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As negotiations have dragged out over eight months, the union representing home care workers in contract talks with a University of Rochester subsidiary says the company is illegally stalling a deal.
An unfair labor practice charge was filed last week against UR Medicine Home Care by 1199SEIU alleging the company has been refusing to bargain or bargaining in bad faith, a violation of the National Labor Relations Act. The charges came after URMHC leaders returned to the bargaining table Jan. 2 for only 10 minutes with no counterproposal on outstanding economic issues, the union says.
“The employer has repeatedly expressed that there is no financial burden regarding the economic proposals submitted on behalf of the workers, and yet they failed to provide a counterproposal and continue with delay tactics that serve no purpose for anyone, including the staff, patients, families and our upstate community,” says Tracey Harrison, vice president of 1199SEIU.
1199SEIU represents 110 professional and clinical home care workers at the company who voted to join the union last March and are bargaining for their first contract. Those workers assist patients with the transition from the hospital back to their homes.
Both sides have come to an agreement on non-economic issues and nearly half of the economic ones, but 14 economic terms are still outstanding, the union says. The company’s negotiators have still not provided financial details needed to negotiate those economic items, and they are communicating only through the federal mediator and not directly with union representatives as is customary, 1199SEIU further claims.
Progress on the company’s side has been sluggish in part, the union says, because it changed negotiators several months ago. Peter Jones of Bond, Schoeneck & King now negotiates on behalf of URHMC.
Last week, a petition, accompanied by a website, was launched, calling on the company to provide a fair contract that includes competitive wages and benefits; affordable, high-quality health insurance; health and safety protections; and reasonable caseloads. As of Monday night, it had garnered nearly 250 signatures, the union says.
Caseloads are a particular issue at the bargaining table. The union says URMHC’s management team is unwilling to provide reasonable caseloads to improve the quality of patient care and decrease workers’ burnout and turnover.
“Our caseloads are heavy and many times we travel many miles to get from home to home,” said Cynthia Lorenzetti, a physical therapy assistant, in a statement. “We all want to do best practice and give 100 percent at each visit. We want to bring quality care to the patients we serve, but also need a better work life balance for all clinicians.”
Contesting the union’s charge, a URMHC spokesperson stressed the company is negotiating in good faith.
Talks are set to resume this week on Tuesday and Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
Justin O’Connor is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer. The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. See “Leave a Reply” below to discuss on this post. Comments of a general nature may be submitted to the Letters page by emailing [email protected].