Bargaining-Session Update: May 14 Counterproposals and Tentative Agreements
In addition to the counterproposals to Local 328’s economic proposals, management’s team also presented the following counterproposals:
PTO Package: OHSU made some movement here, primarily in the area of voluntary cash-out. Last week we proposed a cash-out of up to 80 hours; OHSU today countered with a cash-out of 40 hours or 80 hours.
15.2.1 Insurance Contributions: OHSU continues to propose cutting its insurance contribution to 95% for employee-only coverage and to 83% for other coverages, but now only if the employee makes more than $19.23/hour.
15.2.3 Maximum Annual Contribution Increase: OHSU has not moved in this area. Currently, premium increases of up to 10% are covered by the employer. OHSU continues to propose reducing that to 5%, meaning that employees would have to pay for any premium increases over that amount.
Spousal Surcharge: OHSU continues to propose a $100/month spousal surcharge for employees whose spouses use OHSU health insurance as their primary coverage instead of the insurance offered by their own employers, but now only if the employee makes more than $19.23/hour.
Appendix C — Employee Benefits Council: OHSU has not moved in this area. Currently, the EBC must come to a collaborative agreement before OHSU can make significant changes to our benefits plan design, in a model that’s worked well for decades. OHSU is proposing removing the EBC’s decision-making power so that benefits changes will be decided by a single executive. This would mean that OHSU could ultimately disregard its employees’ voices when making changes to benefits.
5.28 Relief Employees: OHSU continues to propose that relief employees be available to work between two and six hours (a change from the current four hours) on either a pre- or post-schedule basis, but stated a willingness to work together on the matter.
7.4 Availability of Additional Work: OHSU continues to propose language that would allow managers to not go by seniority when assigning work to cover a short-notice call-out (e.g., someone calling in sick).
18.1.1 Posting and Awarding of Position: OHSU continues to reject our proposal to give salaried employees the option to convert to hourly when bidding on a position.
23.1.2 Suspension of Seniority Rights: OHSU continues to reject our proposal to strike this language. (This language has only been used a couple of times over the course of a four-year contract, so Local 328 feels there isn’t a need for it to remain in the contract.)
In the afternoon, Local 328 re-presented our previous counterproposals, rejecting OHSU’s insurance take-backs.A word about the $19.23/hour threshold that OHSU has proposed for a number of its proposals: Our union is glad that OHSU has recognized that its insurance take-backs would be especially hard on the lowest-paid members of our bargaining unit. However, we continue to believe that these take-backs are unnecessary for any of our members given OHSU’s record financial success. Our union represents all employees in the bargaining unit and we don’t support a two-tier system that would divide our members. We are stronger together. This article explains how employers often propose different benefits and compensation for different sets of employees within a bargaining unit, in an effort to weaken the union by driving a wedge between workers. Local 328 and OHSU reached tentative agreements today on the following sections of the contract:
15.1.1/15.1.4/15.1.5/15.3/15.3.1 Eligibility & Default Coverage — These sections relate to the default coverage for benefits for new employees. New employees with an FTE of 0.75 or greater will be automatically enrolled in employee-only OHSU PPO, Delta dental, core vision and core life insurance and will have 31 days from hire to update their benefits as they choose. Employees with an FTE of less than 0.75 will not be automatically enrolled, but if they don’t make a benefits selection within 31 days, then they will be enrolled into the above default benefits.
15.2 Insurance Contributions — This section has been updated with definitions of full-time and part-time employees.
15.2.4 Employee Premium Deduction — This section has been updated with a change to when insurance premiums are deducted from employees’ pay. This is change essentially reflects current practice.
18.1.2 Placement/18.2.4 Provisions Applicable to Internal Applicants Only — Our contract will retain the language stating that employees will be placed into new internal positions no later than four weeks after being selected for a position. Employees will have the option to negotiate a different timeline upon request.