| Dear Technical Professionals, We reached a Tentative Agreement on our next contract! Before I get into the details of the agreement and next steps, I want to say how grateful I am to organize with all of you. The dedication that so many of you showed, especially our Bargaining Team members, was truly inspiring. It was only through our collective efforts that we were able to win a much improved contract.In terms of the Tentative Agreement, we made significant gains both in terms of our compensation and rights at work such that our Bargaining Team is recommending a YES vote. I’ve compiled a more complete summary of our contract wins than what we shared this morning below. It is, however, just that- a summary. I encourage you all to review the full tentative agreement and wage scale before casting your vote on our contract. As with any Tentative Agreement, all Technical Professionals who are union members are able to vote on its final ratification. Voting will begin tomorrow, Saturday, February 25, at 12PM and run through Wednesday, March 1 at 5PM. The vote will be conducted electronically using a program called Election Runner. You will receive your ballot and instructions on how to vote via email to your work email, so please keep an eye out for that. Please feel free to be in touch with any questions regarding the Tentative Agreement or the voting process. In Solidarity, Nicole DiVita VP, VFNHP Technical Professionals TECHNICAL PROFESSIONALS TENTATIVE AGREEMENT SUMMARY Articles 22-Wages, 23-Differentials, & 24 On-Call March 2023 -Minimum of 6.5% base wage increase for all Technical Professionals. Go here for the full wage scale. -Minimum hourly wage: $19.66 -On-Call increases to $6.00/hr -On-Call bonus -Moving all Technical Professionals to the higher differential rate (Level B) and eliminate the lower differential rate (Level A). -Evening differential increases to $2.50/hr -Nights differential increases to $6.00/hr -Weekend differential increases to $3.50/hr -Per Diem differential increases to $2.00/hr -Charge differential increases to $3.00/hr and includes all units with a Charge role (Imaging, RT, CSR, ED) -New Float differential of $2.00/hr -Preserve current RT Transport differential -Preserve CSR weekend bonus June 2023 -Step adjustment to give Imaging Techs full credit for experience in other Imaging Technologist modalities October 2023 -6% wage increase (4% base wage increase plus a 2% step (or 2% bonus for those at top step) -Minimum hourly wage goes to $20.45 -Evening differential increases to $2.75/hr -Night differential increases to $6.50/hr -New Preceptor differential of $2.00/hr when precepting Technical Professionals, Nurses or Travelers October 2024 -5% wage increase (3% base wage increase plus a 2% step) -Creation of Step 23 so that those at the top of the scale get a full step increase instead of a bonus October 2025 5% wage increase (3% base wage increase plus a 2% step) -Creation of Step 24 so that those at the top of the scale get a full step increase instead of a bonus Article 4- Union Access -400 union hours/fiscal yearUp to 200 unused hours in any fiscal year will be added to the total of the next fiscal year. If hours are exhausted in any fiscal year, the Union may use hours from the following fiscal year. Article 7- Non-Discrimination Training for all employees on responding to discriminatory acts or statements made by patients or other employees. Article 9- Per Diem -Allow 50 hours of annual 300 hours requirement to be fulfilled by experience in same or similar position elsewhere (OR, Imaging Tech, Critical Care, ED only). -Require minimum of 1 per diem per 7 FTEs in: ED, Critical Care Transport, RT, OR, and Imaging cost centers with at least 7 FTEs. -Increase night shift bonus, for per diems who work at least 300 night shift hours, to $3 per hour Article10A- Orientation -Employees will not have independent patient assignments until fully trained.Training provided before implementing new procedures or equipment. Article 11- Seniority -Imaging Technologists who regularly work in two or more modalities and transfer to a position in a cost center that provides the service of one of their modalities, their Cost Center Seniority date shall be the date on which the they started providing services in the modality of that Cost Center. -Imaging Technologists working in Diagnostic Outpatient Radiology, who previously worked in the now-dissolved orthopedic center, shall retain their Cost Center Seniority as if they had been working in Diagnostic Outpatient Radiology. Article 16- Layoff/Furlough -Adds ability to be furloughed instead of laid off upon a State or federally declared emergency, in the event of other emergent circumstances that cease or significantly limit UVMMC’s normal business operations, or with the mutual agreement of the Union Article 18- Hours of Work/Scheduling -Preserve ability of those who currently work straight shifts to continue to do so, requests to switch to straight shifts will not be unreasonably denied. -Add HIM and Professional Coding employees to those entitled to work straight shifts -Entitle OR techs to combine meal and paid breaks into 1-hour break Article 18A- Scheduling Vacation/CTO -An employee with an approved vacation will not have their vacation denied because of a change in their shift/schedule. -Guaranteed vacation slots: Technical Professionals shall be permitted to receive approved time off as follows: · In Transport, one employee per discipline (EMT, paramedic), per day; · In Respiratory Therapy, two employees per shift. · In all other Cost Centers: -24/7 cost centers, at least one employee per shift -Non-24/7 cost centers, at least one employee per day -Cost Centers with 25 or more FTEs, at least one additional employee per day. · None of these requirements shall decrease existing practice. Article 18B- Summer Bonus In all units, at least one Summer CTO Bonus will be offered. -In all Cost Centers with at least 10 unit FTEs, at least two Summer CTO Bonuses will be offered. -Increase bonus to $1,500 -Add $1,000 bonus when majority of Summer hours worked on evenings and/or weekends. Article 19- Overtime -Urgent pay will not be denied in any pay period for a single absence which does not exceed four and one-half hours. (Used to be 4 hrs) Article 20B, Unit Staffing Collaboratives -Allow either party to request USC for a unit. Article 21- Floating -Pain Management, CT, Diagnostic Radiology (IP & OP), Magnetic Resonance, Nuclear Medicine, Breast Imaging, Diagnostic Ultrasound, Interventional Radiology, Endocrinology, Cardiology Non-Invasive, MFMS/VPC (Women’s), Vascular Surgery, Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, Dermatology added to list of units from which Technical Professionals cannot be involuntarily floated. Article 24-On-Call (in addition to call pay increases above) -Employees have preference for on-call shifts over Traveler/Agency staffManagers allowed to offer Temporary Called In-On Call 2X, at least until June 9, 2023 Article 25- Holidays -CBA automatically amended to add new holidays recognized by Hospital on organization-wide basis. -Allow employees entitled to reasonable accommodation for observance of religious holidays to use paid time off. Article 28-Certification -With prior approval, employees may complete mandatories off-site and such scheduled time will be paid. Article 29- Educational Reimbursement -Increase conference budget to $100,000 -Increase conference days to 450. -Allow unused monies to be applied to professional society dues and then rolled over to next fiscal year. -Increase scholarships to 4 Article 31- Retirement -UVMMC will hold a retirement education meeting at least 2x/year. Article 43- Health & Safety -All employees entitled to de-escalation and workplace safety training,Technical Professionals ensured a seat a the table in negotiations/meetings with UVMMC and Nurses about ED safety. -Create safety committees for CNL, Diagnostic Ultrasound, and UVM Healthnet Cost Centers and require first meeting within 15 days of executed agreement. Article 45- Parking -Imaging Technologists who split locations during a single shift between the main campus and an off-campus location shall be guaranteed free on-site parking in the ACC or McClure parking garage while working at the main campus. -Add OP Diagnostic Radiology, MRI, Interventional Radiology, CT, Cardiology Non-Invasive, and Nuclear Medicine to those guaranteed free on-site parking in the ACC or McClure parking garage on days they are pre-scheduled for on-call immediately following a scheduled shift. Article 46- Labor Management Committee -Technical Professionals will join nurses on this committee Article 47-Clothing -Require Hospital to meet with VFNHP upon the declaration of a pandemic to review policies, procedures and protocols for providing employees with PPE or clothing necessary to properly maintain patient and staff safety. Article 50- Duration -Contract expires on April 30, 2026 |
