March 14, 2008

Negotiations for a new union contract with The Doctors Clinic began on Wednesday, March 12th. As negotiations begin this year, we are in a much stronger bargaining position than in our last round of negotiations three years ago.

We also have a lot of ground to make up, because wages at The Doctors Clinic are significantly below standards for other health care facilities in the area. It’s time for that to change.

Highlights of Our Union Contract Proposals:

Based on feedback from our bargaining surveys and contract proposal meetings, the union bargaining team made a fairly comprehensive proposal to improve wages, benefits, and working conditions at The Doctors Clinic. Highlights of our initial proposal include:

Catching Up on Wages

We expect wages to be a major issue in this year’s negotiations. According to an authoritative survey on wage rates for health care jobs in the area, The Doctors Clinic comes up as much as 15% behind. There’s no reason for wages here to be so much lower than area standards.

We based our wage proposal on this market survey, and proposed different increases for different job classes, depending on how far each class was behind the market. Based on what it would take for each class to catch up, we proposed increases ranging from 5% for some job classifications, such as Surgical Techs and OR Nurses, to 12% or even 15% for other jobs, including Medical Assistant, LPN, Medical Technologists, Medical Lab Techs, Specialist RN-any practice other than family or general or OR and Special Testing Techs.

Once we catch up to area standards, we also need to keep up, so we proposed to increase the scale by 4% next year, and 4% more in 2010. These increases would come in addition to the step increases you receive as you move up the wage scale.
Finally, we proposed to better reward experienced employees by adding one step to the wage scale this year, and another step in 2010.

Other Issues

Report pay: We proposed that anytime you report for work you are guaranteed a minimum of 3 hours pay. This would apply to regular scheduled shifts as well as call-back shifts.
Long-Term Illness Leave: Our proposal allows access to the Long-Term Illness bank on the first day for illnesses that happen on the job, or are related to FMLA.

Temporary lack of work: We proposed a limit of 8 hours per month in the number of hours an employee could lose due to lack of work. We believe that this issue mostly comes up when doctors take vacations, and their staff end up having to take the days off as well. It’s not fair that people are using up their vacation days to meet their financial needs just because their doctors are off on holiday.

Medical Insurance: We have not yet made a formal proposal in this area, but we told management a proposal is coming that would require the employer to negotiate with us before making any changes to the medical plan. We are also looking at way to hold down costs for dependant coverage.

What’s Next

What’s Next
Bargaining has only just begun. We have presented a nearly comprehensive proposal, but we have not yet heard much from the employer. We expect them to come the next bargaining session on March 27th with a full economic proposal. At that point, we’ll have a better idea of where they stand.

Our initial proposal may seem rich, but that’s only because wages are so far behind. In reality, all we are asking for is what most other health care workers are already enjoying throughout the Puget Sound region. It’s only fair that we get paid in line with area standards.

In order to show that Doctors Clinic employees are united around this goal, member of the bargaining team will be distributing bracelets for you to wear. If union members at every clinic are all showing unity by wearing the bracelets, Management will know we are united for a fair contract, and they’ll have to take our proposals seriously.

If you have any questions or concerns, speak to a member of the union bargaining team, or call Union Representative Cathy MacPhail at 1-800-732-1188, ext. 6627.

Your Union Bargaining Team

Mike Arau, Ortho Tech, Salmon Center
Beverly Babbitt, MA, E. Bremerton
Andie Bordner, MA, Port Orchard & E. Bremerton
Sandy Finnerty, RN, E. Bremerton
Carolee Flaten, RN, PromptCare
Heather Keller, RN/PT, Women and Children
Laura Litland, Surg Tech, Salmon Center
Melissa Mosher, RN, Salmon Center
Shelley McInnis, MA, Poulsbo
David Fleishman, Union Negotiations Director
Cathy MacPhail, Union Representative