Rochester General Hospital (RGH) and the Rochester Union of Nurses & Allied Professionals (RUNAP) met today for our twelfth bargaining session since negotiations began in October of last year. The session began shortly after 10 AM and ended at 5 PM.
Today, the parties reached three (3) tentative agreements. The agreements included:
- Layoff and Recall
- Grievance and Arbitration
- No Strike or Lockout
Regrettably, while RGH is focused on trying to reach a new collective bargaining agreement by making numerous proposals and counterproposals, we understand that RUNAP continues to try to generate support for a strike. RGH does not want a strike because a strike – or even a strike notice – could be very bad for our nurses, our community and the Hospital.
We urge all RGH nurses to get all the facts, and make an informed choice, before signing a union strike petition and/or before voting for or against a strike.
During the Session, the Parties Also Discussed the Following Open Proposal Items:
- Personnel Files and Evaluations: RGH’s counterproposal details how performance evaluations and personnel files will be handled and incorporates RUNAP’s language that employees can disagree with formal reviews through the grievance procedure.
- Unpaid Leaves of Absence: RGH maintained its proposal from June 1 to specify the circumstances around paid and unpaid leave, as well as return to work options.
- Successorship: RGH maintained its proposal from June 1 to provide RUNAP with 30-day notice in the event of a sale, merger or change in ownership of the hospital.
- Uniform and Dress Code: Both RGH and RUNAP made new counterproposals on rules for work attire and related issues.
RUNAP also presented a slight revision to its wage proposal during the meeting. RUNAP’s counterproposal still includes their initial wage scale and rates but specifies that nurses would receive 50% of the increase once the contract is ratified and would get the remaining 50% six months after ratification.
Finally, RGH also shared information with the union on recent efforts to enhance security around the hospital and to inform RUNAP’s membership of the work being done by the hospital’s Workplace Violence Committee. This discussion also focused on the parties’ proposals related to health and safety issues.
What’s Next
RGH and RUNAP are scheduled to meet again for bargaining on July 13. We will issue another update following that session to keep you informed. You can sign up to receive email or text alerts when a new bargaining update is posted to the website and also submit any questions. Please visit www.RGHNursesMatter.org for more information.