HCA Southern California Bargaining Update

More than 40 elected SEIU 121RN and UHW bargaining committee members from Riverside Community Hospital, Los Robles and West Hills and sisters and brothers from HCA's San Jose Hospitals met with management's 17 member team on April 17 & 18.  The energy was high as members gave passionate explanations of our proposals.

The tradition is for the Union to spend the first few days presenting our "non economic" proposals, and so that's what we did.  We will present the rest of our non economic proposals in bargaining on 4/24 and 4/25.  We'll be presenting wage and benefit proposals (including wage scales, pension and retiree health) in later sessions.  

A short summary of the first set of proposals we presented:

• The hospitals should make "every effort" to avoid call offs and layoffs
• If someone is called off, they would still accrue benefits and can drawn on a Call Off Time Credit, in addition to PTO .
• Strong Safe Staffing language with the right to arbitration.
• Eliminate the "Management Rights" section.
• No Subcontracting: No more exception allowing management to subcontract to HCA subsidiaries..
• No use of managers to do bargaining unit work except in real emergencies, and no use of volunteers or people in job training programs to displace employees.
• No mandatory overtime.
• Allow stewards and reps to participate in new employee orientations.
• Paid time for union stewards so they can best represent members
• Improved access to the hospital for union reps and off duty stewards
• Workers who make a full or part time commitment to our Hospitals should always have first priority for job bidding, avoiding layoffs, call offs and scheduling relative to per diems, and per diems have priority over temps and travelers.
• Better rules to create benefited positions when management is assigning per diems to work full time hours (so fewer workers are denied access to benefits)
• Bidding: Jobs should be awarded to the most senior employees who meets the qualifications – and not by favoritism.  Also: the right to bid on positions at other HCA hospitals.
• Fair rules for distributing extra shifts based on seniority and status; not favoritism.
• The right to return to your position after a medical or union leave of absence and other medical leave improvements.
• Better education and training benefits and leave
• More proposals to be presented on the 24th and 25th.

We also showing that all Catholic Healthcare West, Kaiser and Daughters of Charity hospitals in the state have agreed to most of these standards, as have many California independent hospitals and most Sutter hospitals.  And many of these standards have already been won by SEIU at HCA's San Jose Hospitals.

All members are welcome and invited to join our elected
Bargaining Committee at Negotiations

·  When:     April 24 starting at 9am and April 25 starting at 9am

·  Where:  Pasadena Convention Center, 300 East Green Street, Pasadena (Close to the 210)