After 4 months of bargaining and a final 9-hour mediated bargaining session, the Community Health United bargaining team reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) with management that covers both the licensed and support staff units.
A summary of the Tentative Agreement TA is below.
The actual TA can be found here, the pay grades here, and the wage scale is here.
Ratification Meeting
Thursday, January 12
6pm via Zoom
Ratification Election
We will hold an electronic vote via Election Runner. An invitation will be sent to all members’ personal email at 6pm on Thursday 1/12.
If you didn’t receive a ballot, email:
CHU@AFTVermont.org
The bargaining team unanimously recommends that all members vote yes on this tentative agreement. It is a huge step forward for our organization, addresses our biggest priorities, and puts us in a great position for bargaining our next contract.
Solidarity! The CHU Bargaining Team
Andrea Solomon, Kara Fauth, Brandon Lawson, Brooke Bishop, Cathleen O’Brien, Charlotte Cahillane, Christy Pilsucki, Gretchen Wierenga, Karen Obertubbesing, Lajla Badnjevic, Lauren Carpenter, Maggie Scimone, Matt Walker, Matty Larkspur, Meaghan McFadden, Michael Ialeggio, Tanner Baroni, Tina Beaudry
301-Wages
- Wage increases (minimum of 3.69%) for pay period starting 2/4/23 with retroactive back-pay from 8/1/22 in paychecks on 2/16/23
- Minimum wage increase to $20/hr on 8/1/23
- Additional wage increases on 8/1/23 and 8/1/24
- The full wage scales can be found at vt.aft.org/locals
302-Differentials
- Increased weekend and evening (expanded to overnights) differentials from $2 to $2.50
- On-call differential of $2 for hourly staff
- Increased on-call, weekend, and per diem differentials for providers
- Additional $5,000 quarterly stipend for labor & delivery providers (split by % deliveries)
- $100 flat call-in differential for providers asked to cover shift with <1 mo notice
- $2000 annual stipend for provider leads
101-Recognition: Adds the newly organized support staff to our Union!
203-CTO:
- Ability to cash out CTO.
- Increased accrual rates (to cover using CTO for holidays).
- Managers must respond to CTO requests in two weeks for any requests in the next four months and 90 days for any requests between 4-12 months in the future
- Ability to donate CTO to colleagues
304-Holidays
- Time and a half pay for anyone who works on a designated holiday (or observed holiday)
- People can use CTO to cover holiday pay (see 203-CTO)
- May request cultural and religious holidays
305-Bereavement
- Ability to define your family
- Up to 6 days per calendar year (max 3 days per occurrence).
- May request additional days (CTO or unpaid)
307-Parental Leave: An additional paid week for a total of 15 days.
312-Licence Renewal & Continuing Education
- New Continuing Medical Education (CME) funds for Dental Assistants, Medical Coders, Pediatricians (AAP), Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselors, and Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors
- Increase in funds for Dieticians
- $10,000/year CME pool for support staff applicants
- CHCB will provide CPR & BLS training onsite at least 2x/year
405-Orientation
- 3 union reps on Joint Training Committee to develop department training plans (Side Letter: Joint Training Committee)
- Management must come up with a training/orientation plan with input from staff
- Management will post and fill 6 Medical Assistant leads (not a contractual item), and will look at Patient Service Leads
407-Health & Safety
- 3 union reps on Emergency Preparedness & Response Committee
- Protections against reprisal for reporting safety concerns
- Guaranteed access to appropriate PPE
- No out-of-pocket expense to staff for required vaccines
412-Emergency Closing: Clarified and employees can request to work remotely if their school district is closed.
102-Union Access: Increases Union new employee orientation time from 30 to 45 minutes
106-Grievance and Arbitration: Now applies to organized support staff.
107-Nurse Staffing: One union co-chair on the Nursing Practice Council (NPC). Any nurse may now attend NPC meetings.
108-Labor Management Committee: Increased from 4 to 6 Union reps (paid time), and 4 meetings/year.
109-Work Assignments
- Employees will not be regularly required to work outside of their regular job duties
- CHCB will meet and confer with the union if any position (or an employee’s hours) might be eliminated
- When possible CHCB will ask for volunteers before floating an employee to another site
110-Duration: Contract will expire 7/31/2025
201-Scheduling Weekend Clinics
- Maintained that only employees who had passed orientation and probation would be required to work at a weekend clinic.
- Employees only in weekend pool for one location
- Weekend schedule will be posted at least four weeks ahead of time.
- Weekend clinics will have a supervisor
- If someone calls out sick, the supervisor will text employees and the first one to volunteer gets the shift.
204-Call Systems for Providers: Clarified eligibility pool for provider call system
205-Rest and Meal Breaks: CHCB will provide two 15 minute paid breaks and one 30 minute unpaid lunch
303-Benefits: No change to structure of the benefits. No full-time employee will lose pay due to the increase in the cost of health insurance.
402-Seniority: Employees who accept a position outside of the bargaining unit retain their seniority.
403-Employment Status: CHCB may separate employment of a per diem who has not worked in 3 months, but the per diem can request an extension.
408-Probationary Period. For probationary employees holidays paid (even if lacking CTO) & ability to take unpaid time off.
410-Evaluations:
- Clarifies that performance evaluations are not disciplinary
- Right to a steward if you are/will be on a performance improvement plan (PIP).
411-Discipline & Discharge
- Support staff now have access to just cause for any discipline.
- Stewards won’t lose pay for participating during their scheduled work hours.
413-Layoff/Furloughs
- Improved recall rights and notice
- Furloughed staff have the right to fill any vacant job if qualified
- Limits maximum furlough time to 12 weeks.
409-Personnel Records: Disciplines will be removed from employees’ records after 2 years
Side Letter - Bonvouloir House
- Staff will be notified of new admissions and trained on any specific patient needs
- Access to emergency medical and administrative contacts 24/7
- Set up a task force with worker representation to fix ongoing problems at Bonvouloir House
All other articles are as per the current agreement between CHU and CHCB