April 19, 2010 - Our Union is currently working very hard to address the following issues:
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VACATION DISPUTES Our Union is addressing issues with vacation schedules not being followed in accordance with our Union contract.
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ISSUES DISCUSSION We met with the Director Of Nursing to address issues including staffing, disciplines and new program.
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KAISER COALITION Meeting on March 30, 2010 went well. Tonya Wallace and Walter Allen from Kaiser Coalition were there to answer member questions. Members enjoyed pizza, sodas and other goodies.
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RAISE Thanks to our Union contract, Local 121RN members are due for another raise at the end of April.
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BARGAINING Members and our Bargaining Team are getting ready to start negotiations with management soon.
Special thanks goes out to Chapter President Barbara Washington-Knight for representing Local 121RN members during National Agreement negotiations with the Kaiser Coalition.
Upcoming National Agreement Bargaining Dates with Kaiser Coalition:
April 20 to 22, 2010 – Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
May 4 to 6, 2010 – Renaissance Hollywood
May 25 to 27, 2010 – Marriott Manhattan Beach
Our contract is set to expire on June 31, 2010. Registered nurse members recently elected our new Bargaining Team. Congratulations to those elected to serve and thank you to all the members who came out to vote!
Cluster 1: ICU, PCCU, ER
Barbara Washington-Knight
Jasper Diaz, alternate
Cluster 2: Medical/Surgical, TELE, PEDS
Anita Triglia-Hook
Michele Barnes, first alternate
Mimi Stapleton, second alternate
Cluster 3: OR, PACU
Elvie Palac
Tricia Gibson, alternate
Cluster 4: L&D, Nursery, PP
Jeannie Wu
Cluster 5: CBM
Susan Pethos
Also, remember to look for your 2 percent across-the-board raise effective April 5, 2010! This raise is due to our Union contract with SEIU Local 121RN. Our newly elected Bargaining Team will be working hard to gain additional cost-of-living raises and other benefits in our upcoming contract.
Barbara Washington-Knight, RN at kaiser Moreno Valley
Community Hospital, with Local 121RN Staff Donna Sigaty
and Sonya Jimmons
Several Local 121RN members from John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital and Kaiser Moreno Valley Community Hospital participated in the first Vision Conference on January 30. Hosted by SEIU Local 721, the conference brought together SEIU members and Riverside-area elected officials to address issues impacting the community.
More than 50 elected officials and dignitaries from all corners of the Inland region joined about 350 SEIU members at the Moreno Valley Conference Center. Elected officials included Riverside County Board Supervisors Marion Ashley, John Tavaglione, Jeff Stone and John Benoit.
Other attendees included Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner Stanley Sniff, Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco, Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge and economist John Husing, who specializes in Southern California's Inland region economy.
By Megan McCloskey
Las Vegas Sun
Friday, Oct. 10, 2008
When labor contract negotiations with hospitals progress slowly — much like the current stalemate at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals — nurses and their unions often launch public relations campaigns.
This classic union tactic is designed to try to tip the balance of power at the bargaining table. But union ploys aside (last month there was a candlelight vigil), the public might have a reason to pay attention to organized workforces in health care. New studies show that unions in hospitals make a difference in the quality of care.
Read More
January 15, 2010 - Our Union has held meetings with management and human resources this week in attempts to resolve issues regarding vacations, disciplines, short staffing and members not receiving proper lunch and breaks.
Our Union has conducted several focus groups in OB to identify work issues that are creating a negative impact. For example: frequent call-offs have increased stress due to lack of continuity of care. Our union met with management and staff on October 14 and 15 for an intensive discussion. Everyone contributed and came up with suggestions. We anticipate putting together an action plan in January 2010.
Our Union has been holding monthly meetings with OR nurses since August to try to resolve various issues perceived to be due to cultural tension among staff. Kaiser’s internal EEOC intervened and held staff interviews in October. We are awaiting results.
Our Union participated in a phone conference with management to discuss the intent of their “advanced hire criteria” language and how to be fair to current staff who were hired after June 2008 as well as to upcoming new hires. We are looking at some options.
Once Kaiser management has finished reviewing the contract “draft,” we will do a final edit and get the contract printed.
Local 121RN Executive Director Sue Weinstein and RN & Education Specialist Donalda Dunnett met with the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions and were formally accepted as a member. Now Kaiser and the Union have to negotiate to implement the terms of the National Agreement.
Outstanding Grievances:
• Unjust termination in OB has been filed and we are awaiting scheduling step 3. ULP filed and employee and all witnesses interviewed.
• Arbitration scheduled for unjust termination in CBM
• Membership card grievance advanced to step 2
Grievances Resolved:
• Two terminations in Med/Surg
• Two-day suspension in ICU
• Job classification / description in Radiology
• Lab error in ER
Service Employees International Union, Local 121RN was voted into membership by the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions on Oct. 29. 121RN represents about 250 nurses at Kaiser Moreno Valley Community Hospital. 121RN will also sign onto Kaiser’s Labor Management Partnership (LMP) of which members are covered by a national collective bargaining agreement.
The goal of the Coalition and Labor Management Partnership is to put Kaiser Permanente patients and members “at the center of every decision, to focus our teams on achieving the highest quality, the best service, the most affordable care and the best place to work. These achievements are created by high-performing teams that engage physicians, managers and frontline workers in ensuring that each patient has the best possible experience,” according to LMP literature.
“As nurses, our No. 1 goal is always to provide the best quality care to our patients,” says Barbara Washington-Knight, a registered nurse at Kaiser Moreno Valley Community Hospital for 16 years and a member of the SEIU 121RN Moreno Valley bargaining team. “Any effort that can help us achieve better patient care and a safer, more effective workplace, I’m all for that.”
By next year, all 96,000 Coalition Union members at Kaiser Permanente will be working in Unit-Based Teams, which are natural work groups of physicians, managers, supervisors and front-line workers who use joint decision making to identify and solve problems.
“The performance improvement model the teams use makes the process of change easy and intuitive,” says Maureen Anderson, communications director for the Union Coalition. “It gives workers a greater voice in their jobs than anywhere else –far beyond any other collective bargaining agreement in the U.S.”
The LMP offers core training courses that cover topics relating to key issues and how to work together to improve performance and create a better workplace. The key issues are: attendance, service, unit-based teams, workplace safety, quality, transforming KP and workforce development. In-depth courses are available on Unit-Based Teams and Performance Improvement.
For more information on the Labor Management Partnership, please visit
www.lmpartnership.org.
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Service Employees International Union, Local 121RN represents 8,000 registered nurses and professionals at 17 hospitals in Los Angeles and surrounding counties. This member-led organization is committed to the professional practice and day-to-day needs of Southern California registered nurses, and promoting the safe care of patients.
For more information on SEIU Local 121RN, please visit our website at
www.seiu121rn.org
Raises & Lump Sums expected in September 11 paycheck (2009)
Retroactivity to July 12 (3 pay periods) will show up as part of the September 25 paycheck.
Every member will receive a contract when it is signed and printed.
121RN members approve joining the national coalition of KP Unions. UHW & Local 121RN will bargain with KP to implement the "National Agreement" at Moreno Valley.
Second raise or lump sum will show up in the first paycheck of 2010 (effective pay period December 27, 2009)
Pending Cases: Class Action regarding a Hostile Work Environment in the OB
Arbitration filed on termed Employee in CBM
OR Staff / Union Meetings continue every fourth Wednesday in OR Kaiser EAP will attend meetings
SEIU & KP Moreno Valley Community Hospital Reach a
Tentative Agreement!
Ratification Voting to Take Place on Friday
Click here to download your own flyer (pdf)
Informational Meetings
WHEN: Thursday, July 23, 2009, 8:00am, 1:00pm, 6:00pm
WHERE: Lower Level Education Conference Room
WHAT: Summaries of the tentative agreement will be provided to all who attend the meeting.
Ratification Voting
WHEN: Friday, July 24, 2009, 6:00am until 8:00pm
WHERE: Lower Level Conference Room (near cafeteria)
WHAT: VOTING. A ballot and an individualized wage summary will be provided to every bargaining unit member who comes to vote.
RESULTS: Vote Count at 8 PM.
All members welcome to attend.
You must be present to vote.
No absentee or proxy voting permitted.
For questions about the voting process contact
Donna Sigaty SEIU 121RN (951) 203-7191 or Stewart Kocivar SEIU-UHW (619) 370-0601
Moreno Valley Workers Win Big As New Agreement Raises Wages
Your bargaining team at Moreno Valley won a landmark agreement with Kaiser Permanente that will significantly raise wages for SEIU-UHW and SEIU 121RN workers, provides workers with 3 raises over the next year, and creates a clear pathway for future raises.
Key provisions of the agreement include:
Higher Wages. The agreement brings wages at Moreno Valley, some of which were as low as $9.22—in line with Inland Empire KP Coalition wage rates. Raises vary from job classification to job classification, with some workers seeing raises as high as 61 percent.
Current RNs will move from a low of $26.49 to a minimum of $35.901 by April of next year.
Central Processing Aides will move from a low of $9.36 to a minimum of $15.94 by April of next year.
Certified Nursing Assistants will move from a low of $11.39 to a minimum of $17.62 by April of next year.
Rad Tech II will move from a low of $25.00 to a minimum of $31.23 by April of next year.
Ward Clerks will move from a low of $11.22 to a minimum of $16.13 by April of next year.
Three Raises. Members will receive raises as soon as the agreement is ratified, then again in December, and April.
Pathway to Higher Wages. For the first time Moreno Valley Members will have a step system for raises. The step system creates a guaranteed pathway to higher wages. Our step system is pegged to the Kaiser Inland Empire Coalition Union rates. Moreno Valley workers will be placed on steps one to four depending on their seniority. The wage rates for these steps are the same as the wages of other Kaiser union members on those steps doing the same work.
We worked hard with our union to get the same wages as other Kaiser workers, and we won. For many of us, the wage increases will be life changing,
said Greg Johnson, Lab Assistant