SHARE at ummhc
SHARE, also known as AFSCME Local 3900, represents over 3,000 staff working at numerous UMass Memorial locations within administrative, technical, and patient care positions. We work on the inpatient floors, in ambulatory clinics, scheduling, billing, community clinics, radiology, and respiratory areas. We care deeply about our patients and strive to give the best care. Our members make economic progress and have job security, and we formalized a Labor-Management Partnership with UMass Memorial Medical Center in 2016. Through partnership, we are better able to have a say about how work gets done to improve our work experience. In 2022, we celebrated our 25th anniversary as a union.
Our History
In 1997, the State Healthcare and Research Employees Union (SHARE) was formed when it was voted into existence by UMass Memorial employees. At the time, it was one union local, representing 2,200 employees. When UMass Memorial privatized, the hospital become a separate employer from UMass Medical School, and we necessarily forged two separate union locals and contracts with each employer. In 2018, employees at UMass Memorial Marlborough Hospital voted to become union members, too. Today, our union represents over 3,200 employees in our three locals. Over time, we’ve worked to cultivate a unique culture in each of our workplaces, growing and evolving in partnership and alongside our employers.
WE CONNECT WITH OUR COMMUNITY
We share our vision with sister unions at Harvard University represented by the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) and at Cambridge Health Alliance represented by the Union of Social Workers(USW). Combined, we form the New England Organizing Project (NEOP).
We promote our own union model as a viable alternative for organizing existing unions. Our unions are also affiliated with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a national union representing over a million members.
Additionally, we’re constantly studying and connecting with other local, national, and international groups to cultivate the best community we can. We do this informally, connecting with local organizations and initiatives, as well as through institutions such as the Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA), the Harvard Trade Union Program (HTUP), and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).
WE BELIEVE IN WHAT WE DO
In our workplaces, we support cutting edge research, save lives, and push toward important goals. We support ambitious missions in research, education, and patient care at UMass Medical School UMass Memorial Medical Center, and UMass Memrorial Marlborough Hospital. These institutions work because we do.
On the clock, we work in many different job titles, performing countless roles. In addition to our work at UMass, we’re mothers, fathers, artists, leaders in our local towns and cities, ukelele players, cooks, entrepreneurs, world-travelers, knitters, readers, and softball players.
We have deep, deep roots here. It sometimes seems hard to believe now, but we we’ve been innovating and saving lives since before computers and antimicrobial gel. As we move forward, SHARE continues to innovate, and incorporate new members and fresh perspectives every day.