Announcing the Birth of 1199SEIU Professional Practice Committees
QUESTION & ANSWER
Q. Why another committee? We already have a job committee, grievance committee, labor management, etc.
A. The issues and concerns we have are often not covered in the Union contract. Our issues are also very technical at times and would not go over well in a Chapter meeting. And often they go beyond the contract.
Q. I’m not sure I understand. Some examples, please?
A. Issues like dangerous understaffing or dangerous equipment; being told to perform tasks outside the boundaries of our disciplines’ scope of practice. In most hospitals, there’s no real effort at cross-training when we’re shifted to a different part of our department; there’s no guarantee of a certain number of conference days. Some departments have them and some don’t. There are dozens of other issues.
Q. Is that it?
A. Oh no – Probably the biggest complaint of all Professional and Technical members is the lack of communication. We’re not involved in policy and planning discussions, yet we’re the ones doing all the work. We have a lot of ideas about the changes being discussed. More important is the lack of respect shown us by many of our managers. The hospital doesn’t seem to want or value our input.
Q. But management says that they can run the hospital as they see fit. Not true?
A. The question was always what is in the best interest of our patients. Now the hospitals’ bottom line is also at stake. Congress just passed the “Pay for Performance Act” (P4P). All hospitals in the country will be rated on “clinical outcomes”; and Medicare reimbursement rates for each hospital will be reduced or raised based on these outcomes and on “patient satisfaction” surveys. The Feds will audit every hospital in the country.
So, our employers and the 1199SEIU leadership and members will have to work as a team to improve patient care and clinical outcomes. Research studies have shown that clinical outcomes improve only with a cooperative relationship between labor and management. Our hospitals’ income from Medicare will be reduced if we don’t work as a team. This starts with respect, transparency, and cooperation.
Q. So how does a PPC Committee get off the ground?
A. Use the new Professional and Technical Department as a resource (Ezra Birnbaum at 212-261-2340 or David Kranz at 212-261-2494). They will help you get started at your facility. First, form a PPC Committee drawn from your 20-30 professional and technical job titles. Then, identify your local issues and concerns. Choose your four-member Union committee that will meet with the four-member management committee (to meet at least every 3 months). Finally, send a letter to top management asking for a first meeting under Article XL(A).
Q. Sounds impressive. Is any of this happening already?
A. Yes. 1199SEIU members at Terrence Cardinal Cooke Nursing Home formed its committee, identified its issues and already met with top management. The response was welcoming and positive. We have also started PPC’s at St. Luke’s, St. Vincent’s (Manhattan), Roosevelt, Jamaica, and St. Vincent’s (SI). We’re now moving to St. Joseph’s in Yonkers, to Southside on Long Island and then to Montefiore, Maimonides and Columbia-Presbyterian.
As the song says, “We’re on our way and we won’t turn back”
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