Bedside hospital caregivers, service, and campus workers are prioritizing benefits and wages to help recruit and retain staff

Rochester, NY – University of Rochester leaders leave contract talks early yesterday without an economic counter proposal for workers.  Union leaders say they have no confidence that UR’s management team can reach a fair contract.  

“I’m appalled. I’ve worked here for 29 years and what they are offering long-time employees is a disgrace. It’s a slap in the face because we can’t live off of cents. Food is high. Gas is high. It’s not acceptable and we are worth more than they are offering,” said Kellie Miller, Patient Transportation and 1199SEIU Chairperson. 

 

Union bedside caregivers, hospital and campus workers did agree to an extension of their current labor deal through Saturday, October 24th at 11:59 PM.  However, the bargaining committee has called on thousands of union members at the hospital and campus to decide whether or not they should bring their labor dispute to the public with an informational picket authorization vote set for next Thursday, October 22^nd.

 

Discussions over proposed changes in the no discrimination language in the contract and neutrality remain a divisive issue at the bargaining table. A large majority of union workers at the hospital and campus are minority and any changes to the existing no discrimination clause will have a direct impact on them. This protected language has been in their contract for more than 50 years. 

 

As the affordability crisis and staffing challenges across the University of Rochester system  grows, more and more workers are experiencing devastating consequences over the lack of competitive wages and benefits to recruit and retain staff. 

 

“There are hundreds of vacancies as members and staff leave the University for higher wages.  This results in more work for the staff who remain, causing burnout,” said Dawn Marshall-Hosier, Executive Vice-President, SEIU Local 200United.

 

Lack of competitive wages makes it very difficult to recruit staff to fill more than a thousand vacancies at the hospital and campus.  Both unions are working together to negotiate one agreement that will improve staffing, maintain quality health insurance and improve wages to help retain and recruit more staff to provide bedside care and services throughout the University’s system.  Retirement benefits and paid time off will also be key in contract talks for any new labor deal. All this as University of Rochester grad workers continue to fight for union recognition and rights.

 

Staffing challenges prompt workers in clinical settings to demand accountability.  The New York State Department of Health requires hospital systems to submit a staffing grid each year before July 1st. These grids are agreed upon by a staffing committee made up of workers and management^[1].  New York State’s Clinical Staffing Law allows patients and the public to understand and compare staffing patterns and levels at each hospital across the state.  Among staff included in the ratios are Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Patient Unit Secretaries and Patient Care Technicians^[2].  The grids provide for a minimum number of staff in each department based on shift.  When the agreed upon grids are not maintained, hospital based clinical staff can submit complaints to management every single time they work below the grid.

 

1199SEIU submitted an information request to hospital management asking for a report of staffing levels in June and only received a response earlier this month.  URMC’s Strong Memorial Hospital leaders provided the union with access to complaints only after months of repeated requests.  Nurses and ancillary caregivers take the staffing law seriously.  In recent months, unionized nurses at Rochester General submitted complaints to the NYS DOH that resulted in a massive fine^[3].

 

Two unions representing approximately 2,000 workers at Strong Memorial Hospital and University of Rochester’s River Campus have been negotiating for their next contract since early August.  Contract talks are ongoing between 1199SEIU, SEIU Local 200United and the University of Rochester. Workers and University of Rochester management are currently negotiating two days per week but the unions are demanding more days with longer hours as is customary in contract talks. 

 

Bedside hospital patient caregivers and service workers employed at Strong Memorial Hospital are represented by 1199SEIU and service workers at the University of Rochester are represented by SEIU Local 200United. 

 

The contract covering more than 2,000 workers at the largest private sector employer in upstate is set to expire October 24^th.  A federal mediator from Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) was present during early negotiating sessions, however the unions have hired a well experienced private mediator.

 

Caregivers represented by 1199SEIU at Strong Memorial Hospital and Golisano Children’s Hospital in Rochester include Patient Care Technicians, Nursing Assistants, Dental Assistants, Materials Processing Specialists, Patient Unit Secretaries, Environmental Service Workers, Cooks, Food Service Workers, Dietary Workers, Drivers, Porters, Stockkeepers, Transport Assistants, Transportation Center Workers, Truck Drivers, and Unit Support Assistants. 

Workers represented by SEIU Local 200United at the University of Rochester Campus include Building Services, Dining Services, Porters, Cooks, Stack Attendants – Library, Catering Service Assistants, Bus Drivers, Truck Drivers, and Stockkeepers.   

 

Caregivers return to bargaining Monday at 9 AM.  

 

On Background: 

Neutrality gives all employees at the University of Rochester the right to seek union representation to negotiate their benefits and wages including graduate workers who went on strike last year after the university failed to sign an agreement allowing a pathway to join a union. Neutrality would allow nurses, professionals, and other clinicians at the hospital the same privileges their counterparts in the Professional Homecare^[4] unit fought for last year. 

 

More professional and clinical workers at University of Rochester are joining unions to secure a voice on the job, along with guaranteed benefits and wages.  1199SEIU also represents more than 110 professionals and clinicians at University of Rochester’s Medicine Homecare whose 3-year contract^[5]expires next summer. 

 

Union representation gives workers a better way to hold their employer accountable.  Last year, more than 1,100 of the hospital workers represented by 1199SEIU won a yearslong arbitration over a contracted Scheduling Incentive Program (SIP) not included in their paychecks, despite having earned those monies^[6]. Union contract language helped to ensure workers could receive those earned benefits – highlighting the difference among unionized employees at the largest upstate employer. 

 

University of Rochester Graduate Students began forming a union to fight for living wages.^[7] Graduate workers held a massive rally, later going on strike to demand that University of Rochester President Sarah Mangelsdorf make good on a promise to sign documents allowing their union election to move forward.

 

In 2023, thousands of University of Rochester hospital and campus workers held an historic one-day strike when they walked off the job during brutal winter weather^[8]. 

 

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