Five Tidbit Friday: September 18, 2015

Happy Chocolate Day! If you're on the University Campus today, please stop by to enjoy some tasty treats and good fun hosted by our sister SHARE union at UMass Medical School. The festivities will run from 11:30-2:00 in the Faculty Conference Room adjoining the main UMMS lobby. Everyone is welcome.

This Labor Day yielded a bumper crop of media pieces about work and unions. This week’s Five Tidbit Friday rounds up some recent worthwhile reads (and a video) about wage inequality, the minimum wage, the decline of the middle class, and what we can do about these things.


  • In this video, economist and former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich explains why Americans need stronger unions.

  • In “America Doesn’t Need a Raise, We Need a New National Norm for Wage Growth”  MIT Professor of Work and Employment Research and Engineering Systems, Thomas Kochan, makes a call to “reverse three decades of wage stagnation and rising income inequality,” pointing out that “analysts have begun to recognize that the long-term decline in unions and worker bargaining power accounts for a sizable portion of the problem.” He encourages readers to “rally around a simple norm that all workers should share fairly in the economic growth they help produce.”

  • This recent Op-Ed piece published in the LA Daily News, “Americans Should Think Bigger than $15 an Hour for this Labor Day” was written by Cherri Senders. (Senders serves as founder and publisher of www.labor411.org, a consumer guide to goods and services whose employers treat their workers fairly with good wages, benefits and working conditions.) Although there are lots of good reasons to increase the national minimum wage, Senders argues that “a $15 minimum wage is hardly a panacea for a country whose middle class has been declining for more than 30 years.”

  • Here, Ralph Nader gives his explanation of “Why Labor Day Matters,” claiming that “commercialists have transformed Labor Day into a reason for shopping. The fact that Labor Day was conceived as an occasion dedicated to America's workers and what they have endured is sadly under-acknowledged and unappreciated.”

  • And, finally, this longread. “Can Millennials Save Unions,” which appeared in a recent issue of The Atlantic, speculates about the future of labor by looking closely at events in the news right now. It’s worth the time. But, if you want a quick summary, we’ll just mention that this article . . .
    • Traces recent union organizing at Gawker and Salon, in the NCAA, and at NYU.
    • Describes how millennials’ values overlap those of unions. (Speaking about a large-scale survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the article claims that "Without discussing unions at all, the firm . . . found that younger workers share concerns for some of the very things that unions have sought for generations.")
    • Explains that lack of work experience, and particularly experience with unions, leaves millennials with questions about unionization, and skepticism about established union hierarchies.
    • Points out that, "In general, if you ask the majority of workers, ‘If you could have a union, would you like that?’ they say yes, but the opportunity to do that is rather limited” because of broken labor laws and widespread employer opposition.
    • And, too, goes on to predict challenges to the future of organized labor.

Want more tidbits? Just click the “Tidbit” label in the sidebar (or here). Then your screen will fill up with every tidbit we’ve ever posted. (We only started last month, so it’s easy to catch up.) See you here next Friday. Hope you have a great weekend.

Congratulations to the Winner of the Murray Wagner Laughlin Scholarship


Congratulations to Xoyoan X. Colon Vega, who was awarded the Murray Wagner Loughlin Scholarship at this year's Central Massachusetts AFL-CIO Annual Labor Day Breakfast.

While the Labor Day breakfast up the Pike in Boston captured the national spotlight this year with President Obama and Labor Secretary Perez in attendance, the Central Massachusetts AFL-CIO hosted another inspired and dignified event. Attendees included union members and leaders from throughout the region, as well as leaders from the United Way, Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty, and Attorney General Maura Healey. The breakfast featured a keynote address from Congressman Jim McGovern.

Xoyoan is entering college to study automotive mechanics. His father works professionally on large truck engines, and Xoyan is considering that path, too. Xoyoan's mother, Ana Myriam Vega, is a former SHARE member, having worked as a senior administrative secretary in the Department of Pediatric Surgery. 

 Laurie Lynch, a member of the SHARE union organizing staff who also attended the breakfast, said that Xoyoan told her he was extremely grateful to our union for the award. He also wanted to express his faith by sharing a Christian Bible verse that he finds meaningful, Isaiah 12: 2, which reads, "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation."

This year, a total of $13,500 was awarded to nineteen scholarship recipients. The scholarships are presented each year to graduating high school seniors who will be going on to college. The student must be a member of a union local affiliated with the Mass AFL-CIO, or the child or grandchild of a member. The program intends to expand its scholarship offerings next year. SHARE typically receives announcements for the AFL-CIO scholarships in March. Keep your eye on this blog, where we will pass along any news of scholarship opportunities made available to SHARE members.


Sticking Together - Lessons from Next Door

If you work on the University campus, you may notice that some SHARE members, those who work for UMass Medical School, are currently getting copies of a new union contract. Last year, our sister union settled a good agreement with the University. (The School SHARE local has almost 500 members, state employees, with a separate contract from our 2,600-member Hospital SHARE local.) 

It was a year-and-a-half long contract campaign and, among other things, the members created this beautiful signature poster, supporting their negotiating team:



The poster is a positive statement about who the union's members are, the work that they do, and what they care about. And, at the same time, the fact that over 80% of the union's members signed their names in support sends an unmistakable message that they were connected, paying attention, and willing to help move negotiations forward.

That message was delivered to the management negotiators, some of whom had raised questions about whether the negotiating team was really representing the interests of the other members. Answering that question, firmly and respectfully, was one important factor in bringing negotiations to a successful conclusion.

A year from now, we will be negotiating our next contract with the Hospital. It is not too early to be thinking about our strategy. The conversations we have with each other now and throughout this process are at least as important as the conversations we will have at the table with the management negotiating team. Stay tuned. We'll be doing lots to prepare, through surveys, and information meetings, and many, many conversations. 



Raises Are Coming in October

In your October 16th paycheck, you should notice an uptick in your pay. The last of the four SHARE raises negotiated under the current negotiated agreement with UMass Memorial will become effective at the beginning of the 10/3/15 pay period.

The raise averages 3%. It includes two components: an across-the-board raise that all SHARE members will receive, and an increment raise that recognizes all of the SHARE members who have logged another full year of service to the hospital, and keeps everyone moving through their pay grade. More specifically:
  • The raise is $.23 + 2% per hour, for an average of 3%. 
  • The flat rate of $.23 is an average of 1% for SHARE members, and is added to every SHARE member's base pay. 
  • The 2% is added to your base rate if you are below your grade maximum. 
  • If you are at or above your grade maximum, you get the 2% as a one-time bonus. 
  • The grade minimums and maximums will go up by $.23, to keep up with inflation. The additional 2% moves you up within your grade toward your grade maximum, unless you are already at max.
To read the contract language that describes the raises, look here.

The negotiating team will begin negotiating a new contract in the new year, which will be effective October 2016.

Any questions? Call SHARE at 508-929-4020 and leave a message on the general voicemail. One of the SHARE staff will call you back to answer your questions.

Five Tidbit Friday: Eighteenth Anniversary Edition!

Today, September 11th, is rich with historical significance both for our union (SHARE turns 18 years old this week), and also, we remember respectfully, for our country. It’s been a busy time for many of us in SHARE, with Summer ending and the new school year beginning, the Labor Day weekend, preparation for next week’s Chocolate Day, and, it turns out, some nice recognition in the hospital for several SHARE members. Accordingly, here are our five informal, informational tidbits for the week:

  1. We want to say a hearty congratulations to the SHARE members and their colleagues on 5 East, who were named “Innovators of the Year” at this year’s Champions of Excellence Celebration. The event also recognized the important and inventive projects being done by SHARE members in the 3 Lakeside Step-down Unit, 4 East, the Anticoagulation Center, the Family Medicine Clinic, and the Cardiovascular Clinic. Nice work, and congratulations to you all!

  1. SHARE seeks more makers & bakers for Chocolate Day. If you would like to share your own fudgy, crunchy, chocolatey contribution at the festivities next Friday on the University Campus, or your recipes for chocolate goodness, please leave a message at the SHARE office (508-929-4020) or email martha.robb@theshareunion.org for details.

  1. Following up from last week’s Labor Day post and tidbits, we note that Labor Secretary Thomas Perez joined President Obama in Boston to celebrate Labor Day. President Obama signed an Executive Order that requires federal contractors to allow employees who work on Federal contracts to earn up to seven paid sick days a year. This will give about 300,000 working Americans access to paid sick leave for the first time.

Also, before leaving town, Secretary Perez dropped off an op-ed piece at the Boston Globe for Labor Day, in which he writes about the importance of workplace democracy in America, pointing out that “employers need to recognize their responsibility — to their workers and the nation — to help make sure that prosperity is broadly shared,” and that, “We should be amplifying workers’ voices, not silencing them.”

  1. Secretary Perez’s comments jive with a report released earlier this week by the Center for American Progress in conjunction with researchers from Harvard and Wellesley Universities. Entitled Bargaining for the American Dream: What Unions Do for Mobility, the report details their findings, including:

  • Areas with higher union membership demonstrate more mobility for low-income children.
  • Areas with higher union membership have more mobility as measured by all children’s incomes.
  • Children who grow up in union households have better outcomes.

  1. Speaking of chocolate: What?! Your mom never sent you the recipe for Two-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake? You really should know how, in a pinch, to swap out your healthy after-dinner square of dark chocolate for something gooier and more celebratory.

We’re looking forward to more chocolate recipe swaps next week. If you’ll be pedalling in the  UMass Memorial Health Care Caregiver and Family Member Bike Ride tomorrow, ride safe and have fun. See you here next Friday. Hope you have a great weekend.

Five-Tidbit Friday: September 4, 2015

Happy Labor Day! Again, to all of you who are working this holiday weekend, thank you! And, happy new school year. Whether you're helping the students ease into a new year at UMMS, or getting the students in your own home back into the groove, we hope things are off to a smooth start. Here's a handful of things worth noting this week:

  • You've likely seen in the local news that, this Labor Day, President Obama will be around the corner at the 2015 Greater Boston Labor Council Labor Day Breakfast. 
  • But did you know that, leading up to Labor Day, US Labor Secretary Tom Perez has been doing a tour of US cities, meeting with workers around the country? He's been blogging his travels. And it's in that blog where we found this statement, in the entry about his Detroit stop: For generations, there has been a direct link − not just correlation, but direct causation − between a thriving middle class and a vibrant labor movement. Membership in a union lifts up workers, empowering them with a voice on the job that translates into better pay and benefits. 
  • Of course, there's still much to do to strengthen the middle class. For example, millions of working people don't get time off for holidays or vacations, including Labor Day. We're looking forward to more vibrancy, doing more good work through our own Union. And we're excited to see groups like Raise Up Massachusetts and Fight for 15 pushing to make paid family and medical leave, and a living wage, a reality in the communities around us.  
  • September is also Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Thanks to advances in research and treatment, the five-year survival rate is 83 percent for all childhood cancers combined, up from 58 percent in the mid-1970s. We're grateful to have fantastic Pediatric Cancer care in our own hospital, for local resources such as Why Me and Sherry's House which do so much to support patients and their families in hard times, and that, as always, the Boston Red Sox are coming out big in support of childhood cancer cures.
  • And, finally, SHARE turns eighteen this month! In 1997, on September 9th, 10th, and 11th, SHARE members voted in favor of having a union, and having a greater say in their worklives, and in making UMass Memorial and UMass Medical School better places to work and receive care. Happy birthday, everybody!
See you here next Friday. Hope you have a great weekend.

Labor Day


Happy Labor Day! Of course, in a hospital, no holiday is a break for everyone. Thank you to those of you who will be caring for patients and keeping our hospital running this Labor Day weekend.

In honor of the occasion, we've reprinted this op-ed piece that ran in the Boston Globe a few years ago. It contains some important ideas for unions. The letter was written by representatives of two of our sister unions, unions that have worked closely with SHARE, and who share our values and vision. Enjoy!



A Conversation with Alana Wesson

As a first installment in a series of profiles of SHARE leaders and members, we present: Alana Wesson! Alana is a Worcester native. She worked at the Memorial Hospital for 35 years, wearing a range of hats, in departments including Bed-Control, the EICU, and on many of the nursing floors at Memorial. (She spent a year at Hahnemann, too, but who's counting?) Alana spent some of that time as SHARE co-president, before joining the SHARE staff as a full-time organizer.


And now, we are sorry to say, Alana has rented herself a condo near the coast. She works at a charming little inn, and intends to spend as much of her time as she can combing the shore for beach glass.

Alana has been a good friend to many in our hospital community. I’m really lucky to have been one of them. I wanted to ask Alana for a few candid thoughts about her work in the hospital and with our union, for posterity, and, more selfishly, for advice. Here’s how that conversation went . . .
KD: What’s been your favorite job?

AW: Bed control. I served a lot of people in that job, a lot of patients. And doctors, and the OR. I made a really broad range of connections. I liked being able to build rapport with everyone, and helping people, expediting funeral arrangements for families, helping them sort out hard times.

KD: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever had to do in the hospital.


AW: In the old days, it was a lot different. A lot of weird things. Once, when I was working a clerical job, I got sent to the the morgue to search out paperwork that had been left with a patient. Another time I was threatened with a gun. It was over the phone, but still, scary before the police met up with him. Then there was the psych patient who got pretty attached to me. That was something. Not romantic or anything. Really sweet, actually. He was a smart kid. It was just so much different. One time, my husband’s dog got a fishing lure stuck in his mouth, and an intern offered to meet up with them in the ER and take it out.

KD: What do you find to be changing in the hospital over the years?

AW: If you talk to people who’ve been around the hospital for a while, they say “there’s less laughter now.”

KD: Well, there are definitely fewer dogs. How was the hospital more fun before?

AW: Everyone was like family . . . nobody felt as though their titles made them better. Doctors, PCA’s, housekeepers, we were all friends. We even had strong bonds with patients. Sometimes I’d go to lunch and take it in a patient’s room. Everybody knew and helped everybody.

KD: Is the workload too heavy now?

AW: It’s always been a lot. I couldn’t have worked any harder back then. Some days I left work with chest pains. I don’t think it’s the workload.

KD: How much do you think it was because everybody knew everybody in the hospital?

AW: Well, yeah, that’s part of it. But PCA’s weren’t there forever. There were always new faces. We just all felt like we were part of a community that took care of each other. We knew each others’ kids and husbands. We vented. We supported each other. We had a lot of fun and took care of patients. Going to work was a pleasure.

KD: There’s nothing like working with good people. What do you think makes for a good supervisor?

AW:  I think they’re somebody who’s got your back. I had great managers when I was working the nursing floors. If we got going too much, one boss would come out and ask, “What? Is there a comedy routine out here?” We knew she was for her workers. We respected her. If she was disappointed, that’s all it took to get us back on track.

KD: What’s your biggest disappointment as a SHARE rep?

AW: There’s one particular member, I couldn’t save her job. She was making so many mistakes and the manager wanted to get rid of her.

KD: Did you ever surprise yourself with your abilities?

AW: Before I came to SHARE, I never thought I’d represent anyone in a mediation. I'll never forget the first time I realized that I could help someone get her job back. I really knew what I was doing. I had developed relationships with everyone in the department. It was obvious that this woman’s manager was looking for a way to get rid of her, accusing her of mistakes, disciplining her for “seeming grumpy,” nitpicking things. When this woman was laid off, she had decades of seniority. I could see that coming before it happened. Knowing everyone and knowing the department so well made it even easier to point out all the information they were withholding from the mediator.

KD: That brings up a common complaint about unions: that they spend too much time and money protecting bad employees. How do you respond to that?

AW: I’ve made mistakes. I’ve seen employees termed for making almost the same mistakes. Making a mistake doesn't make you a bad person. It’s not good to make mistakes. But when you’re talking about errors, they have to be attached to the procedure, too. I want things to be fair. Employees need to know that they’re going to have a fair process. That’s the right thing. It shouldn’t seem like a courtroom when you’re talking about a mistake at work. Employees deserve to have someone help them through that.

KD: Chocolate Day is coming. Tell me about your strongest association with the word “Chocolate.”

AW: Right away I think of Cherry Bombs from Wholly Cannoli. They have to be from Wholly Cannoli.

KD: I love those things. They’re awesome. Thank you so much for everything, Alana. We’re really going to miss you.

AW: Thank you. I’m going to miss every single one of you so much.

Five Tidbit Friday: August 28, 2015


This week's Five Tidbit Friday is all about SHARE, a preview of things to come. (Not that there haven't been significant happenings in the outside world, including the NLRB's Browning-Ferris decision earlier this week.) We'll be talking and posting about all of these items with more detail soon:

  • Raises are coming in the first week of October 2015. This raise is the final negotiated raise of the current contract period, which runs until October 2016.
  • Raise time is a smart time to assess your financial plans for retirement, and consider your 401(k) contribution, as we'll discuss in an upcoming post.
  • Of course, we intend to negotiate more raises in the coming contract. We've consistently negotiated strong contracts with good benefits, including our defined-benefit pension and health insurance. We expect the SHARE negotiating team to begin meeting with hospital management next year. This time we're setting our sights on improving our hospital culture. Right now we're having preliminary conversations with SHARE members throughout the hospital system about what we could negotiate to make it feel better to come to work every day.  
  • Speaking of the contract, we've refreshed the "Contract" tab above with a single searchable and printable document. This contract includes all of the current policies and agreements we've negotiated, as well as SHARE's guiding philosophies and principles.
  • And finally, a request: if you'd like to give a shout out to a fellow SHARE member, let us know! Is a SHARE member really helping you in your job? Doing something to make the hospital better? Taking great care of patients? We'd love to recognize them here. Send an email to kirk.davis@theshareunion.org, or call 508-929-4020, and let's share the kudos.

 See you here next Friday. Have a great weekend.

Five Tidbit Friday: August 21, 2015

Welcome to the first installment in a new SHARE blogging experiment: Five Tidbit Friday, five observations about SHARE members and our community, and about the broader world of healthcare, personal health, higher education, labor, workplace issues, etc. Here’s five things we note this week:
  • The UMass Medical Farmers’ Market has gotten really good, with lots of fresh and local food right on the quad. It’s happening every Tuesday from 1-5 pm through October.
  • And, Labor Day is coming. One particularly fitting way to spend the day would be at the Bread & Roses Heritage Festival in Lawrence. The festival’s mission is "to recognize, commemorate, inform, and share the labor history and social justice legacy of Lawrence's 1912 Bread & Roses strike with Lawrence's present day residents and people ​​worldwide."

See you here next Friday . . .

The Patient Portal

There have been multiple postings about Electronic Health Records (EHR) on the SHARE blog recently because, since the hospital implemented the Fair-Warning audit system, SHARE Reps have seen a distinct rise in the number of members being disciplined for accessing records inappropriately. Things aren’t as they used to be. Many rules have changed. People have even gotten in trouble for looking up an appointment time for their own young child. See these previous posts for more information about accessing Electronic Health Records and Fair Warning.
When someone gets in trouble for improper use of EHR, the employer quickly points out that employees who wish to look up appointment times, pay bills, etc., should use the Patient Portal. If you haven’t yet signed up for the Patient Portal, consider doing so now; that way it’s all set up before  you have an urgent need for the information there.  If you're unfamiliar with it, the hospital's Patient Portal website describes the site's features, and how to sign up.
We would love to know your experience getting signed up. If you've experienced problems getting access to Patient Portal through your provider, or have had problems with the site itself, we would like to know your story, so that we can help the hospital know how to improve the system. It’s only fair that they make the system usable. If you have questions or concerns, please send an email to kirk.davis@theshareunion.org, or call the SHARE office (508-929-4020).

Chocolate Day 2015: Save the Date

Members of our sister union at UMass Medical School have much to celebrate. They are currently receiving copies of their new contracts; Labor Day will be here soon, along with the beginning of the new school year; and, together, we will all soon be celebrating our 18th year as a union.

Accordingly, you're invited to save the date for one of the finest SHARE traditions, CHOCOLATE DAY! We will be spreading chocolate-y cheer throughout UMMS in September. If you happen to be on the University campus, please plan to stop by and join the festivities at the main event:

Friday, September 18th, on the Main Campus, Faculty Conference Room, from 11:30a-2:00p

 Chocolate Day has been a tradition since 2005. Everyone is welcome to join us in the celebration -- SHARE members from the School and Hospital, other union members, non-union staff, managers, doctors, students, friends, family.

We encourage you to support our friends in the Medical School, and to show off your own chocolate handiwork by donating some homemade chocolate goodies to Chocolate Day.

New Hospital Form for Use of Sick Time

If you have recently taken sick leave from work, you may be wondering why the hospital has asked you to fill out a form describing your reason for being away.
Last Fall, Massachusetts voters voted overwhelmingly in favor of a ballot question about earned sick time. The proposal aimed to provide sick-time accrual more broadly to Massachusetts workers, with the intention that waitresses and per diems and adjunct teachers will no longer face a conundrum when they get sick: choosing between keeping their jobs -or- staying home to get healthy.
When the new law was implemented, most of us were surprised to learn that it included a requirement that all employers keep records about absenteeism. Employers across Massachusetts are now scrambling to quickly incorporate this unexpected new record-keeping. UMass Memorial has followed the State Attorney General’s directive, as described in a recent News & Views, and is now requiring all employees to complete a form when taking sick hours from work. SHARE and UMass Memorial already have negotiated sick time policies; these new requirements seem unnecessarily cumbersome, and it's not surprising that some SHARE members are frustrated by this new form.
Because this new aspect of the law was so unexpected, employers and unions across the state have many questions about how to handle it properly. For the moment, all SHARE members should know these two things:
  1. This is all in flux. We are talking about it with Human Resources, and getting it figured out.
  2. Until we have reason to understand otherwise, we recommend that all SHARE members fill out the form if they’re asked.
We will keep you posted with developments. Please keep us posted if you have questions or concerns about how your department is working to comply with the new regulations.

EAP & Thought for the Day

“Don't let what you can't do stop you from doing what you can do.”  -John Wooden

Quotes like this one can land in your inbox on a weekly basis, along with a short motivational message. To get yourself some regular inspiration, simply sign up for the free "Thought of the Day" email on the Employee Assistance Program webpage.

We can't mention the Thought of the Day here without putting in a good word for the Employee Assistance Program itself. We consistently hear that the EAP counselors are thoughtful, wise, and helpful. And the SHARE organizing staff knows from personal experience that the EAP staff offers important support and guidance, regarding both workplace and personal issues, for employees of the UMass community. 

About the EAP: The UMass Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a workplace-based program providing consultation, assessment, intervention, information and referral for employees and their household members. The EAP offers personal assistance to address a variety of issues, including individual, family and work-related concerns. The EAP is free and confidential  to the full extent of the law.  Employees and household members can obtain assessment, short-term problem-focused intervention, and referral and information for treatment or other assistance.We are conveniently located in Worcester, MA and serve all of Central Massachusetts.

NO Rep Vote On May 20

VOTE CANCELLED

This year, there will be no vote for Union Reps. The vote has been cancelled. Congratulations to all of our new and returning SHARE Reps!

This message is an update from the letter that we previously sent to you at your home. There are now enough spots for all of the candidates because a nominee has since declined the nomination. Every position either had just the right number of candidates, or fewer. Our Elections Code says that all candidates are therefore considered elected.

Thank you very much to those who nominated themselves or a co-worker to help keep our union strong.

A full list of Reps and Executive Board members is coming soon. . . .

Nominations Open 
April 7 – April 21, 2015
for SHARE Union Representatives 
& Executive Board Members

[This notice was also mailed to SHARE members' homes.]

On Wednesday May 20, 2015 there will be an election for SHARE Union Representatives and Executive Board members.  The back of this page includes a list of positions open for nomination.

To run for Union Rep or Executive Board Member
1.      You must have been a dues paying SHARE member for at least the last 6 months. 
2.      You must be nominated in writing by a SHARE member (either a co-worker or yourself).
3.      Current SHARE Reps who wish to continue to be Reps need to be nominated again this year. 

To nominate someone for Union Rep or Executive Board Member
1.      Please send nominations by email to share.elections@theshareunion.org; or by fax to (508) 929-4040; or by U.S. mail to SHARE, 50 Lake Ave, Worcester, MA 01604. However you send the nomination, it is a good idea to call to confirm that it arrived. The phone number at the SHARE office is (508) 929-4020.
2.      Nominations should include:
·         the name, department and phone number of the person being nominated;
·         the position for which they are being nominated; and
·         the name and phone number of the person submitting the nomination.
3.      Nominations must arrive at the SHARE office by 5:00pm on Tuesday, April 21, 2015.  We cannot accept late nominations.
4.      Nominees will be offered the opportunity to decline the nomination. Anyone who does not decline is then a candidate.

Descriptions of the Different Roles
Below are brief descriptions of the roles of Union Reps and Executive Board Members. If you want to talk about what it would be like to be a SHARE Rep or to be on the Executive Board, or if you have other questions, please call the SHARE office at 508-929-4020, or talk to someone you know who is involved with SHARE.

SHARE Union Representatives
There is a Union Rep for approximately every 50 SHARE members.  A union rep is a contact person for their area. Union Reps get training from SHARE to move information between co-workers and union leadership.  They can also get training in helping co-workers solve problems (for example, with discipline or work schedules) if they want to. They are elected for 1-year terms.

SHARE Executive Board Members
There are 13 positions on the SHARE Executive Board: A Co-President from University-connected locations and a Co-President from Memorial-connected locations; a Secretary and a Treasurer elected at large (by all SHARE members); and 9 others who are elected by location and region (based on the kind of department they are in). They are elected for 2-year terms. Executive Board members have responsibility for the whole union, and in particular for their region (several hundred people). They make decisions about the direction of our union and participate in contract negotiations.

Positions Open for Nomination

Rep and Executive Board positions are divided by location and by region. Your region is based on the kind of department you are in, not what kind of job you do. For example, a secretary in a technical department is in the Technical region, and an LPN in a clinic is in the Ambulatory region. If you need help figuring out what region you are in, or have other questions, please call the SHARE office at 508-929-4020.

SHARE Union Representative Positions:


On the Memorial Campus

Mem Nursing Floors & ED - 4 Reps
Mem Technical & Diagnostic - 3 Reps
(includes Sleep Center and Shrews Rad)
Mem Ambulatory Clinics - 2 Reps
(includes 67 Belmont & Shrews Fam Med)
Mem Clerical & Other - 1 Rep
On the University Campus

Univ Nursing Floors & ED - 8 Reps
Univ Technical & Diagnostic - 6 Reps
(includes Milford Radiology)
Univ Ambulatory Clinics - 6 Reps
(includes So. County Pediatrics)
Univ Clerical & Other - 4 Reps
(includes 306 Belmont St.)
Other Memorial-affiliated locations

Hahnemann - 4 Reps 
(includes Hahn Internal Med, Chadwick St.)
Barre - 1 Rep
Other University-affiliated locations

Central Business Office - 5 Reps
Worcester Business Center - 4 Reps
Tri River - 1 Rep
Queen St. - 1 Rep
Biotech 3 - 1 Rep
                
SHARE Executive Board Member Positions:

The SHARE Executive Board members are usually elected for 2-year terms, with five members elected in odd-numbered years (e.g. 2015) and the four officers plus four other members elected in even-numbered years (see below). The election committee has decided to open nominations for all Executive Board positions this year because a number of positions are currently vacant. Those positions that are usually elected in even-numbered years will serve a 1-year interim term and be up for re-election in 2016.

Positions elected in odd-numbered years will serve a full 2-year term


Central Business Office (Region A)
Mem Locations – Nursing Floors & ED (Region B)
Mem Locations – Ambulatory Clinics (Region D)
Univ Locations – Technical & Diagnostic (Region C)
Univ Locations – Clerical & Other (Region E)
Positions usually elected in even-numbered years will serve an interim 1-year term

Co-President University locations
Co-President Memorial locations
Secretary
Treasurer
Mem Locations – Technical & Diagnostic (Region C)
Mem Locations – Clerical & Other (Region E)
Univ Locations – Nursing Floors & ED (Region B)
Univ Locations – Ambulatory Clinics (Region D)


SHARE Benefits Survey Results

A big thank you to the 700+ SHARE members who participated in the 2014 SHARE Benefits Survey -- the results are now available for viewing online.

SHARE and the UMass Memorial HR Benefits department designed the survey together, because a union-management Health Insurance Committee was talking about possible changes to SHARE members' benefits in the future. We wanted to document clearly what SHARE members care about.

Here are some interesting results:
  • It is no surprise that benefits are a very important part of the employment package for most SHARE members -- 89% of SHARE members who took the survey agree that benefits are an important reason that they continue to work here.
  • Which benefits SHARE members value most are probably not a surprise either: Medical insurance -- 96% said Very Important, Vacation/earned time -- 87% said Very Important, and Dental insurance -- 86% said Very Important.
  • When we asked which new benefits people might be interested in, the most popular answer was help with retiree health benefits.
  • More SHARE members said that they would rather have a predictable amount of money come out of their paycheck than pay less towards their health insurance premium but take the chance of unpredictable out-of-pocket expenses. We asked these questions because HR Benefits was exploring the idea of offering a high deductible health plan, in addition to the HMO plans. 
  • When asked which wellness programs people would participate in, if the programs were offered, 43% said a weight loss program, 43% said exercising in a gym, and 38% said stress reduction or meditation.
  • 46% of the SHARE members who responded said that they suffer from some kind of chronic condition (like diabetes, high blood pressure, or depression).
We're not sure what's next for the union-management Health Insurance Committee. Donna Hilliard was leading those discussion for HR, and she has now left UMass Memorial. The survey results will be very useful whenever and how ever we start talking with management about benefits again.

HIPAA Violations to Be Monitored Electronically

UMass Memorial's new system for enforcing patient privacy went into effect on April 10th. The new software system, called FairWarning, will police patient files, looking for signs of suspicious access. If the system catches an employee going into a patient file without a legitimate work reason, it will be flagged. Then managers will investigate. If it turns out that the employee didn't have documented permission or a work reason, they will be subject to discipline.

In accordance with federal guidelines, the hospital has long monitored patient records, including randomized audits. Earlier in the year, we included a blog post here about HIPAA, and some things that SHARE members should know. No policies or penalties have changed since then, only the monitoring system.

Up until now, most of the investigatory meetings that SHARE Reps have gone to about possible violations have involved a patient complaining that someone was in their files. Either that, or files were monitored because they belonged to someone famous, or because co-workers were talking about private information that might have come from the file. The FairWarning system is intended to perform more thorough monitoring of all Electronic Health Records. Nothing suspicious has to trigger an investigation.

An email from UMass Memorial about the new software says that it will begin by focusing on employees who go into a file with their same last name or address. The system will likely be further designed to monitor in more ways as time goes on.

We value patient privacy. It is important to the patients who trust us with their medical care, including the many SHARE members who are also hospital patients. Please be careful you don't access a file of yourself, a family member, someone you know or anyone else unless you get proper permission to view the record, or you have a legitimate work reason to see the record.

For more information, including a link to an electronic access permission form, please see this article in News & Views.

College Scholarship Opportunity: Central Massachusetts AFL/CIO

The SHARE office recently received the following notice in the mail from Joe Carlson, the President of the Central Massachusetts AFL/CIO, about a really great scholarship opportunity for our members. The lottery for these scholarships will be open to any SHARE members, as well as children and grandchildren of our members, who will graduate from high school this year and attend college next year. The details are posted below. Please note that applications should NOT be sent to the SHARE office. If you would like a copy of the nomination form, please click here.

***

To: All Affiliated Locals of the Central Mass AFL/CIO,

We are pleased to announce that we will be awarding six $1,000.00 scholarships as well as a number of  $500 Platinum sponsored scholarships.

The scholarship recipients will be drawn by lottery at the May community services committee meeting and the winners will be announced at the Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament on Friday, June 5, 2015.

The scholarships will be presented at the Labor Day breakfast September 7 2015

To be eligible, the student must be a 2015 graduating high school senior and going on to college, and a child, grandchild, or member whose local is affiliated with the Central Ma. AFL/CIO. Union members must live or work in the jurisdiction of the Central Ma. AFL/CIO.

All names must be submitted by May 1, 2015 and returned to:
Paul Soucy
AFL/CIO Labor Community Services
Central Ma. AFL-CIO
400 Washington St
Auburn, Ma. 01501


Fraternally Yours,
Joseph P. Carlson, President
Central Massachusetts AFL/CIO

Surviving the Storm

Click here for frequently asked questions about severe weather and the SHARE contract.

We heard some good stories and some bad stories about the storm last Tuesday. A few examples:

The Good
  • A patient critical department that figured out in advance the minimum number of staff needed to safely cover their assignments, got enough volunteers (with a little arm-twisting), and let everyone else stay home
  • A department with a role that does not affect direct patient care asking early on Monday who planned to stay home Tuesday
  • An employee without kids who lives close to the hospital taking a shift for an employee with kids who does not
  • Camaraderie between people who slept over so that they could be at work the next day
The Bad
  • An employee who worked a double shift on Tuesday who did not know when they would be released to go home
  • Employees working near each other who were treated differently – some sent home with pay and others having to use their own time
  • An employee in a patient critical department who came to work, but was pulled over by the police and given a warning for being on the road Tuesday
  • Employees who were told that their department would be closed Tuesday, who did not know that they could volunteer to work somewhere else so they wouldn’t have to use their time, and employees who could not get a clear answer on Monday about what they were supposed to do on Tuesday
There are many, many more stories. Congratulations to the departments that worked it out. And a big thank you to those who stayed over, came in, and worked extra to take care of the patients who didn’t have a choice about being in the hospital!

Most of the bad stories we heard involved delayed information, lack of information, or contradictory information. With that in mind, and since there will be more storms in the future, we have posted some information from the SHARE contract for your information.

So, what should SHARE members know about working during a State of Emergency or other big weather event?

Frequently Asked Questions
  1. How do I find out what I am supposed to do if there is a state of emergency or other severe weather?
  2. What if my department is closed?
  3. What if I don’t want to use my own time?
  4. Can’t they just send me home and pay me without having to use my time?
  5. How am I supposed to get to work if there is a travel ban?
  6. If I don’t come in during a storm, will it be held against me?

To see the full contract language about Severe Weather, p. 103-104, and about TOWOP, (being sent home by your department), p. 103, click here. (There are two parts to the contract: the 2007-2011 contract and the changes from our last negotiations, that continue the old contract through September 30, 2016, and add to it. Severe Weather and TOWOP can both be found in the old contract.)


Questions or suggestions about this website? Email kirk.davis@theshareunion.org