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Engaged membership; improved labor- management leads to strong contract
VALHALLA — Our Westchester Medical Center Unit members recently approved a new contract, with workers voting overwhelmingly to approve a five-year deal that includes a yearlong extension of a no-layoff clause that was part of the previous contract.
It took just a few sessions for management and our union to
come to an agreement, Westchester Medical Center Unit President Sue Fontana said, a vast change from the more challenging circumstances unit leaders encountered when negotiating previous contracts.
“The relationship we have built with management definitely helped us during the negotiations process,”
said Fontana. “Both sides
have worked
to rebuild a
good working relationship after some difficult years. With the process being
so smooth this
time, we were
able to have our
members ratify the contract before the current one expired.”
The agreement includes wage increases for each year of the contract, an additional salary step and an increase in longevity pay. Once both sides reached an
agreement, our officers and staff worked quickly to ensure members were able to vote on the deal Dec. 21.
Fontana said that the quality contracts our union has negotiated over the years has played a key
role in attracting top-notch staff, contributing to Westchester Medical Center’s reputation for excellence and specialized services.
“We have members helping to provide many of the unique services we have,” Fontana said. “We have people working in the transplant center, the burn unit, the neonatal intensive care unit. Our cardiac
care unit is one of the best and
our pediatrics staff members are amazing. We have members working
in the child life department of the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, who do an amazing job for children and families dealing with some of the most serious illnesses.”
With our union’s member engagement efforts helping to highlight the benefits of working in a unionized job, Fontana said CSEA members at the hospital recognized the importance of locking in a solid contract.
“We got a lot of thank yous,” Fontana said. “People were happy to have it done before the end of the year and they saw that we worked hard to make that happen.”
— Jessica Ladlee
Orange County reaches tentative contract
GOSHEN — A series of marathon negotiations sessions yielded
a tentative five-year contract agreement for the Orange County Unit that will now go to members for a vote.
Orange County Unit President Rosemarie Kukys and County Executive Steve Neuhaus, joined by both negotiating committees, held a ceremonial signing of the tentative agreement the day after Christmas, when Neuhaus was home on leave from a deployment with the U.S. Navy Reserves.
“We’re pleased to bring what we feel is a fair and equitable agreement back to our membership for a
vote,” Kukys said. “The fact that we were able to come to an agreement quickly and without complications is a testament to work both CSEA and the county have put into building
a stronger labor-management relationship.”
The tentative agreement
includes wage increases each
year, improvements to uniform allowances, and a provision ensuring workers begin receiving overtime pay as soon as they work the required number of hours in their workweek. That provision brings equity for members hired to work
35 hour or 37.5 hour workweeks,
as both were previously required
to work 40 hours before accruing overtime pay.
The deal also includes a slight increase in employee contributions toward health insurance premiums.
Unit leaders distributed copies
of the tentative agreement to members before a series of contract information meetings scheduled for different county worksites.
Members will vote on the agreement via mail ballot, a process the American Arbitration Association is administering.
February 2019
The Work Force 7
Fontana
Serving our communities
CSEA activists were on hand to volunteer at the 19th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, a food and clothing drive coordinated by the United Way and the Greater Syracuse Labor Council. From left, Syracuse Area Retirees Local Secretary Sally Heater, Central Region President Kenny Greenleaf and Central New York DDSO Local member Mary Donnelly sort food donations.
— Jessica Ladlee