After bargaining for almost 24 hours (Thursday morning 4/18 through Friday morning 4/19), we have a complete tentative agreement! A summary of the wins are below.
The full tentative agreement can be found here.
The wages and differentials agreement can be found here.
The contract will only go into effect when a majority of members vote for it. We’ll follow up with a more comprehensive summary and information about contract voting shortly.
We are recommending a YES Vote! The CVHU Negotiation Team
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- WAGES
- Initial increase: Average 8%, minimum 3% (or 3% bonus for those over the maximum)
- Next increase: Any step corrections for employees who did not receive their full experience increase
- October 2024: 4.5%: 2.5% increase in base pay and 2% step increase or bonus
- October 2025: 4.5%: 2.5% increase in base pay and 2% step increase or bonus
- October 2026: 4.5%: 2.5% increase in base pay and 2% step increase or bonus
- Increase to minimum and maximum of all pay bands
- DIFFERENTIALS
- Night Differential: $6.50 (up from $4.50) for part-time, per diem and new hires. Current employees who receive Auto 8 will continue to receive Auto 8.
- Evenings Differential: $3.00 (up from $2.25)
- Weekend Differential $3.50 (up from $2.55)
- Charge/Lead retains differential when pulled to the floor ($3 Charge, $1 Lead)
- Resource $6 RNs, $3.50 LPNs/Techs
- Per diem employees will receive a new flat rate that is equal or greater than the previous 15% ($8, $7, $4.20 or $3.50, depending on job classification)
- Float differential $5, and you get the same differential whether you are “floating” or “helping hands”
- Preceptor differential is a straight $2/hour instead of having to work 40 hours in a quarter to get it
- End of Day Differential for Outpatient: Time and half if required to stay past the end of the shift for patient care
- Protected OR paid day off and WACU called-in stipend
- Respiratory Therapist and RN Transport 100% of base hourly rate
- Temporary Assignment Bonus ($600 for RNs, $350 for Tech & LPNs)
- SANE: $500 for each case
- STAFFING
- Hospital-wide and unit based councils to develop safe staffing ratios
- Orientees will not be counted in a staffing plan
- Process for protesting and documenting an unsafe patient assignment
- Requirement for CVMC to provide sufficient support staff
- INCENTIVE PAY/URGENT PAY
- If a need occurs to open a shift within 24 hours of the start of a shift due to census or call out, the shift must be offered at double time (new Urgent Pay rate)..
- If a shift is open two weeks prior, it automatically becomes a SIP shift, paid at time and a half. Management may designate a shift SIP before the two weeks.
- Urgent and SIP shifts are open to Per Diems as long they work or are scheduled for 24 non-urgent/non-SIP hours in a pay period
- Loss of Urgent/SIP will only not occur for any single absence less than 4.5 hours. Units with a 1 hour : 1 hour policy will retain their current practice.
- ON-CALL
- On-call stipend raised to $6/hour, and will continue to be paid when an employee is called into work
- On-call plus for Surgical Services, Ambulatory, CSR and WACU. If an on-call shift opens up less than two weeks in advance, CVMC may post as on-call plus ($10.50/hour plus the on call stipend, for a total of $16.60 per hour for RNs, and LPNs; $5.50/hour plus the on call stipend, for a total of $11.50/hour for techs). Surgical Techs will be offered Surgical Tech on-call shifts first.
- Paid Day off for FT OR following 40 hours of weekend call.
- EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATION
- New continuing education budget of $70,000 and 300 conference days starting in October 2024 (increases each year of the contract).
- Protection of other current programs (RN to BSN, certification reimbursement, pathways)
- ORIENTATION AND TRAINING
- Minimum requirement for Preceptors in patient care departments, CSR and Pharmacy
- Preceptor course will be offered a minimum of every other month
- Bargaining unit preceptors preferred over travelers
- Support for employees who make a clinical error (not just disciplined)
- Orientees will not be counted in a staffing plan
- Employees get to be directly involved in developing orientation/training plans
- CTO
- Recognition of Network Seniority (new concept) - people who’ve been employed at other Network hospitals get these years added to accrual tier
- Ability to bank up to two times an employee’s yearly accrual
- Requests for CTO usage must be approved or denied within two weeks
- Rolling CTO sign up. Up to 12 months in advance (unless a unit chooses seniority sign up)
- Protection of the number of CTO slots in each unit
- CAREER LADDERS
- Agreement to bargain RN career ladder within 6 months of ratification (after it’s been in the works for multiple years)
- Agreement to bargain Pharmacy Tech career ladder
- Can bargain career ladders for any other department
- CHILDCARE
- Management will pay the childcare tax and bargain with us if CVMC moves forward with an in-house childcare facility
- HEALTH AND SAFETY
- De-escalation, BLS and workplace safety training available on request
- 2 CVHU members on the Workplace Violence Committee
- UP & DOWNSTAFFING
- Committed hours employees preferred over travelers
- Clear process for both up and down staffing
- ABILITY TO GRIEVE/JUST CAUSE
- A real grievance procedure that ends in binding arbitration, not a manager’s discretion
- Right to have a union steward go with you to an investigation or a disciplinary meeting and it’s management’s responsibility to notify the employee of that right.
- No discipline or discharge without just cause
- Most corrective action not considered after one year
- JOB SECURITY
- All techs and nurses are now covered by just cause (no one can be disciplined or fired except for just cause)
- Permanent staff must now get preference for open assignments before travelers
- Can’t use supervisor, travelers or others to permanently replace a position or reduce hours
- CVMC must bargain with CVHU over any proposed sale, merger, expansion, etc.
- SCHEDULING
- Schedules must be posted at least 4 weeks in advance, and can’t be changed once posted without the employee’s consent.
- When employees have to stay late to meet patient care needs, they can’t be required to reduce their time on another day (aka, you get overtime)
- Ability to submit preference cards to be first in line when new schedules or shifts open up (i.e. switching from nights to days)
- After the schedule is posted, if we need to take CTO, we can use a per diem to cover our shift even if there is an open shift in the schedule
- Protection from increases to current weekend requirements
- Protection of block and special schedules
- Clear process and protections if the employer needs to change employees’ schedules
- Clear process for requests to reduce the number of committed hours
- REMOTE WORK
- Remote work process for outpatient if the employee is ill or the clinic is closed (with management approval)
- OTHER LEAVES
- Expanded bereavement leave (now includes employees in probationary period). Employees who miss shifts due to the death of loved ones who aren’t covered under bereavement leave (i.e. non-blood family) will now have absences coded as excused.
- Protection of FMLA and Supplemental FMLA
- Protection of Leaves: Personal, Volunteering, Election to Legislature, Educational, Health Service, Professional Experience, Relief from Abuse or Stocking, Short-term Family
- PER DIEM REQUIREMENTS
- Current unit level per diem requirements will remain the same unless changed by the unit staffing committee (and may only be changed once a year)
- See differentials in differential section
- INSURANCE AND RETIREMENT
- Protection of current cost share percentages between the employer and employee
- Protection of current employer retirement contributions
- VACANCY/JOB POSTING
- New system of Preference Cards for employees to fill out for preferred shift, length of shift, block, weekend scheduling, etc
- Preference for internal hires
- When switching jobs there is 120 trial period–not a probationary period
- HOLIDAYS
- Protection of current practices on holiday rotation
- FLOATING
- Restricted to staying within your area (Woodridge, Hospital or Medical Group)
- $5/hour differential for taking an assignment or as helping hands
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Basic Union Articles
- Preamble
- Recognition (lists positions and locations covered by the Union contract
- Check Off / Union Security (requires everyone to pay their fair share for negotiations and grievance handling)
- Union Access (bulletin boards, union bank of hours
- Information (in order to enforce the contract, contact members)
- Management Rights (limited by the other articles in the contract)
- Non-Discrimination
- Employment Status (defines, FT, PT & Per Diem)
- Probationary Period (only for initial hire, 120 days)
- Seniority (Network, CVMC & unit seniority defined)
- Layoff and Recall (process and protections)
- No Strike/No Lockout (during the term of the contract management cannot lock employees, and employees cannot strike)
- Labor-Management Committee
- No Mandatory Overtime
- CVMC provided scrubs (if required), including at Woodridge
- Agreement to bargain over issues not covered affecting wages, hours or working conditions
- Contract will expire on May 15th, 2027
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SIDE LETTERS
- Any employee who has an extended sick bank, will continue
- Agreement to bargain over a Summer Bonus (starting in Summer of 2025)
- IS Technician IIs
- Union Bank of Hours (300) to cover a fraction of the time CVHU bargaining team spent in negotiations and preparing for and attending negotiations