Webinar on Haiti
Friday, February 26, 2010 @ 7:30pm (est)
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To track updates and changes to the 2010 agreement click here.  (last updated 7/03/2010)

To review the process of the negotiations from 2009 click here.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT
By Daniel Fields, Jr.
June 17, 2010

Healthcare Division Leadership Board

Just recently I went to Denver Colorado to attend the Health Care Division Leadership Board (HDLB) meeting. At these meetings, which are usually held every two (2) months or there about we discuss the direction of the healthcare division and possible organizing campaigns that we can assist with across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. We can assist by sending funds to other SEIU Local Unions that have an organizing campaign in action or send some of you to the area to help in the organizing campaign. Any of you that may be interested in being a Member Organizer, please let us know. We are able to get some of you off work on Union Business Leave to assist in some campaigns.

Secondly, this meeting took on an added importance , because it was the first national meeting since the induction of Ms. Mary Kay Henry as the new International President. Mary Kay, as she is called, replaced Andy Stern as the International President. Prior to becoming the new International President, Mary Kay held the position of International Executive Vice President. Many of you met Mary Kay at last year cookout. She took time out of her busy schedule to attend. Hopefully, we may be able to get her to attend this year’s cookout on August 28 2010.

Thirdly, as an added surprise, Dr. Toni Lewis was appointed by Mary Kay to be the Chairperson of the HDLB. What is so important about this appointment are the facts that Dr. Lewis is a female African American and is also the first actual physician to head our division.

One thing that was discussed is the effect that the new healthcare reform will have on our relationships with our employers as it relates to contract negotiations and organizing opportunities. On this front, it was recommended that we engage in a discussion with our hospitals and healthcare providers to gain input on how they are dealing with the new reform’s rules and regulations. There may be collaborative actions that we can participate in that may both benefit them and us. We will keep you up to date on the reform and our interactions with our employers on this issue.

Any  Washington Hospital Center is at it again. After making front-page news a few weeks ago for summarily firing more than a dozen nurses for

failing to make it to work during last month’s record-breaking blizzards, the hospital has suspended or disciplined about 80 other hospital workers who also failed to get to work during the snowstorms. "While local governments were telling people to stay off the streets, our members were digging out their cars and tried to get to work," an outraged SEIU Local 722 President Dan Fields told Union City. "The commitment of these workers is being measured by this one snowstorm and that's not right," said Fields. "If you want to talk about commitment, talk about Aaron Anderson, who has worked at the hospital for 39 years and was suspended for being unable to get to work." Anderson, who is legally blind and had a bilateral hip replacement, relies on Metro Access to get from his home to work. Because Metro was closed during the storm, Anderson - who resides in Greenbelt, Maryland - called WHC notifying them he was unable to make it to work. After the storm, he was suspended. "It feels like they have no loyalty to you,” said Anderson. “I'm unable to get a grasp on what's happening to me and my coworkers. It's put a lot of stress on the people here. People don't know where to turn and what to do." Fields is calling on the community to get involved and to encourage WHC President Harrison Rider to stop bullying their workers, particularly ahead of contract negotiations next year. "President Rider is talking about commitment and devotion," Fields told Union City. "Rider doesn't have any commitment to the hospital or its workers. People should call the hospital, call the president, and tell them to stop treating their workers so badly." 

READ COPY OF LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN VINCENT C. GRAY TO Washington Hospital Center - March 29, 2010

Click here for a copy of the letter that we have submitted to WHC on this issue.

Update on Mandatory Influenza Shots

Washington Hospital Center (January 26, 2010)

It is with great displeasure that I (Daniel Fields Jr.) must inform you that we have not been successful in preventing the Washington Hospital Center (MedStar) from enforcing it’s Mandatory Flu Shot policy.   Monday, January 25, 2010, I was involved in a conference call with our lawyer and the counsel for our International Union on the actions that we could take to prevent WHC from enforcing this policy.  It was their learned opinion that we would not prevail in getting a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to stop this action.

This does not mean that we have stopped our fight.  The reason that we have not yet proceeded to arbitration is WHC is refusing to honor the language in our mutually negotiated Collective Bargaining Agreement.  We are currently reviewing the options that we have to force WHC to arbitration, but these options will not be viable until after the WHC stated deadlines.  Due to the fact that at this time we are unable to prevent you from being placed in an unpaid status for not taking this shot, we encourage  you to  take the necessary action to protect  your employment.  For those of you who do not take the shot and is subjected to discipline in any manner by WHC, the Union will file a grievance on your behalf.  The grievance will request that you receive all monies and benefits lost due to this violation by WHC.

Some workers have questioned why the Union is fighting this policy.  They view this policy, as does WHC, as a patient safety issue.  Our objection is not the vaccination itself, but the fact that WHC is refusing to honor the Collective Bargaining Agreement that it mutually negotiated with the Union, by refusing to go to arbitration, and letting an arbitrator decide if they can indeed arbitrarily  implement a mandatory policy.  If we allow them to do this without an objection, think of what they may arbitrarily do in the future.

Also, unlike Children’s, which by the way is not making the flu shot mandatory, WHC did not discuss or negotiate with  us alternatives to taking the shot, such as the wearing of masks, or reassignment to fewer susceptible patient areas.  As a matter of fact, the MedStar related facilities appear to be the only ones taking this mandatory position.

Again, our fight will continue and we will continue to keep you up to date on this issue.  As always, you can call the Union office for more information and advice.

Flu Vaccine mandate arbitration update (11/5/09)

Since my (Daniel Fields Jr.) last update to you concerning the mandatory flu shot, the Washington Hospital Center has taken the position that the issue of the flu shot is not arbitrable.  In a recent letter to me, the hospital has taken the position that, “it does not believe that its patient care policies are subject to the arbitration process and does not agree to schedule this matter to arbitration.” Due to WHC’s current position, this issue has been forwarded to our lawyer, Mr. William King for processing.  Mr. King has contacted WHC with the Union’s position, of which a copy is on the back of this document.  It is the Union’s position that WHC is trying to prolong the adjudication of this issue as long as possible to intimidate as many workers as it can to take the flu shot prior to the deadline of December 4, 2009.  In fact, many of you have informed me of some of the scare tactics your supervisors are using to get you to take the shot prior to December 4, 2009. -more-

Executive Board Nomination Meeting for All Executive Board Positions

The meeting for all Executive Board Positions is coming up on Saturday, November 21, 2009 from 2:00pm until 5:00pm.  For more info click here.