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.

Get Active in Your SHARE Union

Our union is strongest and most effective when members are connected and participating. If you are not already active with SHARE, we invite you to consider getting more involved. Please email or call SHARE if you would like to:

• Volunteer to be more active in SHARE

• Recommend a co-worker

• Get more information about what it would mean to be active in SHARE

• Ask questions or express concerns about this process

Elected Leadership Positions

We usually have nominations for SHARE Reps and Executive Board Members every year in the spring. SHARE union leaders are nominated and elected by SHARE members. They work closely with the SHARE organizing staff and do many different things to keep our union strong.

In short, SHARE’s Executive Board (or "EBoard"), including the four officers, makes decisions about the direction of our union, and participates in contract negotiations. They are elected for two-year terms. They have responsibility for the whole union, and each board member is responsible for a few hundred members in their area. 

SHARE Representatives (or "Reps") serve as the contact person for their area. They are elected for one-year terms. There is roughly one Rep for every fifty SHARE members. Some Reps are trained to help co-workers solve problems in the workplace.

In addition to the currently-elected Reps, several former Reps and unofficial Reps help members in their area keep up-to-date about current SHARE news, and help their co-workers find helpful SHARE resources.

If there are more candidates than positions, then we hold an election.

2020 Elections Postponed

This year, because of the COVID pandemic, that did not happen on time. We have two choices. The one we think makes the most sense is to wait until next spring and go through our normal  nomination process then. With this option, we would make sure that there is an opportunity for SHARE members to get involved new even without a formal nomination. We would invite any SHARE member who would like to be active in SHARE, or be more active than they are now, to let us know, and we would work with them to get the training they need. We would ask also people who are currently SHARE Reps and Executive Board Members to remain in their positions until May 2021, if they are willing.

The other option would be to open nominations now, in the fall, and then again in the spring. With this option, then we would hold our regular nomination and election process now. Reps who were elected would have a 6 month term, and then be up for election again in the spring. Executive Board Members would be elected for partial terms as well. The election would be held by mail.

Either way, we would like to have members from every area active in SHARE.

Again, please email or call SHARE to volunteer yourself or recommend a coworker to be more active in SHARE, to get more information about being active in SHARE, or if you have questions or concerns about this process.

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.

Kona Enders, SHARE’s First Frontline Leader Fellow

This month we welcomed our first SHARE Frontline Leader Fellow, Kona Enders.  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.  She’s served as a union rep for most of that time, and recently joined the Labor Management Partnership Council. 

Kona with SHARE Organizer Will Erickson

We developed our Frontline Leader Fellowship to provide SHARE leaders with an opportunity to become more deeply oriented to SHARE’s approach to organizing people and solving problems.  Fellows will spend a month with the SHARE staff, accompanying organizers to meetings and events and helping to keep in touch with members, as well as receiving training in topics like de-escalation, process improvement, and time management.  To help us ramp up and knock out the kinks, Kona will split her time between 3 West and SHARE, extending the fellowship to two months.  It’s a new idea, and we’re grateful to Kona for showing her typical courage in agreeing to be our first participant. 

One of things you’re most likely to hear people say in describing Kona is her capacity say sometimes hard things to people, whoever they are – she’s reminded more than one doctor to foam their hands or keep their voice down.  But somehow even when she’s calling you out, it feels like a gift.  “My mother always said you have to speak your truth, but in a respectful way,” she explains.

This Spring and Summer, Kona worked exclusively with patients battling Covid-19.  “It was scary,” she says of the experience.  “And it was really difficult – they were so sick.”  You can read more about her experience here.

Kona grew up in Liberia before following her older brother to Central Massachusetts.  She has an adult daughter who also works in health care, and lives with her husband in North Worcester.  If you see Kona in the hallway or are lucky enough to get a call from her checking in on you, please thank her for taking on this new challenge!

SHARE-UMass Memorial Statement about Flexibility in the Times of COVID

 “Flexibility is to the mutual benefit of employees and the employer. It helps to address operational work flow needs, and family needs.”     – SHARE-UMass Memorial contract, page 68 

When that contract language was written, no one had any idea about what we would be facing 20 years later with this COVID pandemic. It’s been said often: These are unprecedented times. In addition to all the changes that the COVID pandemic has brought to our hospital, we now must cope with the changes lots of schools are making for the Fall. Remote learning and a whole variety of school schedules are the most recent entirely unpredictable piece of the COVID crisis. 

SHARE and UMass Memorial Medical Center are discussing how to help employees, keep valuable employees, and keep the hospital running. It’s in everyone’s interest to find ways to help SHARE members be both good workers and good parents, and to limit the spread of the Coronavirus.   

We are encouraging departments use all the flexibility in their control to try to make this work for as many SHARE members and departments as possible.  The identification of different solutions for different employees is based on the individual employee and the department’s needs without regard for a workforce member’s race, color, national origin, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected status. 

Goals to Be Balanced 

Let’s be clear about the goals that we are trying to achieve, though how to balance them may not be easy in some situations: 

• Operational needs of the department – getting the work done 

• Work security – keeping SHARE members working despite the COVID challenges 

• Safety – social distancing, preventing the spread of the virus 

• Fairness – Balancing needs of all employees in the department.   

Guiding Principles for How to Approach a Problem 

• Flexibility: The more we can empower departments to offer flexibility, the more likely we are to find solutions that work for individuals and the whole department. (See ideas below.) 

• Creativity is encouraged: If your department can come up with an unusual solution that works for everyone and gets the work done, more power to you! Senior leaders in the hospital are encouraging flexibility, though they do need to know how departments are solving problems. 

• Transparency: When everyone understands what the problem is and what the limitations are, they are more likely to be able to come up with a solution and understand why a change is a good idea. 

• SHARE members having a say is key.  Working things out together as a department allows people to volunteer to help in ways that work for them. Two heads (or twelve) are better than one when looking for ideas and suggestions. 

• Not One Size Fits All: Different people may need different kinds of help or flexibility. Every department is different. Solutions for lower income employees may be different than those for higher income employees.  

• Getting help: SHARE Organizers and Reps and Human Resources Business Partners are happy to help and can escalate the department’s issues when needed. 

There may be times when an implemented solution to a problem no longer meets the needs of the department/team and SHARE member.  When this happens, the manager should discuss with the appropriate HR Business Partner and SHARE Organizer and Rep. 

Flexibility Ideas that Might Help 

This is a list of possible items that could be changed to help an employee and department deal with a problem related to COVID and/or Child Care. It is not meant to be an exhaustive list.  

• Decreasing or increasing hours: Could be permanent or temporary. Others in the department may want to pick up extra time or decrease time in a way that adds up to a solution for the department. 

• Work from Home: We encourage departments to look with a fresh eye at what tasks can be done from home. Work from Home is functioning quite well in a variety of departments already. Perhaps 2 SHARE members could split the week so that each could work from home on the days their child is learning remotely.  

• Change to working days or hours: It could be moving from days to evenings to accommodate schooling needs or changing start and end times. If someone is working from home, perhaps the flexibility to accomplish 8 hours of work across 10 hours would help, if the work does not need to be done at a certain time. Or some employees may want to work more on the weekend.  

• Juggling tasks: Co-workers could swap tasks, to make the timing or work from home possible. Everyone needs to be involved in that conversation, so no one feels “dumped on.” 

• Bringing (older) kids to work is usually not possible but has worked in some areas in a pinch. 

• Technological Solutions: IS has been asked to help where technology is limiting flexibility, such as with phone systems that allow working from home. Please escalate these issues so that we can find a solution if possible.  

• Job Sharing: See page 60 in the SHARE-UMass Memorial contract for guidelines. 

• Extra staff: Float pool or temporary staff could help. 

If your department comes up with ideas to add to this list, please let us know so that we can share them with others! 

SHARE Updates: Childcare, Vaccines, Engagement Survey, and Raises

Happy Anniversary

SHARE is turning 23! Who would have imagined, back when we voted for our union, in September 1997, where we’d be today? We’re looking forward to more sticking together, whatever lies ahead.

Childcare Concerns 

The school year is here, and this year’s unconventional schooling will affect many SHARE families, as well as staffing throughout the hospital. SHARE is involved in the Child Care Task Force that UMass Memorial management set up, and we are having additional discussions about how to help SHARE members. 

SHARE has emphasized flexibility and innovation. Senior management is telling department level managers that it’s OK to try new things in order to help SHARE members in this complicated COVID situation. 

See more about childcare -- including SHARE’s recommendations -- in this post. 

UMass Memorial Flu Vaccine Requirement 

SHARE is currently gathering questions and concerns from members about the hospital’s new flu vaccine mandate. If you have input that you’d like to include in this conversation, please contact your SHARE organizer, email share.comment@theshareunion.org, or call the SHARE office (508-929-4020).  

COVID Vaccine Trials at UMass Medical School Seeking Volunteers 

Are you interested in helping a vaccine trial? UMass Medical School is signing up volunteers for a Phase II/III clinical trial testing a vaccine to prevent infection from the Coronavirus. The vaccine has already passed Phase I testing for safety. UMass is part of a network of 120 centers that will enroll about 30,000 volunteers around the world. 

The Medical School plans to enroll several hundred volunteers. Half will receive the vaccine, and the other half will receive a placebo. It’s a “double-blind” study, meaning that neither the volunteers nor the researchers will know who gets which, in order to ensure valid results. 

For more information, check out this article on the Medical School’s website. 

Free Covid testing

The City of Worcester and UMass Memorial have announced a jointly-sponsored series of free COVID testing sessions around the city. The current list includes:

• Thursday, September 10, 1-5pm, Community Healthlink, Inc., 72 Jacques Ave, Worcester

• Monday, September 15, noon-4pm, Great Brook Valley, 19 Tacoma St, Worcester

• Wednesday, September 16, 2-6pm, Lady of Loreto Church, 33 Massasoit Rd, Worcester

• Thursday, September 17, 1-5pm, Community Healthlink, 72 Jacques Ave, Worcester

UMass Memorial Engagement Survey 

UMass Memorial is currently reporting department-level Engagement Survey results to employees. If you haven’t yet heard about your results and had an opportunity to discuss them, now’s a good time to ask your supervisor or manager. Figuring out how to improve the culture in your department may not be easy, but talking about these results is an important part of that process. The SHARE organizing staff is happy to help support you in these conversations. Our union’s mission involves continual work toward improving how it feels to come to work. Let’s help put this feedback — your own comments and experiences! — to good use.

SHARE Raise Effective 9/27/20

At the end of this month, SHARE members will receive the 3rd of the 4 raises in our current contract. And 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. Raise details below: 

• Wages Year 1 (effective 9/30/18): 1% ATB plus platform movement of 1.93%, or a $0.60/hour minimum raise, whichever is greater. 

• Year 2 (effective 9/29/19): 1% ATB plus platform movement of 1.93%, or a $0.60/hour minimum raise, whichever is greater. 

• Year 3 (effective 9/27/20): 1% ATB plus platform movement of 1.93%, or a $0.60/hour minimum raise, whichever is greater. 

• Year 4 (effective 9/26/21): 1% ATB plus platform movement of 1.93%, or a $0.60/hour minimum raise, whichever is greater 

Any amount greater than Max Cap is paid as a bonus. Bonus = (bonus rate) x (hours paid in previous FY, including overtime).  

This raise is the only contractually negotiated change upcoming for SHARE members; you can find the full Contract Agreement online. 

Child Care and Flexibility for Fall 2020: SHARE Update

SHARE has been actively discussing the stories we are hearing from SHARE members about their struggles to work and care for children with the school schedules this fall. SHARE is involved in the Child Care Task Force that UMass Memorial management set up, and having additional discussions about how to help SHARE members.

SHARE has emphasized flexibility and innovation, urging senior management to tell department level managers that it’s OK to try new things in order to help SHARE members in this complicated COVID situation.

Carol Hehir, a Staff Organizer who has been representing SHARE on the child care task force with the hospital, has this to say about the process so far, “I’ve been impressed. We are all on the same page, trying to figure out how we can support employees. Of course, we have to keep the hospital running, but we are trying to come up with as many options to help people balance child care and work as possible.”

Here are some of the ideas SHARE has been promoting:

Goals to be Balanced

Let’s be clear about the goals that we are trying to take into account, though how to balance them may not be easy in some situations:

• Operational needs of the department – getting the work done

• Work security – keeping SHARE members working in spite of the COVID challenges

• Safety – social distancing, preventing the spread of the virus

• Fairness – Balancing needs of all employees in the department.

Guiding Principles for How to Approach a Problem

• Flexibility: The more we can empower departments to offer flexibility, the more likely we are to find solutions that work for individuals and the whole department. (See ideas below.)

• Creativity is encouraged: If your department can come up with an unusual solution that works for everyone and gets the work done, more power to you!

• Transparency: When everyone understands what the problem is and what the limitations are, they are more likely to be able to come up with a solution, to understand why a change is a good idea. We’re urging management to communicate early and often.

• SHARE members having a say is key. Working things out together as a department allows people to volunteer to help in ways that work for them. Two heads (or twelve) are better than one when looking for ideas and suggestions.

• Not One Size Fits All: Different people may need different kinds of help or flexibility. Every department is different. Solutions for lower income employees may be different than those for higher income employees.

• Getting help: SHARE Organizers and Reps are happy to help, and can escalate the department’s issues when needed.

Innovating Ideas that Might Help

This is a list of possible items that could be changed to help an employee and department deal with a problem related to COVID and/or Child Care. It is not meant to be an exhaustive list.

• Decreasing or increasing hours: Could be permanent or temporary. Others in the department may want to pick up extra time, or decrease time in a way that adds up to a solution for the department.

• Work from Home: We encourage departments to look with a fresh eye at what tasks can be done from home. Work from Home is functioning quite well in a variety of departments already. Perhaps 2 SHARE members could split the week so that each could work from home on the days their child is learning remotely.

• Change of working days or hours: It could be moving from days to evenings to accommodate schooling needs, or changing start and end times. If someone is working from home, perhaps the flexibility to accomplish 8 hours of work across 10 hours would help, if the work does not need to be done at a certain time. Or some employees may want to work more on the weekend.

• Juggling tasks: Co-workers could swap tasks, to make the timing or work from home possible. Everyone needs to be involved in that conversation, so no one feels “dumped on.”

• Bringing (older) kids to work is usually not possible, but has worked in some areas in a pinch.

• Technological Solutions: IS has been asked to help where technology is limiting flexibility, such as with phone systems that allow working from home. Please escalate these issues so that we can find a solution if at all possible.

• Job Sharing: See page 60 in the SHARE-UMass Memorial contract for guidelines.

• Extra staff: Float pool or temporary staff could help.

Free COVID Testing & Flu Shot Event

TODAY: SHARE Info Meeting

What SHARE Members Said on the COVID Survey

and

Recommendations for a Second Surge

Tuesday, Noon-12:45

Zoom meeting, click here at the time of the meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84639191022?pwd=dXpaUnVGYVFQTHFNOUgrQzVlWjNGUT09;

Bring your thoughts and your questions, or just come to listen!

Back-to-School and Child Care: What Kind of Help Do SHARE Members Need?

SHARE is participating in the hospital’s child care task force, which is trying to figure out how to help UMass Memorial working families who are dealing with remote or hybrid school this fall. The task force needs to know what you need.

1. If you need child care support this fall, please fill out this short hospital survey

The survey focuses on what kind of child care you would need this fall so that you can work. The deadline is 5pm on August 28nd (Friday), so do it now!

2. If you have other ideas about what you need to support you and your family with school (like working from home, flexible hours, etc), please send them to: share.comment@theshareunion.org

Or contact your SHARE Organizer or Rep.

Ideas for How UMass Memorial Could

Support SHARE Members with Schooling this Fall

• UMass Memorial should focus on solutions to help for lower-income families especially.

• Different people may need different kinds of help. There’s no “one-size-fits-all” solution.

• Having a say and working things out together as a department are key.

Flexibility: The more we can empower departments to offer flexibility, the more likely they are to find solutions that work for individuals and the department. For example, a SHARE employee might want to go part-time to support their children doing remote learning, and departments should be encouraged to figure out if that can work (without dumping more work on other SHARE members).

Expand Work from Home: Working from home is working in many departments at UMass Memorial. We should encourage departments to allow work from home, and figure out where we need new technology to make that possible.

Help Getting Childcare: UMass Memorial should look at helping SHARE members afford additional child care they need because of remote or hybrid schooling this fall. We should also look at how to help connect employees with other resources they need

SHARE Info Meetings & End-of-Summer Updates

We hope this finds you well here at the end of the Dog Days of Summer. We hope to see many of you in the Information Meetings over the next couple of days. Read on for more details about those, as well as . . . 

• The SHARE COVID Survey results and recommendations to management, 

• Back-to-School considerations, 

• SHARE Member Spotlights, and 

• An FSA reminder 

SHARE Virtual Information Meetings 

Please join SHARE organizers online in the coming days to discuss the outcomes from the recent SHARE COVID survey, and to discuss the recommendations that we are currently making to hospital management about our hospital’s ongoing operations, including the preparations for a potential second surge of the coronavirus in Central Massachusetts. We have currently scheduled two sessions. Click the date below to log in automatically during the Zoom session: 

Wednesday, August 26th, 8:00-8:45 am 

Thursday, August 27th, 4:00-4:45  

SHARE COVID Survey Results 

In case you missed it, SHARE recently published a results-summary of the SHARE COVID Survey, along with our union’s recommendations to UMass Memorial.  

Work continues to be intense for many SHARE members. Many SHARE members have had very different experiences. Above all, we recognize the need to urge the hospital to: 

• Commit to job security and Health Insurance 

• Focus on PPE and safety 

• Focus on department leadership 

• Provide Hazard Pay 

• Continue and expand Work-from-Home arrangements 

• Create greater transparency and choice for Labor Pool deployments 

SHARE has categorized its specific recommendations in four groups, based on the feedback from members in these scenarios during the previous surge: 

• SHARE members who stayed in their regular job 

• SHARE members who were deployed in the Labor Pool 

• SHARE members who worked from home 

• SHARE members who were not at work 

Back-to-School Survey for UMass Memorial Employees 

If you have school age children in your home, SHARE encourages you to complete our hospital’s brief childcare survey. The hospital’s Childcare Task Force is currently working to rapidly develop strategies to help accommodate families and the new needs involved with remote schooling and increased limitations in childcare.   

Our impressions are promising: SHARE leaders involved on the Task Force report that the hospital seems to have a clear-eyed view of the challenges that families currently face, and how they could potentially affect staffing and patient care. The challenges are real, and the shared information can help us take care of the needs together.  

Labor Scholarship Awarded to High School Senior in SHARE Family 

SHARE is also pleased to congratulate Nancy Foskett, a SHARE member in the HIM department: her son Liam recently received a $1000 scholarship from the Central Massachusetts AFL-CIO to recognize his academic performance as a student at South High and his essay on Labor History.  

SHARE’D Stories 

We continue to put the spotlight on more SHARE members and their experience of life during the pandemic in our SHARE’D Stories project. Most recently we’ve heard from Cancer Center PCA’s Tammy Berry and Kellie Morton and Single Billing Office representative Laurie Abernathy. 

FSA Reminder 

Don’t forget that, through August 31, you can make modifications to your Flex Spending Account (FSA). Putting aside money in an FSA is a great way to save the money you would have paid on taxes on out-of-pocket medical expenses. 

Congratulations to Our Union's Latest Scholarship Winner

Liam with SHARE Organizer Carol Hehir. The Scholarships are typically awarded during the annual Central Massachusetts Labor Day Breakfast. Since the breakfast is cancelled this year for social distancing reasons, Carol took the celebration on the road.

Congratulations to Liam Foskett, who recently received the $1000 Central Massachusetts AFL-CIO Scholarship, a prize awarded to select rising college students in AFSCME families. Liam’s mother, Nancy Foskett, is a SHARE member in the HIM department.

Liam recently graduated from South High. This Fall, he will begin at Westfield State College, where he plans to major in English. Liam was required to write an essay about Labor History in his scholarship application, and he is grateful to all of the union members who have made this scholarship possible.

Keep your eye on the SHARE blog over the coming school year for more #scholarships. For other educational opportunities, including the ongoing AFSCME Free College program, check out posts tagged #education.

The SHARE Member Experience: COVID Survey Results

More than 1800 SHARE members answered the SHARE COVID Survey, giving a picture of all the different kinds of experiences SHARE members had in the Spring of 2020. It was an intense time: very scary for many people and a lot of hard work, mixed with some really positive experiences. Thank you as always for helping to keep our hospital and our union running strong through it all, and for describing your experience so that we can continue to learn and improve.

We encourage you to explore this link to the summary of the results:

SHARE COVID Survey Results

SHARE Leaders continue to give feedback to UMass Memorial senior management, in discussions that now focus on preparing for a possible second COVID surge. If you would like to talk to your SHARE Organizer about the report, your experiences, or thinking ahead, please send a message to one of us SHARE organizers listed below. Thank you.

carol.hehir@theshareunion.org

bobbi-jo.lewis@theshareunion.org

deb.largesse@theshareunion.org

deb.engvall@theshareunion.org

elisabeth.szanto@theshareunion.org

jana.hol@theshareunion.org

janet.wilder@theshareunion.org

kirk.davis@theshareunion.org

melissa.markstrom@theshareunion.org

will.erickson@theshareunion.org

SHARE Member Spotlights: Kellie Morton & Tammy Berry

Tammy Berry & Kellie Morton

PCA II’s, Cancer Center, June 2020 

Kellie:  It’s hard, because this is not the norm, but its going to be the new norm.  I have to say at the beginning of this it was definitely scary.  Then we all started pulling together and watching out for each other – our manager hasn’t really been able to be fully present here because of everything she’s got going on with this, which we understand, we don’t blame her for that.  And then things started to level out a little bit, we felt safer because of all these screeners and things downstairs.  We’ve been operating at 80%, our clinics, through this entire thing.  From what my manager told me, there’s been no transmissions whatsoever to staff here, or to other patients – so we’ve done an awesome job, working together.  There’s a lot that could have gone wrong that didn’t go wrong, and we’re very thankful for that.  But with all the increased volume from other clinics coming back, it’s a little scarier.   

Tammy: Telehealth has really changed the way we work a lot.  For one thing, it takes time, it takes a worker off the floor.  There’s a lot that goes into getting the patient ready for that appointment.  And some of these people have been locked up for a while, and they want to talk, know what I’m saying?  So while that coworker is tied up doing that it can get busy.  We work hard to get people out of those waiting rooms too, so they’re not sitting around near each other.   

K: I think what I’m going to remember about this time is the way we’ve really pulled together.  If we didn’t know for sure what was going on, we’d go to each other to make sure, are we doing the right thing, and we’ve gotten much stronger as a team.   Those of us who really wanted to connect with each other here at work, we really have.  So coming to work during this three month period, I felt safe being around everybody, being around people who knew exactly what was going on every day, the same way I felt, and then we could kind of work through it together.  Even without the managers being around so much.  I feel safe at work because I have confidence in my coworkers, in my team.  At least until they change things on us, and then there’s a scramble.  There’ve been moments that we all just totally broke down.  But there are people around you who say ‘Don’t worry.  Don’t worry.  We’re going to get through this.  We’ll get through it together.’  Yeah, we’re kind of all angry about some of the same things, but we’re also looking out for each other. 

T: Our patients are hanging in too, you know, they’re scared to come, and I mean they’ll tell you I am really scared to be here – I haven’t been out in months.  And we just reassure them, today a lady was like ‘can I touch that?’  In the room.  And I said ‘you can touch that, I clean this room like crazy when another person leaves, whatever you touch I’m cleaning right away.  It’s ok, you’re going to be ok here.’  I try to tell them that its good, you’re good here, but I don’t think they really want to come. 

K: A lot of the ones on my end are coming a couple times a week.  Almost every encounter since this began, anytime I left the room, I’ll say ok, be safe, stay safe.  And they’ll say right back to me – this has happened so many times – they’re all wishing me that I’ll be safe, and they are thanking us.  Constantly.  For being here.  They are scared for us.  I mean, these patients are going through an awful lot, and they are worrying about us.  They say thank you so much for being here, for all you do.  So many people say when this is all done I’m taking you all out to dinner, the whole staff, I’m taking you all out for dinner!  We have good patients!  And we get to know them really well. 

T: I try not to watch the news, but I know there are those people who think that this is a total conspiracy and that this isn’t real, and I’m like, come visit and see what’s happening around here.  I had a patient who said, ‘this mask stuff is crazy, this isn’t going on,’ and I said to him, ‘it is, and it’s very scary.’  I said to him, ‘do you want to come with me across to the hospital and then you can see the people on ventilators?’  He really didn’t believe it.  I made him wear his mask while he was here though.   

Click here to connect with more SHARE’D Stories!

K: Looking around me, around my neighborhood, all the drive by’s, I think people have gotten closer even though they can’t be together.  I’ve watched so many people drive down my street – this is an example, a gentleman worked for an asphalt paving company, and they had I don’t know how many tractor trailers drive to his house, I mean horns blaring, and it was awesome, I stood outside my house and I waved to them.  There was this parade of trucks and when they came back around past my house I was still out there waving.  That was just awesome that those guys did all that because they cared so much about that person.  Tammy’s grandkids did that to her too.   

T: They did.  And then my daughter turned thirty so I did that to her.  And then she told me that that was her best birthday ever, and I believe her – it showed that so many people cared about her and wanted to say happy birthday to her.  It’s special, its very special.  They’ve done it for me too, Easter, Mother’s Day, leaving presents for me at the end of my driveway. 

K: I miss hugging the most, cause I’m a hugger.  We’re both huggers!  That’s been the hardest thing!  It’s been so hard not to hug a patient, or touch them, you even see the doctors, patients will reach out to them and then pull back and say I’m sorry.  But that’s what they would normally do.  Having no contact has been really, really hard on a lot of people.  Even just a pat on the back, let me hold onto you for a second.  I mean, people are crying, they’re upset, and you want to touch them and all you can do is just stand in front of them.  It’s hard.  Then I go home and I’m next to my husband and I’m like, am I too close to you?  Ha!  Sometimes I find myself backing away and then I’m like wait a minute, we live together!   

Last Chance! Take the SHARE COVID Survey Today or Tomorrow!

Hi SHARE members,

SHARE is setting up meetings now to talk to management about will happen if the numbers of COVID patients go up again. We need to hear your thoughts, to make sure we have a full picture of SHARE members’ experiences. We will close the survey at midnight, Wednesday, July 15th.

Click here to take the SHARE COVID Survey

Click here to take the survey in Spanish

Many thanks to the 1500+ SHARE members who already filled out the SHARE COVID Survey! We’ve gotten lots of great comments and feedback so far.

SHARE will write a report of SHARE members’ responses, and send it to all SHARE members. 

—Janet, for SHARE

SHARE Member Spotlight: Laurie Abernathy, Collector, Single Billing Office

Laurie Abernathy 

Collector, Single Billing Office, 306 Belmont Street, 7/1/20

This has been a very challenging time in our lives because of the COVID pandemic. But because of the pandemic, my dream,  to work from home, has come true. I have been remotely working since mid-March.I work in the SBO ( single billing office) located at 306 Belmont St, our group  consists of over 400 employee’s, Customer Service, Physician, Hospital Billing, Payment Posting and several other departments.

Our management did a very good job of getting us out of the building and set up to work remotely quickly. There were glitches, especially in the first few weeks, but we worked together with IT  and got the issues resolved.   During the beginning of the transition , work  was a little more  stressful than normal, due to the fact that  information and processes were continually changing.  Our department had  daily Webex meetings, which  helped us  stay connected and get up to date information.  We also had a  SharePoint tab  created to share pictures of our workspace, and any other pictures that we wanted to share, they are pretty funny , some with cats stepping on  keyboards, or lying on the table near the workstations, It also helped to make us feel connected. Once things  smoothed out, It was easier to  concentrate on work.  I feel I have been more productive at home,  less distractions like phones ringing, hearing others’ conversations,  and of no  interruptions.  It has been comforting to be able to check in with my son during the day as he does his schoolwork,we  have time to eat together, and go for a walk more regularly.   Another factor that contributes to feeling more productive is that overall, I feel less stressed.  The  feeling of worrying that we’ve done all we need to do before leaving the house – dressing, breakfast, lunch making,  Do I have my phone?, Is there enough gas in the car?etc.  Then there’s the commute, whether you drive or take public transportation, you’re always worried about being on time.  Most  of that disappears while working remotely, and it creates a less hectic atmosphere about work.

Click here to connect with more SHARE’D Stories

The pandemic has changed the world, and  we are all wondering what the “new normal” will be.  I am hopeful that it will cause people to be more mindful of the present and appreciate what we have today, because tomorrow is not promised.      

SHARE Survey about Working During COVID -- Please Fill It Out!

This has been a very challenging time for many SHARE members. The Corona virus pandemic brought huge changes and really hard work for lots of people. Unfortunately, experts are predicting that COVID-19 isn’t going away any time soon, and we may face another surge in the future. 

As the SHARE union, we want to figure out what we can do to both improve working conditions for staff as well as improve care for our patients, when and if another surge comes. Please fill out the following survey so we can learn what went well and what needs to be improved in the future. If you have any questions about the survey, or would like to provide more feedback about your experience, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Note also that the SHARE website recently added:

• a clarification about the hospital’s temporary new Earned/Vacation/Care Time cap, and

• more SHARE’D Stories, spotlighting individual SHARE members, and the work that you do for our community

Thank you for everything you do!

Clarifying the Temporary Change to the Earned/Vacation Cap Policy

The COVID surge has required some employees of UMass Memorial to cancel vacations, and therefore build up more time in their banks that they have not been able to use. You may have heard that management has therefore decided to temporarily increase the amount of time that an employee can accrue in their bank (Earned Time, Vacation Time, or Care Time). 

The caps have changed to avoid punishing those who have worked through the COVID surge. This change primarily benefits employees and managers who already had lower caps, and who cannot carry over hours at the end of the year. Because SHARE’s contract agreement with the hospital doesn’t include this kind of “use-it-or-lose-it" stipulation about accrued time; because our Contract allows members to cash-out some of their unused time; and because most SHARE members have been able to take their scheduled vacations this year, most members will not find this policy change provides any additional benefit. 

There are no accrual rate changes associated with this temporary policy. Also, the hospital intends for SHARE members to continue to schedule and take vacations as usual . . . no change there. 

The new temporary policy is being applied retroactively to 5/3/2020. The caps will go back down to normal on 12/31/2022.  

Member Spotlight: Nancy Bickford, Unit Secretary

Nancy Bickford

Unit Secretary, Memorial Campus West 3, 6/1/20

I just want to say “Kudos to everyone for how hard they are working” 

I pick up extra shifts on some of the COVID floors. Some of the positive outcomes of taking care of patients with the COVID virus has been the strengthening of the TEAM WORK on all the floors.  We have had new practice changes and policies take place regarding supplies, precautions, PPE, the nurses swabbing for COVID, PCA’s covering COVID patients and doing 1:1’s. 

  My most memorable moment: 

Margaret, Nancy, and Rebecca on West 3

To see everyone working together as a team by brainstorming, helping each other problem solve, education of the PPE, bringing supplies to the COVID rooms, etc. The staff was fully on board with whatever needed to be done. 

How it works on the COVID floors

The PCA’s are outstanding!  They had to try to conserve PPE while taking care of COVID patients safely.  They had to work with the RN strategically in caring for the COVID patients and while doing 1:1 coverage for a confused COVID patient.  Some of the PCA’s were taking care of 10 patients on the COVID floors and working overtime to help cover the staffing needs. 

The PCA’s assigned to 1:1 COVID patients have to sit outside the patient’s room, watching the patient through the glass window, gowned and gloved with the N95 in their hand ready to go in a patients room as quick as possible when needed. 

Staff changing roles as needed 

RN’s, unit secretaries, labor pool during the COVID crisis had to help in other areas than they normally do on a normal work day.  Unit secretaries and RN’s had to work as runners for the floor to get supplies for the nurse’s taking care of the COVID patients.  RN’s had to also come to the COVID floor from other departments and help pass meds to the staff in a COVID room.  It was tough at certain times for the unit secretaries to do both roles.  The desk, and as a runner to help the staff taking care of the COVID patients by delivering supplies needed when they called the desk via intercom. 

The Labor Pool employees came in from different areas of the hospital such as clinics, registration, etc. to help on the COVID floors.  They really did not want to go in to a COVID patients’ room because they needed education and information on PPE, what to expect while doing a 1:1, and helping on the floor in general.  They were very helpful when they came to our patient floors but were also very nervous. 

Communication and education are the key when any new staff get sent to floors other than their normal position within the hospital. Helping transition the employees to new areas that they are not familiar with is a big part in taking care of the CARETAKER. 

Having more one to one’s from the labor pool would help the PCA’s on the floor be runners for the RN’s in the COVID patients’ rooms. 

Tough Job 

Wearing the PPE is very draining and tiring for the PCA’s, RN’s, and Doctors.  It takes a lot more time to gown in and gown out of a room.  Time management is a key role regarding care of the patient with PPE equipment.  Nurses and PCA’s are caring for the patient, and they may be in one patients’ room for 1 ½ hours for total care, they come out sweating from the PPE. The patient rings again 5 minutes later and the RN and PCA must gown up again to care for the patient’s needs. 

Click here to connect with more SHARE’D Stories

I work evenings, staff on COVID floors are working so hard that they do not even get to eat dinner at a normal time if even at all.  Staff are working 12-16-hour shifts, starting to get burned out. It is tough to eat a meal on a COVID floor.  Healthy food is the key to stay sharp and strong throughout the shift. Healthy snacks do help! 

Employees are now dealing with kids at home and having to be teachers too. Employees are doing a full day’s work before they even get to work. They are exhausted, but still doing a GREAT job! 

Managers are doing a great job with the communication on all the new procedures and policies each day. 

Staff Getting Exposed to Virus 

Some patients squeaked through: They test negative twice, and on the 5th day, they were positive.  We have semi private rooms so any patient under investigation will be moved to a COVID floor.  Symptoms of the COVID virus don’t reveal themselves right away. All staff advised to protect themselves and wear N95.  We cannot tell who is carrying the virus, so we all should be protecting ourselves in this crisis.  

Member Spotlight: Dianne Degon, ASR

Dianne Degon

Access Services Representative, University Campus Radiology, 5/29/20

Dianne Degon has helped keep things running in our hospital’s Radiology Department for over 20 years. But she’s also a real expert when it comes to childcare, and moved quickly to make sense of the Massachusetts Emergency Childcare system when the COVID crisis began. Below, Dianne describes her experience with work and family during the peak of the coronavirus.  

I’m good . . . doing even better than I would have expected. I have been a foster mother for over 30 years and have four adopted children at home: they’re 11, 13, 14, and 16, and two older children: 25 and 26.  I’ve got only one foster right now; he’s seven months old. I met him when he was a one-month old from the NICU.  

While I’m at work, my foster child is in the state’s Emergency Child Care. That program has really worked well for me. Emergency Child Care is different from regular daycare, it covers the hours that you work, and it’s only if you really need it. They look to see if you have anyone else, a spouse or someone else living in your home, who can watch the kids. If you have other options, you don’t qualify. Fees are covered during Emergency Child Care. 

The child care centers get donations and supplies from the state, so they’ve got what they need, like cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer. Daycare providers are required to wear masks and we are required to hand the child at the door and not walk into the home. Parents are required to wear masks dropping off and picking up, but masks won’t apply to little kids, under two, though. Providers are also required to keep 6 feet between kids for social distancing. 

You can go to the EEC website to find the application and search for the emergency childcare providers. You can search by address, or zip code, or town. The hours vary from place to place, and you can find that information online. I was lucky and discovered an in-home provider near me. She’s only taking care of one other kid right now. I’d used her before, so I already knew how good she was, but you can interview first.  

My workdays go really fast. Telehealth is really picking up. We get lots of calls. Our team is doing well, working well with the docs in our area. Since I’m on-site, I’m transferring calls to whichever Nuclear Medicine scheduler is on for the day and also putting in the faxes in for them. The first two weeks [of the pandemic] we were working relatively slowly, but we’ve got the new process down now, and things are smoother, and we’re scheduling faster.  

Click here to connect with more SHARE’D Stories

Often when we schedule something, we have to re-schedule the procedure for a couple weeks later due to the precautions with the virus . . . and we just hope that it doesn’t happen again, that we don’t have to schedule out even further. Thankfully, the patients are really understanding and nice about it.  

My older kids are home. They have to get all of their chores and schoolwork done while I’m at work.  We have a couple of staff who come to the house regularly to provide ABA support. They’ve been really helpful. Thankfully that’s an essential service, and has continued through the shutdown. The kids are all responsible to email their teachers right before I get home, so I get a response from each of their teachers. I set that up that system as soon as the schools were out, so it’s become a good routine. 

Actually, the thing I’m most nervous about is things re-opening, the kids going back to school. Right now, we don’t have the usual trips across town for appointments in the evening, none of the usual sports teams. No rushing to get fast food. We’re eating all homemade meals and then enjoying our together-time in the evenings. The girls are making dinner every night. We can all sit down together to watch TV. It’s been a surprising upside. When things get more back to normal, I’ll definitely want to preserve some of the special habits we've started now. 

***

In this past article from the Telegram & Gazette, you can read about Dianne's experience having fostered over fifty children!