Greetings USW Sisters & Brothers:

Your solidarity has made all the difference in the world! We (your Negotiating Committee) met once again with hospital management on Friday (3/19/2021). The results of this protracted negotiations were finally positive. We achieved a Tentative Agreement for a new Labor Contract.

The wage increases achieved are much improved over the previous offer; as we cannot be  treated as second class employees vs. non-union co-workers.

The USW legal department assisted us, and we are pleased to report that our pre July 2017 pension language will be restored (vs. the rejected proposal) upon ratification. Other improvements previously TA’d were preserved.

We also appreciate the help of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS)  Commissioner. The FMCS is an independent agency of the U.S. government.  FMCS was created in 1947 by Congress to prevent strikes. The Agency’s official mission is to “preserve and promote labor-management cooperation and peace.” The FMCS assigned a Commissioner (also known as a Federal Mediator) to these very difficult negotiations. The Federal Mediator became more involved as negotiations had grown even more tense in 2021, and the Union’s strong resolve to achieve meaningful wage increases for members grew more urgent.

We plan to send the details of the Tentative Agreement to each of you in a packet via US Mail this week. The packet will include a ballot to vote on the new Tentative Agreement terms and postage paid envelope to return your ballot for counting.

While there will always be work to do in the next negotiations, we hope you agree with us that the terms we arrived at in the Tentative Agreement are satisfactory and meet with your approval.

If you wish to be a USW Steward and receive education for the position, please let Bridgette know - we’re going to build Local 2801 to be an even greater voice for our members!

In Unity,

Bridgette, Milton, Anna, &
The USW Int’l Union (AFL-CIO) Support Team
Unity & Strength for Workers!