch with many of you – we’ve been listening to your concerns or questions, trying to answer the straightforward ones or escalate the hard ones. You may not see us as much in the buildings over the next few weeks — the SHARE staff is dedicated to doing our part to curb the spread of the coronavirus — but please know that we are working, we’re with you, and we want to help. 

• If you have questions or concerns about safety protocol in your role, we suggest your start with your manager. You are our hospital and community’s most precious resource, and keeping you safe should be their highest priority. If you don’t get the information you need, please feel free to contact the command center – that’s what it’s there for.

• If you have questions about your personal health condition or if you think you may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, email Employee Health Services, or call them at 508-793-6400.

In either of these situations, if you have trouble getting the information or help you need, please contact us at SHARE and we will do our best to help. You can find contact information online for the SHARE Organizer in your area, or call the office at 508-929-4020 and leave a message.

The SHARE homepage also now features an ongoing roundup of online COVID-19 news and resources selected for SHARE members.

Work Assignments, Working from Home, Etc.

If you have concerns about where you are working, going home or getting paid, how to handle childcare, or any related questions, SHARE would like to hear from you. It helps us to know what everyone thinks. 

Although volumes are low in some areas, the work is simultaneously heavy in others: the need for extra hands in those areas is expected to increase in the coming weeks. Hospital leaders are working to make sure that employees are staffed where they can be most beneficial, in ways that are appropriate to their competency and confidence. SHARE believes that floating is best when it’s voluntary. It is everyone’s hope that volunteers will step up to fulfill most of these needs. 

We are in discussions with management about all these issues. It is all happening very quickly. We are doing our best to make sure that SHARE members have choices as things evolve to address this very serious pandemic.

Thank you to every SHARE member who is working now to keep our hospital running strong. We know that that means every single one of you.

Please take good care of yourselves,

The SHARE Organizing Staff

p.s., As our system goes through the process of creating capacity for a surge of patients by cancelling unnecessary appointments and procedures, some of you may find yourselves with a few spare minutes.  We urge you to spend five to ten minutes in the next few days taking the Caregiver Engagement Survey that Press Ganey is administering on behalf of UMass Memorial.  It is short, easy, completely confidential, and the results will help SHARE continue to refine its priorities as our hospital finds its way back to normalcy.

SHARE Blog Roundup, Including: a Correction about Dues, a Scholarship, UBTs, Engagement Surveys, and Super Tuesday

In case you missed it, the SHARE blog boasts new posts, featuring: 

Vascular Lab UBT Co-Lead partners Denise Kush (management) and Kim Latrobe (SHARE). Their UBT is changing how it feels to come to work, and has been recognized by the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety.

• the pioneering work of the Unit Based Team in the Vascular Lab at UMass Memorial, 

• a scholarship for parents of college-bound students, 

• an explanation of why taking the hospital’s Caregiver Survey is good for both our hospital and our union, and

• useful resources for voting in the presidential primary.

Please note also that the dues increases defined by SHARE’s parent Union, AFSCME, have just begun to be deducted from paychecks, seven weeks after they were originally intended to start. You can read details about how dues are set in the initial 2020 SHARE Dues blog post. Learn what we currently know about the timing change in this update.

The Presidential Primaries: What Are the Candidates Saying about Healthcare?

Making sense of what’s good for our hospital, our union, our community, and our country demands attention and thoughtfulness. SHARE doesn’t endorse political candidates. We do, however, encourage SHARE members to be informed. And to vote! 

There are a number of resources for beginning to understand the positions of the current presidential candidates on healthcare. Ballotpedia is collecting up comments from candidates across the political spectrum. At this point in the election process, there’s more ink being spilled about the various positions among the field of Democratic contenders. The Washington Post includes a summary overview of where the Democratic Candidates stand on Medicare for All. And Politico provides this roundup of candidates on the broader range of issues. 

2020 SHARE Dues Correction

You may have noticed in your paycheck this week that the union dues increase for 2020 has only just been applied. That change comes seven weeks later than we originally reported in this blog post.  

Dues rates are established by SHARE’s parent union, AFSCME. Dues deductions are administered by UMass Memorial. When SHARE recognized that the dues had not been corrected for 2020, we alerted the hospital, who confirmed that the update of the dues rate had been delayed by mistake.

The delay has created a total retro amount of one dollar and seventy-five cents (slightly less for 20-hour/week employees.) We are currently talking with the hospital about how the retro will be handled.

SHARE members at UMass Memorial Hospital in Marlboro should note that the dues rate change was timed correctly, so this doesn't apply there.

Thank you for understanding, and for your participation in keeping our union strong. If you have any questions about dues, please call the SHARE office (508-929-4020). 

2020 Central Massachusetts AFL/CIO College Scholarship

The SHARE office recently received the following notice in the mail from Joe Carlson, the President of the Central Massachusetts AFL/CIO, about a really great scholarship opportunity for our members. The lottery for these scholarships will be open to any SHARE members, as well as children and grandchildren of our members, who will graduate from high school this year and attend college next year. The details are posted below. We’d love to see more winners from SHARE this year.

If you would like a copy of the nomination form, please click HERE.

Please note that the union affiliation should be identified as AFSCME/SHARE. Members at UMass Memorial (including Marlboro Hospital) are in Local Union Number 3900.

Please note also that applications should NOT be sent to the SHARE office. Good luck!

UBT Spotlight Presentation: Vascular Lab

The Vascular Lab Unit Based Team

The Vascular Lab—a department that spans five different sites in our hospital system—has been among the pioneering first wave of Unit Based Teams (“UBTs”) at UMass Memorial. Presenters from the department Denise Kush and Kim Latrobe recently described the work of this Team to members of the SHARE-UMass Memorial LMPC. Denise and Kim described what they do for patients and the challenges and successes they’ve experienced during their first couple of years as a Team.

To start, they said, their UBT looked to their Caregiver Survey results. They determined that the department could really benefit from improvements in workload distribution, education, and communication. Denise and Kim say that the consensus-building techniques they use in their UBT have made difficult challenges much more manageable. One particular project that the manager had had on her to-do list for five years got adopted by the UBT, and now the department has done it together.

Now, the Vascular Lab’s work is gaining recognition: their UBT has also been highlighted by the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety, in an article that was named one of its top posts of 2019. The Vascular Lab UBT is now working to define its next projects to improve respect, safety, and engagement within the department.

Scroll on to see sample slides from their presentation and learn more about their projects.

The UMass Memorial Vascular Lab is nationally recognized in the field for providing quality care. The images they take can prompt action for life-saving care, including anti-coagulant drugs and even immediate surgery. It launched its Unit Based Team in 2017.

A Unit Based Team is typically focused in a single department. The UBT is co-led by a SHARE member and an area manager. The team is supported and sponsored by a SHARE organizer and a senior hospital leader, and given strategic tools and guidance by a UBT coach. The team will also include other SHARE members, and may also involve other employees in the area, depending on the department. The goal is to make sure that all of the relevant perspectives are represented. Together, this group coordinates with the broader department to develop projects to fix the kinds of problems that have really been getting in the way.

Denise Kush (management co-lead and the department’s chief technologist) and Kim Latrobe (SHARE co-lead and Registered Vascular Technologist)

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“Unit Based Teams and Idea Boards stand alone. But they also complement each other, especially since UBTs can tackle larger issues. ”

— Kim Latrobe, SHARE UBT Co-Lead and Registered Vascular Technologist

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The Venue: Labor Management Partnership Council (LMPC)

Our hospital and our union meet monthly to plan together about shared goals and concerns in a group called the Labor Management Partnership Council, or LMPC (see page 6 of the SHARE Contract Agreement for a description of this group).

The LMPC also reviews the partnership work we’re doing at the front lines, and celebrates good things that SHARE members have done. During its February meeting, the LMPC also watched the brief video profile of SHARE Member Jackie Rodriguez that appears on the AFSCME International website in honor of the “Never Quit” award that she received.

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The Caregiver Survey numbers are trending in the right direction for the Vascular Lab as their UBT matures. Members there say the UBT has changed their experience at work. One recently commented that her goal used to be to get patients taken care of and get through her workweek . . . but that now she continually gets caught up thinking about how to improve and optimize the work that the department is doing.

Figuring out how to begin and measure their undertakings initially challenged the Vascular Lab UBT. But they have since developed projects that have helped to evenly distribute the work among staff and improve communication, among other things. The Technologists are continually learning to stay in the front of their field.

SHARE Encourages You to Complete the Annual Caregiver Survey

3/18/2020 Update: As our system goes through the process of creating capacity for a surge of patients by cancelling unnecessary appointments and procedures due to COVID-!9, some of you may find yourselves with a few spare minutes.  We urge you to spend five minutes in the next few days taking the Caregiver Engagement Survey that Press Ganey is administering on behalf of UMass Memorial.  It is short, easy, completely confidential.

When all of the present challenges are past us we will be glad to have good data compiled from many (most?) SHARE members’ experience.  You can find the link in your email, along with a unique password – this password is not so the hospital can link your responses back to you, but so that Press Ganey can ensure that everyone just takes the survey once, and that their responses are assigned to the right department. 

***

Bart Metzger, UMass Memorial Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer

On March 11, UMass Memorial will launch the new Annual Caregiver Survey. Why should you care about this?

You may have recently seen, in the Everyday Innovators blog, the response given by guest blogger Bart Metzger. The short version of his answer?

1. We want you to be happy at UMass Memorial. The quality of your work life is important to us.

2. Your voice matters. Without your feedback, we can’t improve. And continuous improvement is part of our culture.

3. Caregiver experience = patient experience. If you aren’t satisfied with your work, how can we expect you to take good care of our patients?

Why Does SHARE Care About the Survey?

We’d add that SHARE wants you to take this survey. SHARE leaders will receive the results, and intends to work with hospital leadership to understand what they say about SHARE members' experiences at work. We will compare the results to those of our own recent surveys, and involve members to make sense of the data.

SHARE uses the results to line up improvements that will benefit members in their workplace. For example, recent “pulse” surveys show consistent improvement across those areas with Unit Based Teams; we’re looking to expand and deepen those kinds of efforts, and continue to help you develop a workplace you’re proud of.

Using the Results in Your Own Department

The more SHARE members fill out the survey, the more useful the results will be. This round of surveys will show how SHARE members’ experiences are trending over time. Your manager should share results, working with your team to figure out what aspects of your experience that you’d most like to improve, and how you will do it. If you have concerns in your work area about the way that this is discussed—or is not discussed—please let your SHARE organizer know.

The Survey Is Confidential

The survey process is conducted by an outside agency, Press Ganey. You will soon receive an email from them with a link to the survey. The survey is confidential, and is designed and administered in ways that ensure participants remain anonymous. In the past, SHARE has heard worries from members about survey confidentiality, but SHARE members have not reported problems with any of the surveys administered over the years by Press Ganey.

It’s Quick, and You Can Take It at Work

The survey shouldn't take much more than ten minutes, and you are encouraged to do it on work time. There’s a Spanish version this year, too.

UMass Memorial Works Because You Do

After it launches, the survey will be live through March 25. Thank you for participating, and helping to create a more complete and accurate overview about the experience of employees at UMass Memorial.

SHARE Roundup: AFSCME ID Cards, PCA Scholarships, and Recent News Items

Hi all! SHARE’s 2020 is off to a strong start. Our union is the largest in our hospital, which is the largest employer in central Massachusetts. And we’re growing. You can see in this roundup some of the reasons that that’s a good thing. We’re particularly excited that over 500 SHARE members are currently in departments with Unit Based Teams.

As a member of SHARE, you’re also a member of AFSCME, which includes over 1.4 million members across the country.

YOUR AFSCME ID

We’ve gotten a number of calls recently about bright green union membership cards that are showing up at home mailboxes. Those are legit! It appears that those of us who are dues-paying members are currently getting new cards for the 2020 year from our parent union, AFSCME. 

The number on that card is valuable toward a number of education, healthcare, and consumer savings programs, many through UnionPlus. If you’ve thrown out your card, or didn’t receive one, feel free to call the SHARE office (508) 929-4020, and we’ll be happy to look up your number for you. For more details, check out this blog post.

UMASS MEMORIAL PCA SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY

Are you a PCA currently studying to advance your career in nursing? You may qualify for the UMass Memorial PCA Scholarship. 

STAFFING LEVELS at UMass Memorial 

. . . are discussed in this article from the Worcester Business Journal: Leading Healthcare Organizations in Central Mass Cutting Total Executive Pay. Although the headline focuses on cutbacks at the leadership level, the article also points out that UMass Memorial “reduced the number of employees by almost 8%, or nearly 1,200 workers, over a five-year period ending in 2017,” and that red tape is costing hospitals in ways that don’t benefit their patients, employees, or local communities. Most SHARE members know this is true, even without having to know the specific details, since we all feel the effect of the tight staffing levels in departments.

In spite of these trends, SHARE is seeing some growth in its ranks. Our overall numbers our getting bigger, and our union is experiencing particular increases among Medical Office Assistants and in Financial Clearance. Over the past five years, SHARE has gained roughly 250 members, so that there’s currently a total of 2793 of us at UMass Memorial. 

 

The NUMBERS from 2019: UNIONIZATION and MIDDLE-CLASS

The Economic Policy Institute, “a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank created in 1986 to include the needs of low- and middle-income workers in economic policy discussions,” released its top charts of 2019 to paint a portrait of recent economic trends. Their findings show that American workers generally want more ability to unionize, that roughly 40% of employers engage in illegal activities to inhibit unions, and that income inequality increases as union membership declines.

UMass Memorial Scholarship for PCAs and Nursing Students

UMass Memorial has announced the following scholarship for PCAs currently enrolled in nursing programs. You can submit your application via the online form. Or, download the application and forward the completed form to the program administrator.

SHARE New Year Roundup, Including the Newly-Published Contract

We hope your 2020 is off to a good start!  This year, we’re continuing to develop improved ways to keep you connected to useful information about what’s happening in our union, our hospital, and our community, and the benefits you can claim as a SHARE union member.   

GET YOUR CONTRACT!

The SHARE contract is available online to make it easy to access and search.  And, it’s now in print, too! SHARE Reps and organizers will be distributing contracts throughout the campuses over the next few weeks. You’ll see us around the departments . . . but, just in case, we’re setting up contract distribution tables too. Check the Contract Distribution blog post for dates and times. We want everyone to have access to a copy, so please be in touch if we can find a better way to get them to you and your co-workers.

CONGRATULATIONS!

The work of SHARE members is getting noticed. We’re very excited that SHARE member Jackie Rodriguez recently received the AFSCME International “Never Quit” award for her efforts to get test results more efficiently. We love this video portrait of Jackie and her work. We’re excited, too, that SHARE’s Unit Based Teams featured as the subject of  one of the top “Patient Safety Beat” stories of 2019. 

SHARE Member Jackie Rodriguez, recipient of the AFSCME Never Quit Service Award

Fresh off the press! The new red Contract book!

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

• New specialties and degree programs are available through the AFSCME Free College Benefit (the Associate’s program is zero cost, and a new Bachelor’s degree program is low- or no-cost for members, too!)

• UMass Memorial is offering Medical Terminology classes on the University Campus

• UMass Memorial and Worcester State University have partnered again to provide more sessions of the Pathway to College Program, which offers low-cost courses that serve as the foundation for many different degree programs.

MEMBERSHIP HAS ITS PRIVILEGES

If you’re a dues-paying SHARE member, you can take advantage of the AFSCME Free College Benefit mentioned above, as well as the many perks of the Union Plus program. To do so,  you’ll need to know your AFSCME ID Number. This is printed on any mailings addressed to you from our parent union, AFSCME. The SHARE office has also been provided with a list, so give us a call (508-929-4020), and we can look that number up for you, too.

KEEPING CONNECTED KEEPS SHARE STRONG

We’re looking forward to lots more in-person conversations. Our connections are what make SHARE strong. Thanks to your participation, SHARE secured another strong contract last year, including consistent raises, and, among other things, commitments from the hospital to continue to support affordable health insurance premiums, the defined benefit pension program for all members, and to expand Unit Based Teams to more departments, which puts more SHARE members in important roles to partner in important decisions. 

More to come. In the meanwhile, have a meaningful Martin Luther King Day weekend . .

The SHARE Contract: Get Your New Red Book

You Did It!

Although most of the policies remain the same between the contracts, you can recycle your old copy from 2016 now.

SHARE includes 2700 caregivers in over 170 job titles at UMass Memorial Hospital who take pride in their work and stay connected through their union. We demonstrated that again in our last contract negotiations. Our connections helped our negotiating team to work through some tough sticking points in our conversations about money with hospital management. Your participation was critical to securing solid raises. Remember the photo campaign?

The Contract Bargaining Agreement resulting from those negotiations is online. AND, THE NEW RED BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE IN PRINT, TOO!

Contract Distribution

Although we encourage you to access and search the Contract from your computer or phone, we know it can sometimes be helpful to have the book itself in your hands. SHARE Reps are currently receiving copies that they can distribute in their areas.

Also, SHARE Organizers will also be stationed at the following times and locations with copies to distribute:

• 1/21 (2:15-3:15)—306 Belmont

• 1/28 (4:30pm-6pm)—Memorial Cafeteria

• 1/29 (11:30am-1pm)—Memorial Cafeteria

• 1/30 (11:30am-1pm)—University Cafeteria & ACC Lobby

• 1/30 (4pm-6pm)—University Cafeteria

SHARE Organizers will directly contact Biotech III, Shrewsbury Family Medicine, WBC, Hahnemann, Tri River, Century Drive, and other areas with additional times and details, and will have copies when they’re around the various UMass Memorial sites. We want everyone to get a copy who wants one, so please contact the SHARE office (508-929-4020) if you would like to make additional arrangements for you and your co-workers.

New Offerings for SHARE Members through the AFSCME Free College Benefit

Many SHARE members have already taken advantage of the Free College Benefit, offered by our parent union, AFSCME. It’s a popular perk of union membership. Since it began in 2016, the program has expanded the variety of courses and degrees that it offers. Below we’ve listed the latest.

In addition to the Free College program, which partners with Eastern Gateway University to provide opportunities for AA degrees at zero cost to union members, there’s another new option: Bachelors Degrees through Central State University that cost little to nothing.

The next semester start date is January 27, 2020. If you’ve already taken courses through the program, let your SHARE Reps know! We’d love to know about your experiences, and help other SHARE members make the most of this valuable benefit. (And congratulations, by the way: we know that going to school as a working grown-up can be an impressive challenge!)

Programs offered through Free College

Business Management Degree

Focus options include:

Advertising

Cyber Security

Data Science

Digital and Social Media

Entrepreneurship

Finance

Healthcare Management

Hospitality: Food and Beverage Management

Hospitality: Hotel and Event Management

Human Resources Management

Information Systems

Labor Studies

Marketing

Programming & Development

Associate of Arts

Criminal Justice

Teacher Education Degree (Associate of Arts)

Paralegal

Patient Home Navigator

Professional Office Management Degree

Martin Luther King Weekend 2020

A special thank you to all of the SHARE members who will be working this Monday, January 20th, on the Martin Luther King Day holiday. Hospitals are open 24/7 365 because the work that you do is so important. We know that your contributions keep our hospital healthy, and are critical for those people in our community who need it most . . . including the patients who will likely show up for x-rays on this busy ski resort weekend.

Relatedly, in case you missed it, we’re reprinting this mini-essay from last year about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his important connection with unions, including our own . . .

Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. We recognize his life, his bravery, his sacrifice, and his dream. We honor his thoughtful approach to the truths and paradoxes of our complex reality as he developed influential ideas about love and justice.  

MLK & ORGANIZED LABOR 

Dr. King was a strong supporter of unions. He famously said, “The Labor Movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.” In 1968, King traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to support striking sanitation workers who were fighting to unionize. The context, according to Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, was this:  

On 1 February 1968, two Memphis garbage collectors, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were crushed to death by a malfunctioning truck. Eleven days later, frustrated by the city’s response to the latest event in a long pattern of neglect and abuse of its black employees, 1,300 black men from the Memphis Department of Public Works went on strike. Sanitation workers, led by garbage-collector-turned-union-organizer T. O. Jones, and supported by the president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Jerry Wurf, demanded recognition of their union, better safety standards, and a decent wage. 

King’s public address in support of the striking sanitation workers would be his last. He was assassinated the next morning, on April 4th.  

OUR FUTURE IS INTERTWINED 

Bill Lucy (behind podium), with students of the HTUP and SHARE organizers

In our conversations and negotiations, SHARE often points out that the success of SHARE members is tied to the success of our hospital. We must also be aware that our future is intimately intertwined with that of our broader community.  

Last year, SHARE leaders experienced a concrete and meaningful example of this interconnectedness as we gathered to see Bill Lucy at a public lecture on the 50th anniversary of the Memphis Strike. Mr. Lucy had been Jerry Wurf’s leadership partner in AFSCME as the Memphis sanitation workers’ sought to organize their union. (AFSCME is, you’ll recognize, the parent organization of our own union.)  

Bill Lucy spoke about his personal experience with the Memphis strike as part of the Harvard Trade Union Program. Each year, HTUP draws union leaders in an intensive six-week educational course to learn from one another, as well as leading scholars and researchers. (The HTUP cohort that year included SHARE Organizers Bobbi-Jo Lewis and Melissa Markstrom.) 

Mr. Lucy’s talk was a moving firsthand account. His presentation was punctuated by a series of questions during a Q&A session . . . as well as as a surprising statement by a woman named Jennifer Glass. The young Ms. Glass stood and claimed already to know the stories that Mr. Lucy related. She knew those stories well, she said, because she had heard them from her grandfather, one of the 1300 men who went on strike in Memphis in order to unionize their sanitation worker jobs.  

Those of us in the audience couldn’t help but overhear in her comments real, heartfelt gratitude to Bill Lucy for helping to make possible opportunities in her own life. Ms. Glass had walked over to the talk from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where she worked. On behalf of her grandfather, who had since passed on, Glass thanked Mr. Lucy for his help and involvement in her grandfather’s cause. American History got very intimate for me in that impromptu moment. I’m grateful to have been there to see Mr. Lucy and Ms. Glass speaking across the auditorium.

REALIZING THE DREAM 

The Memphis Sanitation Workers ultimately succeeded in organizing. When they voted-in their union, they provided themselves an independent source of power, the right to negotiate, and all of the privileges and protections that come with being able to work collectively.  

This story is not over, however. The arc of history is long. Obviously, harsh inequalities persist. Gaps in pay, education, and health create chasms between races and communities. SHARE recognizes these disparities, even in our own workplace. And we recognize our obligation to continue in the tradition that includes Dr. King, Mr. Lucy, Mr. Wurf, Mr. Cole, Mr. Walker, and countless others. We are grateful to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s model as we foster our own community, and work to take care of those around us.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question,” Dr. King said, “is ‘what are you doing for others?’”

—Kirk Davis, SHARE Staff Organizer

***

The sanitation workers’ struggle is documented in documentaries including I Am a Man and At the River I Stand, as well as the book Going Down Jericho Road. 

Medical Terminology Course Offered On-site at University Campus

Want to better understand the language of healthcare? Please note this newly-announced course offering from UMass Memorial: Medical Terminology is a non-credit course designed to prepare you to pronounce, recall and apply medical terminology in the work setting and to improve your overall medical communication skills. The next session begins February 6th 2020 and runs for 10 consecutive Thursdays from 4:30-7:30 pm.   

Starting Thursday, February 6th

4:30 to 7:30pm

Medical Center, University Campus

55 Lake Ave Worcester, MA 01655

Register through E-Learning 4U . If you have questions please call 508-334-4462

Pathway to College Program: Next Session Announced

The Pathway to College program is designed by our hospital in collaboration with Worcester State University to provide UMass Memorial caregivers access to low-cost courses that serve as the foundation for many degree programs, including health education, nursing, occupational studies, business, psychology, and sociology. The next session begins February 4.

Read on for more information from the program, or contact the Program Director, Jeremiah Riordan: jriordan1@worcester.edu (508-929-8787).

REGISTER NOW!

Attend classes on site

Low out-of-pocket fees

PATHWAY TO COLLEGE

Center for Business and Industry | 486 Chandler St, Worcester, MA 01602 | worcester.edu/cbi | cbi@worcester.edu | 508-929-8787

Have you always wanted to attend college to further your career, but you weren't

sure where to begin? Do you hold a high school diploma or equivalent GED?

The Pathway to College program can help jumpstart your dream of achieving this goal.

Upon successful completion of this three-course program*, UMass Memorial Health Care caregivers will be awarded nine college credits from Worcester State University, which can serve as prerequisites for enrollment in a wide range of undergraduate degree programs including business, allied health, nursing, psychology and more.

*Courses offered: English Composition I, English Composition II and General Psychology

Convenient: Classes are held on-site at One Biotech, 367 Plantation Street one night per week and run for 12 consecutive weeks.

Affordable: Minimal up-front costs, no cost for books and up to 80 percent of program costs may be covered by tuition assistance benefits. **

Supportive: Participants learn alongside peers and receive individual academic advising and guidance.

Program Information:

First class begins February 4, 2020 

Tuesdays, 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Note: If you are interested in taking any of the courses listed above, please fill out the inquiry form today to obtain more information.

**Tuition assistance varies for each caregiver. Please visit the Tuition Assistance webpage on the Hub for more information,

(https://www.umassmemorialhub.org/my-hr/medical-center/benefits-wellness/tuition-assistance).

For any UMass related questions, please contact the Organization and People Development Team at 508-334-4462 or mydevelopment@umassmemorial.org

To learn more:

Fill out an online inquiry form: http://bit.ly/2n3Rzp5

Contact Jeremiah Riordon, Director, Center for Business and Industry

Worcester State UniversityPhone: 508-929-8787

Email: Jriordan1@worcester.edu

SHARE Member Jackie Rodriguez Receives AFSCME International "Never Quit" Award

Jackie Rodriguez is a SHARE member in Pathology at UMass Memorial. In December, Jackie was recognized by our parent union, AFSCME, with a “Never Quit Service Award” for the work she does to help patients get accurate test results as quickly as possible. Click here for a short video of Jackie talking about her life, her work, and her union.

Jackie has been taking advantage of the hospital’s Lean training. Below, you can check out the poster she made describing her Green Belt project. By developing a smart standard process for slide management and storage, she’s getting rid of unneeded frustrations for herself and her co-workers, and helping to provide efficient care to patients who need it.