Hospital Local Issues Bargaining 2016 Round Direction Included

Bargaining Unit Presidents, Hospital Sector/November 12, 2015Page 1

Hospital Local Issues Bargaining 2016 Round –Direction Included

To:Bargaining Unit Presidents, Hospital Sector

From:Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN, President

Date:November 12, 2015

Re:Hospital Local Issues Bargaining 2016 Round – Direction Included - IMPORTANT

C:Board of Directors, Local Coordinators, District Service Teams

We have entered into bargaining for the hospital collective agreements, expiring March 31, 2016. While Notice to Bargain will not be sent until January 2016, the Memorandum of Conditions for Joint Bargaining (MCJB) have now been signed by the parties, and you and your bargaining teams should be preparing for Local bargaining. Your bargaining team should already be elected. If your bargaining team is not elected, please call your Regional Vice-President immediately to ensure your team is elected as soon as possible. Labour Relations Officers (LROs) should have already set meetings this fall and should now be working with your elected membership negotiating committees to determine issues for Local bargaining.

Local bargaining proposals must be finalized with your Labour Relations Officer by January 14, 2016. These proposals must be vetted to ensure they are properly Local issues in accordance with the MCJB (attached). Proposals must be tabled with the employer no later than February 1, 2016 to be timely.

Bargaining Unit Leaders Next Steps

In your leadership role you should be working with your LRO and elected negotiating teams by:

• Exploring whether it would benefit your team to hold a "Preparing your Team for Negotiations Workshop" – I encourage you to discuss the matter with your Local Coordinator because of the financial implications.
• Reviewing the Service Delivery Guidelines and Bargaining Unit Accountability documents with your committees.
• Reviewing collective agreements.
• Identifying any current provisions that conflict with central language.
• Reviewing all Letters of Understanding appended to or negotiated during the term of the collective agreement,e.g. innovative schedules, mentoring, supernumerary nurses.
• Reviewing issues raised by Bargaining Unit members to develop proposals.
• Reviewing all draft proposals within the context of articles already in the collective agreement to avoid conflict with other articles and to evaluate if they contradict other collective agreement provisions.
• Reviewing problem areas arising during the last agreement,e.g.scheduling issues and difficulties, premium pay issues, vacation and lieu day denials,and vacation quotas.
• Identifying provincial priority areas for bargaining.
• Reviewing the Local Issues Collective Agreement Prototype to identify areas that need to be explored with your LRO and Negotiating Committee that are not currently covered in your Local appendices.
• Advising your LRO of dates important for the Bargaining Unit or Local leadership, such as Area Coordinator Conference (ACC) and Provincial Coordinator Meeting (PCM) dates, so bargaining dates do not conflict with them.
• Consulting with your LRO on what disclosure you wish from your employer appropriate for Local proposals needs to be identified, e.g. Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) stats around violence incidents, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) numbers, Bargaining Unit nursing hours, vacancies, copies of schedules, financial information related to overtime costs and consecutive weekend costs.
• Nurse Practitioner (NP) issues: We have developed prototype language that is to be used if there are NPs in the Bargaining Unit, as their needs may be different.

Potential Proposals

It became apparent to the HospitalCentral Negotiating Team (HCNT) as we read the Have a Sayquestionnaire comments that many members do not know what language is currently contained in their collective agreement. As you liaise and/or meet with your members during this round of bargaining, please take these opportunities to educate them about the content of our collective agreement-both central and local provisions.

Mentorship Letter of Understanding (LOU): Discuss with your LRO tabling language pertaining to how mentors are chosen and/or clean up any current Local language.

Health and safety:Violence prevention is a very high priority issue for our members. ONA’s staff have provided areas for improving and tightening up language about violence, appropriate staffing and other issues. In addition,we have amended language for the Local issues prototype based on their suggestions to table. Your LRO has contract analysis data to identify where such language exists.

Pre-approved overtime: If you have language in the Local provisions that speaks to where overtime is paid for a scheduling violation and it identifies pre-approval, the pre approval should be removed as pre-approval is a central issue.

Denial of vacation and/or paid holiday lieu time requests: If you do not have language that speaks to timely approval of vacation or lieu days for statutory holiday requests, language should be tabled.

The members have clearly stated in Have a Say that they want their vacation time off; therefore, there should be no language for vacation payouts.

Premium payments in Local provisions: There should be no concessions in the premium payment provisions set out in Local issues. These provisions have been hard-won gains over many rounds of bargaining under Article 14.03. The employers are actively seeking cost-containment provisions and we should aggressively fight against regressive proposals. We have been successful in refusing concessions and need to continue to hold the line!

Scheduling issues: The Local Issues Prototype (to be mailed separately) contains sample language for Scheduling Committees and Master Rotation language. This round of bargaining may be a good opportunity to make gains in this highly important area for our members, including ensuring that 1950 hours are scheduled for full-time members so there is no negative impact on HOOPP/pension plan.

Rollover of collective agreements: We have been asked by Bargaining Unit leaders if it is possible to rollover existing Local provisions. If this is to be done, the following must occur: Bargaining Unit leaders must ask their members at a meeting if they are prepared to agree to a rollover and give reasons why the union is making this proposal.If the answer is no, the Negotiating Committee cannot propose a rollover to the employer. If the answer is yes, the Negotiating Committee and LRO can propose a rollover to the employer. If the employer agrees to a rollover, an agreement is signed and needs to be ratified by membership and the employer. We have appended a draft rollover agreement to this memo.

A number of tip sheets and documentsare provided to assist as you prepare for bargaining. The hospital collective agreementsare available on ONA’s website, and they are now text searchable. You have recently received the confidential Hospital Contract Interpretation Manual and memory stick. I suggest you save this memo and attachments on that memory stick.

While we have agreed to the Local issues process with the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) under the MCJB, we have not agreed to aLocal issues arbitrator. ONA’s nominee is Kate Hughes and the hospitals’ nominee is unknown at this time. ONA’s nominee has acted as our nominee for a number of Local issues rounds of bargaining.

If there is a problem getting dates with your employers and/or the employer refuses to meet or exchange proposals in accordance with the memorandum,your LRO will advise the Manager ofNegotiations, who willfollow up with the OHA.

Vetting Proposals

• Your LRO is to submit your Local proposals for vettingto her/hisDistrict Service Team (DST) representativeon the HCNPT two weeks prior to the exchange date with the employer,but no later than January 14, 2016.
• Your LRO must also submit employer proposals for vetting to the DST representative within a week of receiving them.
• Any new employer proposals submitted after bargaining begins need to be vetted as well.

Non-participating Hospitals

LROs will serve notice to bargain individually to non-participants. As usual,non-participants bargaining is to be delayed until central bargaining is concluded unless, of course, hospitals are prepared to agree to a “me too” to everything achieved in the central negotiations. A non-participating hospital cannot be settled until the conclusion of central bargaining. You cannot settle a non-participating hospital with anything less than what is achieved in central negotiations.

If there are any questions regarding this memo, please speak to your LRO.

Attachments:

Memorandum of Conditions for Joint Bargaining

Local Issues Prototype (to be mailed separately in hard copy)

Tip sheets on Preparing for Bargaining, Demonstrated Need, Proposal Development and Communication– Negotiations

Rollover LOU