While we made some nice strides on May 1st, last week proved to be frustrating at best.  The most contentious part of our Negotiations was management’s counter-proposal on Funeral (Bereavement) Leave.  This discussion happened mid-way through our session. 

Funeral (Bereavement) Leave:  Back in February, we proposed extending the current policy around Funeral and Bereavement Leave to include the loss of pregnancy for a birth parent and their partner.  This is in the House Officers’ contract, so we are not treading new ground.  Management’s counter-proposal came back to us last week and invoked intense emotions for all of us in the room.  

They did include allowing leave following the loss of a pregnancy however, an employee would have to tap into their PTO and it would be declared a PTU (personal time unscheduled).  Management did propose that it wouldn’t be counted towards a disciplinary.  

They also proposed not including our gender neutral language (“birth parent” and “non-birth parent”) and insisted on using“birth mother.” When we asked why management chose language that would exclude trans men and nonbinary people who give birth, management argued that “birth mother” was more inclusive than “birth parent.” Management has agreed to gender neutral language in the RNs and PAs contracts

The loss of a pregnancy is traumatic no matter how you identify yourself (mother, father, birth parent or non-birth parent).  A handful of us on the Master Agreement Team have experienced the loss of a pregnancy, performed our jobs while grieving, and dealt with the physical impact of a miscarriage.  

We exchanged several other proposals as well as had a conversation regarding management counter-proposal on HIPAA.  Management proposed that we defer several of our articles to economics:  Benefits Plans, Holidays, Nursing Parents & Lactation, Parking, PTO, and Vacation, Sick Leave and Holidays for Campus Employees.  While some of these articles have economic implications, we believe that there are components of these articles that we could start talking about now.  We believe getting the language correct now will help with the numbers later. Below are the details:

We introduced a new proposal and two counter-proposals:

• Extended Sick Time Pay:  Drawing from current practice, our proposal promises to provide consistency around the implementation of extended sick time for UMMAP members.  This includes a clearer definition of a 10-Day Qualifying Period and Bridge to Extended Sick Time.  Management asks some clarifying questions.  We anticipate their counter-proposal in the upcoming weeks.
• Evaluations:  We initially introduced this proposal back in February.  Management presented their counter-proposal to us May 1st. We appear to be getting closer to agreeing on this particular article.  The key sticking point for us is peer evaluations.  Some of us have had positive and constructive feedback from our coworkers.  However, quite a few of us have had negative experiences.  Five of us shared our experience with peer evaluations, ranging from being asked to evaluate someone you don’t know, to negative comments impacting performance reviews to personal attacks.  Though we think peer evaluations can be helpful if done right, current practice doesn’t make it an effective evaluation tool.  
• Release Time:  Initially, we presented this article to management on March 6th.  Their counter-proposal came back to us on May 1st.  This proposal is essential for our elected officers and stewards to conduct our day to day business as a union.  
• HIPAA:  Back in July 2023, Michigan Medicine introduced more stringent policies regarding HIPAA violations.  This put many of us on edge since its introduction.  We had introduced our proposal on HIPAA to provide protections for us around potential HIPAA violations on March 6th.  Management’s counter proposal, presented to us on 4/10, crossed out a bulk of our language.  This week, we asked clarifying questions and engaged in a robust conversation with management, in order to draft our counter-proposal.  

These are management’s other three counter-proposals:  

• ID Badges:  Many of us have worked hard to receive and maintain our credentials and would like to have them added to our ID Badges.  We initially presented this proposal to management back in February.  Management proposed that our badges would include approved credentials and doctoral credentials as determined by Human Resources.  We asked for more information about how approved credentials are decided and for a current list of “approved credentials.”  
• Temporary Employees:  Initially presented to us in March.  We countered on May 1st.  Management responded with their counter to ours this past Wednesday.  Our main sticking point is management added language stating that they reserved the right to extend a temporary employee’s employment for six additional months.  Our concern is using temps in lieu of hiring qualified permanent staff.  
• Unpaid Leaves of Absence:  There are still strong differences between us and management on this article; for example, using all available PTO prior to the start of a leave of absence.  Our initial language said that an employee uses 40 hours of PTO.  For some of us, that would mean that our PTO Bank wouldn’t be entirely wiped out in the event we take an unpaid leave of absence.  

We are standing together and are committed to fighting for fair and inclusive language on the bereavement proposal — as well as our anti-bullying proposal.  One powerful way to ensure that we have time to heal and grieve after the loss of a pregnancy is to share your stories.  It does have a big impact on management.  If you have experienced pregnancy loss, harassment, or unhelpful peer evaluations, we encourage you to share your stories by filling out this form: UMMAP Testimonial.   We will not share your testimonial without your permission.

Looking ahead, we continue negotiations at the Kensington Hotel in Ann Arbor, Wednesday, May 15. See the process in action, support the Team and move us forward – join us for negotiations!  To attend upcoming sessions follow this link:  Bargaining RSVP.

In Solidarity,

UMMAP Executive Board

• Penni Toney (CT Technologist) – President
• Cheryl Bodmer (Surgical Technologist) – Vice President
• Amanda Mazzocco (CT Technologist) – Secretary
• Kate Robbins (Physical Therapist) – Treasurer
• Jennifer Kempfer (CT Technologist) – ADEPT Unit Chair
• Courtney Iwanicki (Registered Dietitian) – Behavioral Health Unit Chair
• Kelishia Burks (Medical Assistant Intermediate) – Medical Assistant Unit Chair
• Greg Mannarelli (Audiologist) – Rehabilitation Unit Chair
• Rodney Barber (Histotechnologist) – Laboratory Unit Chair
• Sarah Wilkin (Pharmacy Technician Intermediate) Non-Bargained For Employee Unit Chair