Union Offers to Relinquish Pay if Hospital Staffs Up

The union that represents roughly 400 nurses and 100 technical employees at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center says it's willing to relinquish nearly half of the pay incentives offered by management if the hospital promises higher staffing levels in its units.

The current three-year labor agreement that covers the roughly 500 employees at the region's largest hospital expires midnight Thursday, July 31. Employees may still work at the hospital without a labor agreement, and the union must issue a 10-day notice of a strike if it intends to stop work.

So, no one knows what the next few days will bring.

The union issued a strike notice last week but then withdrew it. Meanwhile, union members have given the negotiation team the authority to issue a new strike threat, but they're now hoping that won't be necessary.

Delegates representing District 1199 of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees formally offered Wednesday to forgo nearly half of the 9 percent in pay incentives offered by hospital management. In return, they are asking the hospital to establish nurse staffing levels at the 50th percentile when compared to similarly sized hospitals and technicians staff levels at the 40th percentile, along with approving language that would establish an enforcement mechanism on staffing provisions.

Hospital management didn't reply to SFR's request for comment about whether they will accept the union's offer. Union delegates say they sent the offer to a federal mediator and hand-delivered it to Christus St. Vincent management, where they were greeted by security guards.

"We have received the union's latest proposal and our bargaining team is currently evaluating it," Christus St. Vincent spokesman Arturo Delgado writes in an email. "We remain committed to bargaining in good faith. At this time, however, we don't believe there is a need to return to the table to accomplish that goal given the nature of the proposal and the thorough bargaining history to date."

District 1199 represents all of the 500 nurses and techs that work at the hospital, even if they're not dues-paying members who get voting rights. For the first time, union delegates went on the record to say that more than 70 percent of nurses and techs covered by contracts are dues-paying union members, with enrollment spiking rapidly during the current round of bargaining over a new three-year contract.

Local District 1199 president Fonda Osborn says nurses both young and old agreed to give up bonuses offered by the hospital if management agreed to higher staffing levels.

"That is very real money to us," Osborn says of the offer, in which members would give up pay incentives tied to patient satisfaction scores.

Santa Fe Reporter