News
Retiree Council Meetings Held Monthly
Join fellow Retiree Members as we discuss important issues affecting us like Social Security, healthcare, pension, and housing! Let’s use the collective strength
of our Union to win a secure retirement for all!
When: January 12th, 2021 at 10am
Meetings take place on the second Tuesday of each month
Where: Online via Zoom
To join the Zoom Meeting go to: https://seiuhcmn.zoom.us/j/91378521370
Please RSVP to mackenzie.flynn@seiuhcmn.org
Guardian Angels Nursing Home Members to Receive Bonus
Congratulations to the members at Guardian Angels nursing home on winning a one-time $200 bonus from the employer for getting the COVID-19 vaccine! Our Union has taken a strong position that the COVID-19 vaccine should be voluntary for all members. This principle of voluntarism is the rule in the U.S. for as long as the vaccine is authorized for “Emergency Use”.
Guardian Angels Nursing Home management offered this one-time bonus to show their encouragement for members to get the vaccine. We applaud the bonus and hope other employers will adopt a similar approach in the near future.
New Contract at Parkview Care Center
Congratulations to the members at Parkview Care Center on winning a great, new three-year contract! Details include:
Year One:
- The employer will absorb all increases for monthly health and insurance premiums (6%).
- 1.25% increase to all steps of the wage scale and 2.25% for all employees at or over the top of the wage scale.
- The PM shift differential was increased by $0.10 to $0.55/hour.
- The Uniform Allowance benefit increased from $0.07/hour to $0.10/hour.
- Members won a COVID Pay “Letter of Understanding,” increasing pay by $5.00/hour for employees working in direct care for COVID residents and $2.00/hour for all other employees in a facility where there are COVID + residents.
- Added the SEIU Health and Safety language related to exposure to infectious disease and paid time off when unable to work after a workplace exposure.
- Clarified language in an LOU on open shift and overtime.
Year Two: 3% Wage increase for all employees.
Year Three: Contract will reopen in October 2022 to negotiate wages for year three.
SEIU Principles and FAQ on COVID-19 Vaccine
Last month, thousands of SEIU healthcare workers around the country and in Minnesota started receiving the COVID-19 vaccine! Many members have shared photos of themselves getting the shot on Facebook and it has been a true joy seeing all of the smiles on member faces.
This week, even more members and nursing home residents will have the opportunity to receive the shot and be vaccinated. Nationally, SEIU has developed a set of principles and FAQs for the COVID-19 vaccine. They are attached to this email and shared on our website for your information. Please take a look and please consider getting the vaccine to protect yourself, your family and our community.
SEIU Sues Monarch Nursing Home Corporation
In December, our Union filed a lawsuit in Federal court against the Monarch Nursing Home chain over their refusal to arbitrate Union grievances. For the past year, our Union has been fighting the Monarch Nursing Home chain to comply with the grievance and arbitration clause of our contracts. Because of their continued refusal to comply with the contracts, or submit disagreements to binding arbitration, we filed a lawsuit in federal court to compel their compliance with the contract. We look forward to seeing them in court and finally getting justice for SEIU members across the Monarch Nursing Home chain.
Nursing Home Workers Win Raises at Fairview Ebenezer!
Last week, the SEIU members at Fairview Ebenezer nursing home reached a tentative agreement for a new three-year contract with significant wage increases. Please join me in congratulating the bargaining team and members at Fairview Ebenezer for this incredible settlement. Details include:
- A new Wages Article was created to better define Union wages, step movements, differentials, leapfrogging, length of service increases, two-hour pay guarantee, on call pay and TMA differentials.
- Wages will increase to reflect moving ahead of the Minneapolis Minimum Wage Ordinance and will include increases in every job classification on an eight-year moving scale to avoid wage compression. To do this, all job classifications will have wage increases on January 1, 2021 and the lowest paid classifications will have an additional increase to all steps July 1, 2021.
- There will be two wage openers: January 1, 2022 and January 1, 2023. The contract will expire December 31, 2023.
- These classifications will receive two increases (January 1, 2021 and July 1, 2021):
- Housekeepers/Laundry start rate will move from $13.25 to $14.25 (7.55%) and increases advance through the steps so that the 8-year step moves from the current rate of $13.68 to $15.55 (a total increase of 13.7%)
- Custodians start rate is $13.69 and moves to $14.72 in 2021 (total increase of 7.23%) and increases advance through the steps so that the 8-year step moves from the current rate of $14.96 to $16.09 on July 1, 2021 (a total increase of 8.42%)
- Maintenance Assistant 1 start rate will move to $13.52 January 1 and $14.50 July 1, (totaling 9.29% in 2021) and increases advance through the steps so that the 8-year step moves from the current rate of $19.93 to $21.90 (a total increase of 9.72%)
- These classifications will get increases on January 1, 2021:
- Central Supply start rate will move to $16.08 (increase of 10.16% in 2021) increases advance through the steps so that the 8-year step moves from the current rate of $15.71 to $17.30 (annual increase of 10.16%)
- Maintenance Assistant II (Boiler’s License) start rate will move to $20.02 (increase of 3%) and increases advance through the steps so that the 8-year step moves from the current rate of $21.10 to $21.74 (increase of 3%)
- Nursing Assistants start rate moves from $14.88 to $15.75 (5.8%) and in 90 days moves to $16.37 (10% increase). Advances through the 8-year steps move to a new 8-year step to $17.78 (9.98%)
- The scales move on anniversary dates through Step 8, at that point, all employees receive a 1% increase on their anniversary date.
- In addition, all Employees with 10 years of service or greater receive a bonus of $300 on each anniversary.
- There will be a new $2.00/hour differential for all hours worked as a TMA
- The Housekeeping/Laundry weekend differential will increase to $.50/hour.
- Shift differential times were defined.
Other changes include:
- Removing some language referring to non-contract employees.
- Updating Union Security to reflect SEIU has moved to the percentage dues system.
- Small increase to Steward time with new members and moving the corresponding LOA into the body of the contract.
- Removed duplication in Seniority language.
- Updating the definition of the pay period.
- Updating the language for 15-minute breaks.
- Added language to Health and Safety to meet to discuss steps to protect workers in a pandemic.
- Modified language to reflect IRS changes to elective cashing out some PPL and clarified the implementation in a new LOA.
Letter to Minnesota Department of Health Vaccine Advisory Group
On F
riday, our Union submitted a formal letter on the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in Minnesota. Our letter urges the state to include all healthcare workers in the first tier (1a) for vaccine distribution- including hospital, clinic and nursing home workers who are not involved in direct patient care as well as consumer-directed home care workers. Our letter advocates for all vaccine distribution be made voluntary for health care workers at this time.
COVID-19 Vaccine Survey Results
Over the last two weeks our Union has been conducting a membership survey with important questions related to newly developed COVID-19 vaccines. More than 600 members have responded to the survey and we want to share the results with you so you can see what we are learning from those responses. We also want to invite additional feedback and input from members who have not yet had an opportunity to respond. In addition to the responses to the survey questions we received more than 150 questions and comments from members about the vaccines that members want to see answered to help inform decisions about the vaccine.
In the weeks ahead, our Union will work to share with you reliable information about the vaccines and we will advocate for all of our members who want the vaccine to have access, on a voluntary basis, as soon as possible. Check out the responses to our survey questions below:
Member Leader at Open Cities, Rita Robinson, Retires after 33 Years
Later this week, on December 4, Rita Robinson will be retiring from Open Cities after 33 years as a Dental Assistant. Rita has been a leader in the union from the very beginning. In the early 90s, she and two others reached out to form the union when the facility used to be Model Cities.
“It was exciting forming the union, the things we were seeing just didn’t seem right. I noticed people would work for a year and then they would go on to something else. A lot of us liked our jobs and we wanted to stay there and it was time for management to change. People weren’t getting raises, weren’t getting breaks, or going to lunch. I said, no I like working here, if they did better we could stay.”
Rita has been fighting every year since, continuing to serve on the bargaining committee and
becoming a steward a year after the first contract. She says overall being a steward has been good, with ups and downs, lots of grievances and arbitrations. Rita even had to fight for her own job at one point, “I had to use the union myself, I was fired after being there for 25 years, and thankfully my union stood by me and I got my job back. Some people probably would have given up but I hung in there. I had faith in [the union] and they had faith in me.”
Throughout her time as a union steward and leader Rita always appreciated the leadership from the union, “they helped my work experience be better.”
When thinking about the future of the union at Open Cities and advice she has for new members she said, “you guys need it, you guys need to stick together and don’t let them run you away. If you like your job, stay there, fight for it… sometimes you lose faith as the process takes a while, but people have to hang in there, we have a contract and we have to know our rights.”