Providence St. Peter Hospital Professionals Money on the table!
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On Wednesday, October 1, our union Professionals Bargaining Team met with Providence for our fourth (4) session of first contract negotiations. At the session prior to today (September 4) our team had officially gotten the last of our new proposals on the table- which means now our bargaining days would primarily consist of exchanging counterproposals back and forth with Providence- until we reach mutually agreed upon language (also known as tentative agreements)- & to date we have already reached more than thirty (30!) tentative agreements on individual contract articles.
Most notably at our session on the October1, Management presented their first economic counterproposal. Similar to our proposal, the Employer’s proposals for the economic sections of our contract outlined topics such as premiums for those of us who work second or third shift, employees who hold specialty certifications or perform preceptor duties, as well as wage scales (which guarantee multiple pay increases throughout the term of our initial union contract).
Despite the sections of the Employer’s proposal where we identified similarities, the differences also stood out to our team; most notably, Providence’s proposal on how current Professionals at PSPH would be placed on the union wage scales. Where we proposed employees should be paid based on the step of the wage scale which aligns with years of experience in related job classifications- Providence’s proposal instead aims to attach us to the wage scale based more on what our current rates of pay are. Considering the number of surrounding union contracts which provide credit towards previous experience- we see this as a significant priority ensure pay equity within each department, but also in rewarding PSPH Professionals for their continued years of service- affording us the skills and qualities that Providence rely on to care for our patients.
Join our upcoming Contract Action Team Meeting to discuss progress at the table, & next-steps to continue pushing towards our first union contract!
Contract Action Team Meeting October 8 at 5:30PM Join Zoom Meeting >>
Our team is eager to continue exchanging proposals with management & look forward to the ongoing discussions at our next bargaining sessions, scheduled for October 23 & 24.
Our Union Bargaining Team: Rita Palmquist, Case Manager MSW; Elise Steinmetz, Physical Therapist; Sydney Lobdell, Dietitian; -Kristine Pepper, Clinical Pharmacist; Brenda Arend, Speech Language Pathologist; Diana Herr, Senior Medical Laboratory Scientist.
