Why the current education fund isn't working for SEIU-UHW members at CHW
Our contract with CHW guarantees a payment every year into the "SEIU UHW-West and Joint Employer Education Fund." Unfortunately, our voice in the fund is still controlled by John Borsos, Sal Rosselli, and other former UHW officials who were removed from union office last year.
Our SEIU-UHW contract guarantees money every year from CHW for member education. But for the past several years, members haven't been in control of the money. Very few of us at CHW have taken advantage of this important benefit--or even know about it.
In part, that's because John Borsos and other former leaders of UHW who were removed from office are still in charge of our education money. We don't control it, and most of us can't use it.
Better Pension + Better Pay = Better Quality Care
Representatives of our SEIU-UHW member-elected bargaining team met again with management on July 23 to discuss ways to fix our pension and improve collateral pay (shift differentials, standby pay, etc) at CHW. Improvements to our pay and benefits will help recruit and retain the best, most experienced employees--so we can give the best quality care to our patients.
Over the last several months, CHW members have been electing new members to serve as stewards in our worksites. On June 27, CHW stewards joined other SEIU-UHW stewards at training sessions throughout the state. Experienced UHW members lead the training, and now we'll be better equipped to help members enforce our contract and re-build a strong, thriving local union.
Together, we're making sure every member in every CHW facility is represented and has a strong voice.
Get involved today! E-mail: Your.CHW.Team@seiu-uhw.org »
SEIU-UHW members are bargaining serious improvements to our pensions and collateral pay (shift differentials, on-call pay). But the former officers of our local who were removed for misusing our dues money formed a rival organization called NUHW for the sole purpose of destroying all that we have built.
More than once, NUHW has tried filing for a decertification election at our CHW facilities, and lost. Once again, the Federal government's National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is saying "NO" to NUHW's attempts to divide and distract us.
Our 2009 bargaining team has grown to 43, with more elections to come!
We all deserve a fair retirement. That's why, as members of the member-elected bargaining team at CHW, we proposed a new pension plan at our last session bargaining session (June 26 in Sacramento). Our goal has always been to improve the current plan by making it fairer and linking our retirement to our final salary. Here's what we propose:
- Base our pension on our final year's salary, instead of our pay as of January 1, 2005.
- Replace the current "tiers" in the GDP with a percentage of our final salary. This is a much fairer system. It allows our retirement income to grow in proportion to our salary.
- Use accrued extended sick leave to boost our retirement income.
Our SEIU-UHW member-elected bargaining team continues to push management for some much-needed improvements to the way our current pension plan is calculated. Our SEIU-UHW contract states that CHW must increase costs by $2 million per year to improve our pension plan.
Our financial experts have completed their analysis of the current pension plan, and the ways we can improve it with the $2 million from CHW. Even better, since we have forced CHW management to give us more detailed information, we now know we can do even more for members with that $2 million than we thought!
All 14,000 UHW-SEIU members at 32 CHW hospitals are getting a raise this month! As laid out in our October 2008 contract, ratified by rank-and-file members, CHW workers will get raises up to 7 percent, and are moving to a new--higher--pay scale.
Get the details from our Q&A. For more information, or inquiries on the raises or wage scale, contact Your.CHW.Team@seiu-uhw.org.
This past week, UHW-SEIU members at four more facilities voted to elect additional bargaining team members and alternates to represent us in CHW-wide negotiations with management over improvements to the retirement system and collateral pay.
The votes are in and we're happy to announce that our new bargaining representatives at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, Methodist Hospital in Sacramento, and Woodland Hospital and Clinic in Woodland are:
Bargainers
Ryan Graff, radiology, Dominican Hospital
Irene Gourdine, EVS, Methodist Hospital
Brian Halverson, engineering, Woodland Hospital/Clinic
Mark Nielsen, CSPD, Methodist Hospital
Richard San Miguel, respiratory, Dominican Hospital
Henry (Buck) Williamson, engineering, Woodland Hospital/Clinic
Alternates
Cesario Castillo, housekeeping, Dominican Hospital
Debbie Cumbuss, EVS, Methodist Hospital
Efren Orozco, Nursing, Methodist Hospital
Marjorie Pereira, CNA-2 West, Dominican Hospital
Julia Paredes, CSPD, Woodland Hospital/Clinic
Alicia Hernandez, EVS, Woodland Hospital/Clinic
Now we can make sure that our members are represented and have a strong voice at the table with the rest of our CHW co-workers. These latest elections bring our team to 38 rank-and-file bargainers and 28 alternates representing 20 CHW hospitals statewide.
"I'm looking forward to being on the team that is bargaining to better a retirement plan for our members at Methodist." -Irene Gourdine, Methodist Hospital
"We can't forget that we are the union--we make this work. We need to stay strong, united, involved, and stand up for what we believe - negotiations and bargaining." -Ryan Graff, Dominican Hospital
"In all fairness to our members, we need to move forward with bargaining. The most important elements for the success of UHW-SEIU are leadership, solidarity, and a strong bargaining team. Let's move forward." -Richard San Miguel, Dominican Hospital
Download the full flyer to see more photos and quotes from CHW members (English/Spanish)
Over the past few weeks, SEIU UHW members at facilities across the state have been voting to elect two new bargaining team members and alternates to represent us in CHW-wide negotiations over improvements to the retirement system and collateral pay.
The votes are in and we're happy to announce that our new bargaining representatives are:
BARGAINERS
Jonathan Abraham, Respiratory Therapy, St. Joseph-Stockton
Frank Valdez, Transport, St. Joseph-Stockton
Betty Davis, Patient Registration, Mercy General
Kim Atherton, Respiratory Therapist, Mercy San Juan (MSJ)
Bob Lewis, Transporter, St. Mary's San Francisco
Kathryn Parkinson, Nuclear Med Tech
ALTERNATES
Eva Billips, CNA, St. Joseph-Stockton
Juan Avlia, Laboratory, St. Joseph-Stockton
Debbie Patton, Environmental Services, Mercy General
Geraldine Regalado, Environmental Services, Mercy General
Teresita Tolentino-Stanley, ED Charge Assistant, MSJ
Tim Forrest, Cook, MSJ
Tammy Gonzales, Outpatient Registration, St. Mary's (SF)
Donna Clark, EEG/Vascular, St. Mary's (SF)
Click here to download English/Spanish version.
SEIU UHW members with Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums
President Obama says he wants to move a comprehensive healthcare reform bill in 100 days. As part of that effort, on April 6th, SEIU UHW members from CHW participated in White House Regional Forums on Health Reform in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, and Clovis which is just outside of Fresno. The event was led by Governor Schwarzenegger and President Obama's Domestic Policy Director, Melody Barnes.
Virginia Hoover, a Radiology and CT Tech from CHW St. John's Pleasant Valley discussed how her perspective on the healthcare system was forever changed last year after an accident left her financially devastated by medical bills.
Which is more important in your next contract?