Prime management said during negotiations this week that they won’t extend our contract after it expires March 31. What this means is that everything in our contract will remain in effect except dues being deducted from member paychecks and binding arbitration. Don’t panic! We still have our Union and the hospital still has to follow our contract. If you have a grievance, it will still be filed, just a little bit differently.
The hospital not deducting Union dues from your check is likely Prime’s attempt to make it financially difficult for our Union to continue with negotiations. However, our Union is financially sound and has been through tough times before.
Floating Proposal
Many RNs have concerns over the hospital’s stance that an RN can float just about anywhere in the hospital. Management proposed putting Med/Surg, Sub-acute, Same Day Surgery and the Mental Health Unit in one cluster.
In years past, our Union Bargaining Teams have fought to keep floating to a minimum in the hospital. This year, we proposed that RNs only float to like units, such as PACU, ICU and CCU.
“For continuity of care, I think our current floating clusters provide for better patient care.” Joyce Gray, Mental Health
“I am more comfortable working with the patients we serve in the ICU. We rarely float. Although we maintain our competencies, we would like to provide the best patient care at all times.” Link Teachout, ICU/CCU