By SHERRY HALBROOK
PEF Division 505 members at Lockport Hospital near Buffalo have a new six-year contract.
“Several
members spoke up at our ratification meetings on May 27 to thank our
contract team for locking in our health benefits for six years,” said PEF
Executive Board member Maggie Eaton, Division 505 council leader and chair
of the contract team.The contract was overwhelmingly ratified by the private-sector bargaining unit that has approximately 135 members.
Eaton said the members had “made significant concessions in the past just to help keep the hospital open.”
Now, the hospital is running firmly in the black and PEF members made it clear to their contract team they needed to secure health benefits and better pay.
Among other benefits, the new pact provides an across-the-board raise of 2 percent, effective May 1, 2008, followed by 3 percent October 1, 2008, and another 3 percent a year later.
Raises of 3.5 percent will follow on October 1 of 2010, 2011, and 2012. Longevity pay is now added to base pay.
Members working full-time also get a signing bonus of $1,000, and those working part-time receive $500. The pay differential for working late shifts was improved, and paid vacation time will now be included in calculating entitlement to overtime. Seniority is established as the basis for assigning on-call duties. The vacation leave benefit was also improved.
Health benefits were expanded to give members and their immediate families 25 percent to 50 percent discounts at the hospital’s dental clinic. The hospital will not charge the PEF members to participate in its wellness programs, and they may use the hospital pharmacy to get medications at cost plus a $1 fee.
PEF field representative Art Munson was the union’s chief negotiator of the agreement.
“It was truly a pleasure to work with this committee,” Munson said. “Maggie and the other committee members – Ruth Pattison, Robbin Pollock and Dave Larson – were the sole reason for the fantastic result we were able to achieve in this contract. Their research, fact gathering, intelligent debate and conduct at the bargaining table convinced the employer that we were there to do business. The employer’s negotiating team knew early on that it would need to satisfy not only our chief spokesperson, but the entire team. We truly presented a united force.
