Children's Therapy Center - Bargaining Update—Session Cancelled

We are disappointed to share that management has canceled our upcoming bargaining session—which was scheduled for tomorrow, October 15—stating that their reason for doing so is a proposal which they felt was incomplete or missing information.

Specifically, management referenced our proposed "Caseload" language, which was intended to outline the anticipated workload of the various positions represented in our union contract, and includes factors like whether an employee is serving as a mentor, if they're a specialty coordinator for CHERISH, and so on. The proposed article we shared with the employer on October 3 outlines how different patient requirements are to be calculated together to ensure these are all considered in our overall workload.

After clarifying the language to the employer to show how the calculations would be completed based on the article—our bargaining team came together and drafted an example of a caseload document, which we then shared with the employer.

In summary, we shared that cancelling a session due to questions they have on certain proposal(s) feels counter intuitive to our bargaining team. We are hopeful that we have signaled our willingness to work with the employer and look forward to engaging in discussion and exchange of proposals at our next session on October 28.

Tonight, we have a Contract Action Team committee meeting, the details of which have been emailed out. This will be held with your representative Ian Jacobson and will help clarify any questions you might have.

Contract Action Team Committee Meeting

October 14, 2025
7pm

Children's Therapy Center - Bargaining Update: It's All Out There!

On Friday, October 3, our bargaining team met with management for our second day of negotiations on our first union contract.

We began our second bargaining day putting the finishing touches on what we would later present to the employer as the final few new proposals we expect to make towards our union contract. These primarily consist of the economic sections, some of which we have highlighted below:

Scheduling: A proposal to memorialize existing practices when it comes to our work schedules, particularly our day-to-day flexibility.

Caseloads: We proposed a framework to outline the appropriate day-to-day caseloads for each job classification and proposed earning an hourly premium when maximum caseloads are exceeded for a prolonged period of time.

Premiums: We proposed additional compensation if you hold specialty certifications, train or mentor new employees, are qualified to care for patients who are deaf/hard of hearing or require medically complex feeding, and more!

Health Insurance: Proposed that the employer pay more towards the cost of our health insurance premiums.

Continuing Education: We proposed to increase the amount of money available to employees for continuing education related expenses, as well as an increase to the paid education time we can utilize.

Wages and Placement on the Wage Scale: We proposed union wage scales which outline set increases for both continued years of experience and future cost-of-living adjustments. Furthermore, our bargaining team proposed a pathway for current employees to be placed onto these wage scales, incorporating credit for our relevant experience in our positions.

After presenting our initial proposals to the employer, they asked a couple of clarifying questions and went back to their caucus room to continue reviewing/discussing. Overall, our team were encouraged that the employer indicated that our proposals were thorough and straightforward. We are eager to get back to the bargaining table and remain hopeful that we will get responses to our proposals from the employer at our session scheduled for October 15.

Join our Contract Action Team Meeting to ask members of our bargaining team questions about our progress so far, and discuss next steps as first contract negotiations continue!

Bargaining Team: Lindsey Gilbert, Family Resource Coordinator; Ronda Duluoz, Infant Mental Health; Megan Rupert, Special Educator

"We're feeling great about the progress so far! Two sessions down, and all of our proposals are on the table!"

— Megan Rupert, Special Educato

Children's Therapy Center - Bargaining Update - Looking ahead

On Wednesday, August 27, our bargaining team met with management for our first official day of negotiations on our first union contract and it was a really productive day!

We began our first bargaining day putting the finishing touches on what we would later present to the employer as our initial contract proposal. Our initial proposal primarily focused on some of the "non-economic" (may not directly relate to money) workplace protections and union rights we hope to win in this process, for instance:

Union Representation: This section establishes union stewards, who are one of us, elected by us, to help in grievance and investigatory matters like Weingarten meetings. A Weingarten meeting is an investigatory meeting conducted by management which could lead to discipline.

Just Cause: We also proposed just cause, which means that there needs to be progressive discipline, rather than the employer having the ability to fire us at-will. They have to document every infraction and we have an opportunity to dispute it if that discipline is unfair or goes against what the contract says.

Labor Management Committee: This is a committee where management has to hear our concerns about working conditions and the administration of the agreement.

Grievance Procedure: Grievance procedures are important to help us enforce our contract, whether related to discipline, scheduling, pay, etc.

After presenting our initial proposals to the employer, we spent the remainder of the day discussing and finalizing proposals to provide to the employer at our next session, including economics (wages, premiums, and more!).

We have scheduled our first Contract Action Team Meeting from 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM, where members of the bargaining team will be available (with the representative Ian Jacobson from the union).

Bargaining Team: Lindsey Gilbert, Mali Olson and Ronda Duluoz

"Day one down!!"