One-on-one Meetings with Fidelity about your 401K

In case you missed it, Fidelity is making one-on-one appointments available at UMass Memorial locations for people who want information about saving for retirement with a 401K.

Remember: Starting this month, the UMass Memorial "match" on the money you contribute to your 401K doubles, from $.25 on the dollar to $.50 on the dollar, up to 4% of your pay.

To schedule an appointment with Fidelity, call 800-642-7131 or register on-line at getguidance.fidelity.com. Fidelity suggests you bring any relevant account statements with you if that will help get answers to your questions. They require an appointment, and say they won't take walk-ins.

Date	Location	Room
Wednesday, January 18	Hahnemann Campus	2nd Floor Conference Room
Thursday, January 19	Memorial Campus	Memorial 1 Conference Room
Wednesday, February 1	University Campus	Goff S2-309D
Thursday, February 9	306 Belmont Street	Conference Room 1
Monday, February 13	Memorial Campus	Memorial 1 Conference Room
Wednesday, February 15	Biotech 1	Hospital Labs, 2nd Floor, Conference Room B
Tuesday, February 21	Worcester Business Center	Worcester State Conference Room
Wednesday, March 1	University Campus	Goff S2-309D
Thursday, March 9	Milford – 91 Water Street	2nd Floor Conference Room
Tuesday, March 14	Worcester Business Center	Worcester State Conference Room
Wednesday, March 22	Hahnemann Campus	2nd Floor Conference Room

January Is National Blood Donor Month

Sara and Jen at the University Campus Blood Donor Center

The Blood Donor Center at UMass Memorial accepts the important gift of blood year-round, and January is a great time to resolve to give. Already in 2017 the American Red Cross has issued an emergency call for blood and platelet donations in response to a severe winter blood shortage. Blood is required for a number of medical conditions, including, of course, transplants, cancers, and traumatic injuries. UMass Memorial uses about 31,000 blood products each year to meet the needs of patients. The Blood Donor Center is located on the University Campus, downstairs from the Emergency Department. Walk-ins are welcome for whole-blood donations, or to schedule an appointment, please call 508-421-1950. To find other locations to give, visit the Red Cross website.  

SHARE Staff Organizer Will, giving some platelets. [Not pictured:Will's normal smile]

Bonus Questions

If you have questions about the bonus negotiated in the contract, please call the SHARE office, or email us at share.comment@theshareunion.org. We will collect up the questions, answer the ones we can answer, and then take any unresolved issues to HR. Below are some of the questions that people have been asking. If you have other questions or issues, please let us know.

Please do not call HR or Payroll about these questions right now -- they are working hard on processing our January 1 raises, and have asked us to handle questions about the bonus for now. Thanks!

How is the pre-tax bonus amount calculated?

The amount is based on the number of hours that you were paid for between October 1, 2015 and September 30, 2016. 40 hours/week  x 52 weeks = 2,080 hours. Anything less than 2,080 is pro-rated.

• If you work 40 hours/week, and you were paid for all your time off, then you get $1,000
• If you work an average of 32 hours/week, and you were paid for all time off, then you get $800
• If you work an average of 24 hours/week, and you were paid for all time off, then you get $600
• Unpaid leave could reduce the number of hours, and the amount of the bonus
• OT can increase the number of hours, and the amount of the bonus, but not above $1,000

If the bonus is for this year, why is it based on last year's hours? Why not use my hours this year?

Lots of SHARE members are on the books for 24 or 32 hours but regularly work more than that. We wanted to make sure that they got credit for their real hours, not just the "budgeted" hours. We didn't want to wait until the end of this year to get the bonuses, so we used last year's hours. It is not a perfect system, but it was the best we could come up with.

Why use hours paid instead of hours worked?

We didn't want the bonus to be reduced because people took vacation or sick time, had jury duty, bereavement time, etc.

I started part-way through last year, will I get a bonus?

Yes, but it will be pro-rated to reflect how long you have worked here. If you started full-time on July 1, then you worked 3 out of the 12 months in FY16, and you will get 1/4 of the bonus. You will also get the full 2% raise on January 1. (Any hours paid as a UMass Memorial employee in FY16, including per-diem hours, count for the pro-rating.)

Why do they withhold so much of the bonus in taxes?

The IRS requires UMass Memorial to withhold about 38% of any lump sum for taxes. This does not mean that you will end up paying 38% in taxes -- when you file your taxes for 2016, you will get back the difference between what you paid and what you actually owed at your real tax rate.

Example: I get $1,000 pre-tax. UMass withholds 38% ($380) in taxes. If my normal tax rate is 20%, then I really only owe $200. When I file my taxes, I will get the extra $180 back (or else the amount that I owe at tax time will be reduced by $180. Either way, I pay what I really owe, not the amount they withhold up front.)

Happy Holidays from SHARE

Happy holidays! SHARE members have done another year of wonderful good for medical research, patient care and all the support behind the scenes, and the local community . . . and that's just while you're on the clock.

We're very grateful to you for your all of your efforts, and for the ways that you've connected with SHARE in 2016 to amplify the effects of your hard work.

We're looking forward to SHARE's twentieth anniversary in 2017, and have more ambitious work to do. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.  Right now, we'd like to wish you a very joyful holiday season. Warmest thoughts and best wishes.

Small SHARE dues increase in 2017

How much will SHARE union dues be in 2017?

For 2017 dues will increase for most SHARE members by 17 cents per week. The old and dues new rates are below. The new rate will be effective on the first pay check you receive in January 2017.

	Per Week
	2016 rate	2017 rate
Regular dues rate	$8.57	$8.74
20-hours/week	$6.42	$6.55

Where does the money go?

The money from dues supports the work that SHARE does. It pays for the organizers' salaries, office rent and supplies, phones, printing costs and postage for mailings –  all the things we need to negotiate good contracts, keep people informed, help members to solve problems if they come up, and to support members in having a voice in the workplace. A portion of the dues also goes to our national union, AFSCME, in Washington, and helps to pay for other groups of employees forming unions in their workplaces, and for research and lobbying.

How is the dues increase determined?

Our national union, AFSCME, calculates the annual increase based on the average raise for AFSCME members across the country. The new rate goes into effect each January.

Are my SHARE dues eating up my raise every year?

No. The dues increase is 17 cents per week, so one hour of your 1/1/2017 raise more than pays for it. Every year SHARE members get bigger raises than non-union employees. The difference between a union raise and non-union raise is small some years and bigger in other years, but the difference definitely adds up over time. In addition, SHARE has worked hard to keep the employee share of the cost of health insurance low, which saves money for SHARE members. Each year the advantage of being in SHARE grows by having a voice in issues that affect us.

In what ways does having a union give SHARE members a voice?

• In contract negotiations, we have a voice in our pay, benefits and work policies.

• In union meetings and individual conversations, we have a voice in the direction and priorities of the union.

• Through the problem-solving process, we have a voice when individual problems or conflicts come up at work.

• In union elections, we have a voice in who our representatives will be.

• Through committees and ad-hoc negotiations, we have a voice in issues that face groups of SHARE members. 

Questions?

You can talk to any of our E-board members or local reps who are active with SHARE, or call the SHARE office at 508-929-4020 or email a SHARE organizer (click here for a directory).

SHARE Members Vote Yes

SHARE members voted to ratify the proposed contract today, in a landslide:

• 1446 Yes votes
• 39 No votes

The contract will go into effect. For more info about what's in the contract, click here.

Congratulations, SHARE members!

Vote Today!

Tuesday, December 20 is the day to vote on the contract!

The contract goes into effect only if the majority of SHARE members who vote, vote Yes. Voting is easy: Just check Yes or No on your ballot. You must be a SHARE member to vote, but you can sign a SHARE member card at the voting place if you need to join.

See the new SHARE Contract Agreement Website for details.

Here are the times and places. See you there!

Tuesday, December 20

Campus	Room	Time
University	Hallway by the Prescription Center	7:00 am - 4:00 pm
Memorial	Outside the Amphitheater across from the Cafeteria	7:00 am - 4:00 pm
306 Belmont	Meeting Room I	9:00 am -11:00 am
67 Millbrook (WBC)	Thom McAnn conference room	11:30 am-2:00 pm
Hahnemann	2nd Floor Conference Room	11:30 am-1:30 pm
Biotech 3	Old Secretary’s Room, outside Cytology	11:30 am-1:30 pm
Tri-River	Community Room	9:30-10:30 am
67 Belmont	Surgery	8:00 – 8:30 am
Marlborough	Cancer Center Conference Room	8:30-9:00 am
South County	Pediatrics	9:00-9:30 am
Shrewsbury Family Medicine	Break room	11:30-1:00 pm
Shrewsbury XRay	Break room	1:00-1:30 pm
PTRC	1st floor conference room	2:30-4:00 pm
1 West Boylston	Conference room	2:00-2:30 pm
Vote count	University S2-307 E&F	4:30 – 6:00 pm

Talking About Improvement at the Front Lines in the T&G

If you missed Doug Brown’s contribution to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette’s “As I See It” column this past weekend, it’s worth catching a couple of highlights that affect us as SHARE members. His piece explains to the broader Central Massachusetts community how our hospital is applying “Lean” to patient care, and why.

Doug is President of UMass Memorial Community Hospitals and Chief Administrative Officer. He writes that, “The method employed by ThedaCare [a hospital network based in Wisconsin], commonly known as Lean, is about two fundamental principles: respect for people and continuous improvement.”

Those principles jive nicely with SHARE’s core beliefs: that the employees who do the work firsthand should be the ones who define how that work gets done. And those principles are very much at work in the new SHARE-UMass Memorial Contract Agreement. Frankly, we couldn’t have said it better than Doug Brown did in the T&G:

While seemingly simple, these principles have profound implications for how an organization is managed. Respect for people turns the traditional top-down management style on its head. It recognizes that the best ideas come not from senior leaders, but from those on the front line. That is where value is created in an organization. The job of leaders is to develop systems and tools to unleash those ideas. And then get out of the way.

You can read about more about SHARE’s firsthand impressions of ThedaCare hospital and Lean here on the SHARE blog.

Field Report from the 2016 Institute for Healthcare Improvement Conference

Right now, I’m on a plane home from this year’s IHI conference, and want to get some things down while they’re fresh. It was a fantastic trip. I’ll be coming back to our hospital with new ideas, new connections, new tools, and a number of insights into what’s happening out there in the broader world of health care, and SHARE’s role in that.

This is my first-ever trip to the annual event. I had already learned some important things from IHI, through SHARE reports from past conferences, and from the IHI’s online resources. But I still found myself surprised as I became more aware of just how much the organization does to change lives in meaningful ways.

If you're going to make successful improvements, you need to make it as easy as possible, and that involves  SHARE members defining the work that doesn't need to be done at all.

I went there excited to talk with folks from other hospitals about SHARE’s new contract agreement. Members of the Kaiser Permanente Labor Management Partnership, including dozens of front-line union members, come out to the east coast for the event, presenting the latest on their own work with Unit-Based Teams. I was eager to compare notes. Beyond that, however, I learned about many more hospitals using teams, in ways similar to those we're introducing in the new SHARE contract. Unsurprisingly, involving front-line employees in decision-making has been the key factor in the success of those teams.

On top of all of the inspiring and practical learning I brought home with me, the conference was in Orlando, very near in Florida to the home where I grew up. Even though this trip was limited pretty much to inside of the conference hotel, I definitely felt the tug that comes along with any homecoming. So good to see the old palmetto-scrub landscape out the window.

Which, unfortunately, brings me to the toughest keynote of the whole event: a presentation by six employees of Orlando Regional Medical Center, caregivers whose lives were changed by their work in their hospital on June 12, 2016, when the Pulse nightclub, which was two blocks from their hospital, became the site of the worst mass shooting event in American history.

The ORMC team explained for us their triage decisions that night. They described wounds like none that their Level I Trauma Center had before encountered, those from weapons of war. The team depicted for us the patients and families who came into their lives that night, and how they and the whole community have worked to take care of each other and make sense of that senselessness.

Every patient who was brought into their Operating Room that night survives to this day. The presenters attribute that to thoughtful planning and thorough practice, and encouraged all of the hospital employees in the audience to keep at their efforts, to be prepared for the worst.

The conference was sobering, inspiring, and highly educational. I’m looking forward to writing and talking about those meaningful, learning moments I experienced. More on all of that soon.

I expect more materials directly from the conference will be posted online soon, and we'll link to them here. In the meanwhile, if you'd like to listen to one of the speakers firsthand, here's Abraham Verghese -- best-selling author, physician, and one of this year’s keynotes. He described the ritual of the relationship between caregivers and patients, and how caregivers need to have the time to give good attention to those patients who sit right in front of them. At the conference, he expanded on many of the ideas from his popular TED talk, which you can watch through the link below:

Free Associate Degrees for SHARE Members: An Update from AFSCME

We just received the following update from our parent organization, AFSCME, about the Free College Benefit. The program offers free Associate Degrees to SHARE members. And, the program has expanded to include Early Childhood Education degrees. Read on for more . . .

Dear SHARE members,

Back in July, we announced a new AFSCME benefit available to you and your family: a free associate degree from Eastern Gateway Community College. Your response has been overwhelming, with nearly 20,000 inquiries made, more than 5,000 applicants and more than 2,000 students currently enrolled in classes. We are thrilled that so many of you are taking advantage of this great benefit.

Having a college degree is more important than ever for getting ahead these days, but tuition costs just keep getting higher and higher. That's why the AFSCME Free College Benefit is absolutely free. You, your spouse, your children and grandchildren can earn a college degree without digging into your own pockets or piling on student debt. And because Eastern Gateway is a public, regionally accredited college, the credits you work hard to earn are transferable to other schools. This can literally save you and your family thousands of dollars.

You won’t be left to figure this out for yourself, either. Every student gets to talk to real people who will help you through the process. The classes are online, so they fit into anyone’s busy schedule, and there are tutors and coaches who make sure you aren’t on your own.

An associate degree can be your pathway to new opportunities, greater responsibility, a better job and higher wages. This is a unique opportunity — available only to AFSCME members, your families and retirees. You can find more information about the benefit and available degree programs here.

You work hard for your community, and that work can often go unsung. The AFSCME Free College Benefit is one more way AFSCME helps members secure the opportunities and the respect you deserve.

Enrollment for the first spring session is now open and Early Childhood Education degrees are now offered. Classes begin on January 17. Don’t wait to start this exciting new program and help grow your career!

In solidarity,

Lee Saunders

AFSCME President

One-on-One Fidelity Retirement Planning

SHARE has learned that Fidelity Retirement Planners will be at various UMass Memorial locations on the dates listed below. They ask that you please consider bringing relevant account statements and any paperwork to help address your questions and needs.

Appointments are required. Fidelity cannot accommodate walk-ins, and urges you to schedule an appointment that is convenient for you. If you don't see your work location listed above, additional UMass Memorial sites will be added soon for appointments in January and February.

To schedule a one-on-one appointment, call Fidelity at (800) 642-7131 or register online at getguidance.fidelity.com

New Contract Agreement Reached!

The SHARE Negotiating Team is proud and happy to announce that we have a tentative agreement with UMass Memorial for a 2-Year Contract. It will go into effect if SHARE members vote Yes.

We encourage you to VOTE YES to ratify this contract on December 20!

The raises in the tentative contract are solid. We are holding onto our health insurance and pension. Equally important, SHARE members told the SHARE Negotiating Team -- in the survey, on the poster, and in many conversations -- that being more respected and having more of a say would improve their day-to-day experience. This contract makes real progress in that direction.

Please continue to the SHARE Contract Agreement Website for the full announcement, as well as details about raises, benefits, Labor Management Partnership, Unit Based Teams, and more. You can also find a listing of Contract Information Meetings. (Information about the specific times and vote locations for the December 20th Ratification is on the way, too.)

SHARE members made it happen! Thank you for your enthusiasm, participation, and support. 

Progress in Negotiations

We are happy to report that negotiations went well this week. SHARE and UMass Memorial have not yet reached agreement, but progress is being made.

Thanks to all the SHARE members who came out to support negotiations over the last month!

Health Insurance Deadline TONIGHT

If you haven't yet signed up for Health Insurance, it's probably a good idea to stop what you're doing right now and sign up. If you don't sign up today, you will not have health insurance from UMass Memorial in 2017. Before you stop reading this, however, we've learned a couple of important last-minute tidbits:

• If you have already finished, you should have a confirmation number. If you haven't already printed out your confirmation, we recommend doing so. We have learned that, for some reason, some members who believed they had completed the process did not get registered. Having a copy of your confirmation number will be good peace-of-mind for you, and it's what Human Resources will need to reference if they run into any problems or questions. 
• The system closes down at 11:59 tonight. Start early, because you won't be able to finish after midnight.

If you still need to sign up or print your confirmation number, here's the link to the MyBenefits website.

Contact SHARE

Because the SHARE staff spends most of its time in the UMass Medical and UMass Memorial buildings, we aren't often by the phones in the SHARE office. If we miss you, we'll get back to you as quickly as possible when you call or email. If you don't know which staff organizer represents your work area, call our general voicemail number and we'll help you out.

SHARE general voicemail: 508-929-4020

SHARE office address: 50 Lake Ave, Worcester MA 01604-1168

SHARE staff phone extensions and email:

Organizer Name       Ext          Email

Bobbi-Jo Lewis              22        bobbi-jo.lewis@theshareunion.org

Carol Hehir                  17         carol.hehir@theshareunion.org

Deb Largesse             23         deb.pawlina@theshareunion.org

Debbie Engvall           15         deb.engvall@theshareunion.org

Elisabeth Szanto           14         elisabeth.szanto@theshareunion.org

Jana Hollingsworth     11         jana.hol@theshareunion.org

Janet Wilder                    13            janet.wilder@theshareunion.org

Kirk Davis                   18         kirk.davis@theshareunion.org

Will Erickson              12         will.erickson@theshareunion.org

SHARE fax: 508-929-4040

Preparing for Winter

Some early predictions suggest that, in our neck of the woods, we're going to experience average to slightly-below-average temperatures this Winter. Of course, it's too early to know how many heavy snowfalls we're going to get.

With that in mind, we're reprinting the post below from last year. We've got a smart weather policy in our contract, and we want it to help your Winter go a little smoother . . .


DO YOU KNOW YOUR DEPARTMENT'S SEVERE WEATHER POLICY?

If you’ve worked at UMass Memorial through a snowy Winter, you probably know that, along with sloppy weather, there comes some confusion. We encourage you to plan ahead, and know what to do when travel conditions get tough.

Weather is coming

Now is a good time to remind your manager that they should cover your severe weather plan in a meeting with all of the staff in a staff meeting. If there is no plan, or it needs updating, we encourage SHARE members to be involved in figuring out what works for their department. See the Severe Weather Policy on page 103 of the SHARE Contract, which includes the following guidelines:

In order for employees to know what their responsibilities are in the case of severe weather, departments are encouraged to develop plans for their areas within the framework of the hospital plan. . . . Employees are encouraged to participate in the development of the plan for their department. Department severe weather plans could include: what staffing level is required in the case of severe weather (such as full staffing, skeletal staffing, or no staffing necessary); how employees will find out if they are required to be at work that day, who to call and how to reach them; and whether there is a difference in their department between the plan for severe weather and the plan for a declared state of emergency. Department managers should review the severe weather plan for their department with all employees annually before winter weather begins.

If you would like help developing or revising the policy for your department, please contact the SHARE office.

Negotiations Update

Last Thursday, over 170 members gathered enthusiastically 

on the University Campus 

in support of the SHARE negotiating team

Rad Tech Rich Leufstedt and his

banjo perform his song

"SHARE Contract Song 2016"

at the University Campus gathering

Members of the SHARE Negotiating Team continue to meet with hospital management to reach agreement for our next contract. We are still talking about raises. We have two more negotiating sessions scheduled this week, on Thursday and Friday, where our conversations will be mediated by Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld.

Keep your eyes on the blog. We'll post another update and more information soon . . . 

And! Last Friday, more than 70 SHARE members came out

strong at 306 Belmont Street

Did You Sign up for Benefits?

At the moment, 440 SHARE members have not yet enrolled for health insurance or other benefits on MyBenefits, according to HR. That number probably includes some who don't get their health insurance through UMass Memorial, but definitely a lot of folks who currently do get their health insurance from here.

Friday is the deadline to sign up for health insurance -- everyone knows that, right? If you don't enroll by Friday, you won't have health insurance in 2017. SHARE just wants to make sure nobody gets left without health insurance!

Here's the link:

MyBenefits

Refer to your 2017 Open Enrollment Guide mailed to your house, or visit MyHR and HRConnect for more info about this year's open enrollment.

Memorial SHARE Members Come Out Singing for a Strong Contract

The Memorial Amphitheater played host today to SHARE members who got an

update about negotiations

, and shared some laughs and smiles in support of our negotiating team. So fun!

We have a couple more

gatherings

 lined up next week. Please join us if you can.

• University Campus (Old Medical School Lobby, by the book store) Wednesday, November 9, 12:15-12:30

• 306 Belmont (Cafeteria) Thursday, November 10, 12:15-12:30

SHARE Members Show their Support

SHARE members gathered today outside their building at 67 Millbrook Street to have some fun and show support for the SHARE negotiating team.

Tomorrow (Friday, November 4th) SHARE members will gather at the amphitheater at Memorial, 12:15-12:30. If you work at University, join us on Wednesday, November 9th, 12:15-12:30 in the Old School Lobby by the book store. Don't be late, or you'll miss the fun!