Closing In On Finishing
July 2015
CLOSING IN ON FINISHING
A Full Tentative Agreement May Be Possible Next Week
July 30, 2015
Over the last three negotiating sessions, steady progress was made on a number of fronts, narrowing the list of unresolved contract issues.
On Tuesday, we reached tentative agreement on “Recognition and Coverage” and “Safety and Health” language.
We also reached conceptual agreement on how to tackle workload issues. We know addressing workload, particularly in the outpatient, mail order, and inpatient work settings, is very important to members. Addressing workload in a significant way to bring real change and improvement to everyday work life requires a thoughtful approach. We need to carefully consider the challenges and then design and develop meaningful options to deal with the issues. The conceptual agreement we reached with management on Tuesday involves setting up workload committees, by work setting, that will use LMP principles to work on the issues in a time sensitive manner, guided by specific charters and lists of deliverables, and facilitated by non-KP experts. We expect to reach final agreement on this issue next Monday, August 3.
We have also spent a considerable amount of time over the past several bargaining sessions discussing work schedules. We’ve discussed with management the length of posted schedules; how Full-Time, Part-Time and Per Diems are placed on the schedule (from our perspective, by seniority); if and/or when posted schedules may be changed; rotations; weekends; shift lengths; limits on consecutive work days; and time off requests in relation to scheduling work shifts. While the conversations have been useful, no agreements have been reached.
Currently, we have two more negotiating sessions scheduled – next Monday, August 3 and Tuesday, August 4. There is a possibility of finishing our work next week, although it would require management agreement on a number of issues important to us. The list of significant open issues has been reduced to: professional practice standards; managers working and protection of bargaining unit work; Per Diem job bidding and preference over outside candidates; work schedules; rest and meal periods; the number of Part-Time ETO slots available during the annual vacation bidding process; conversion of Part-Time Pharmacists to a fixed FTE status; conversion of Per Diem Pharmacists to Part-Time status; and several other important economic issues.
Without a doubt, the remaining issues are challenging. However, it is possible we could be done on Tuesday, August 4. We invite all pharmacists to attend an upcoming bargaining session. Come and participate first hand as we work through the unresolved issues. Our union-only caucus begins at 9 a.m. and we strive to get together with management at 10 a.m. All sessions are held at the UNAC/UHCP office:
955 Overland Court, Suite 150
San Dimas, CA 91773
Your continued support is very much appreciated!
In solidarity,
Bill Rouse
Chief Negotiator
UNAC/UHCP