Not much happened today in bargaining. We pressed the employer to respond to ten proposals we have made, some on the first and second days of bargaining, such as proposals on grievance procedure and improving after hours coverage in the ED. The only proposal they had a response to was related to paid release time for stewards to attend steward meetings, increasing the number they are willing to pay from 32 to 36 (our proposal is 64).
We gave the Employer two new proposals:
- Telecommuting – to hold the employer accountable to demonstrate a real operational need, substantiated by data, when making any proposal to impose limits on telecommuting; as well as provide 60 day notice and bargain with the union upon request
- PTO program – to add Juneteenth and a Float Holiday; to increase ESL accruals from 6 days per year to 9 and to make ESL available after 3 days of leave; and to require management to respond to PTO requests within two weeks
In the afternoon, we asked the employer questions about their Model of Care proposal they gave us on Tuesday, in particular about a provision that modifies our current reduction in force language and eliminates seniority in determining order of lay-off should one occur. Their responses were for the most part vague, but they did confirm they wanted more flexibility around layoff decisions.
