Today the Teamsters continued their pattern of skyrocketing economic proposals, bringing the total increased cost of their proposals this week to $62.2M. This is on top of the estimated $2B of additional costs for the Teamsters’ earlier economic proposals.
This is not good faith bargaining. We cannot reach an agreement if the Teamsters’ proposals keep going up and there is no discussion about actual priorities.
To attempt to get the Teamsters to begin focusing on the important issues, today we started “bundling” key open proposals together so we can discuss how each proposal impacts the others. These are not our final offers, but reflect a starting point to have candid discussions that must happen to reach an agreement. Both sides left today expressing the belief that there is still much work to be done. We expect to schedule additional bargaining dates in March soon.
Below is some information about key proposals:
Staffing
The Teamsters repeatedly have confirmed they think our existing staffing grids and plans are appropriate – we agree.
We continue to believe that a flexible and adaptive approach to staffing (i.e. our current staffing grids and plans) is better for patients than a rigid system of set ratios that does not take crucial care factors into account.
We value our nurses’ input on this important topic and have offered to establish a formal process for getting feedback consistent with the principals of shared governance.
Wages and Pay Programs
The Teamsters’ economic proposals increased by $62.2M this week, on top of the additional $2B they already requested. This is going in the wrong direction and is not realistic or sustainable.
The Teamsters have not offered any basis for these requests, which are not aligned to industry benchmarks or best practices.
Corewell Health has made significant investments in wages and benefits for our team members over the past several years and remains committed to offering a competitive total rewards package for our team members.
Union Dues
The Teamsters are requesting that Corewell Health deduct their union dues directly from our team members’ paychecks. We initially told the Teamsters they should handle dues collection directly, since this is their business model and requirement.
After the Teamsters re-proposed a payroll deduction, we responded that we would perform this task for them but would require an administrative fee to cover the cost of doing so.
Dues deductions require substantial administrative oversight to ensure they are being handled appropriately, as there can be significant consequences including potential criminal liability for errors.
We are happy to have the Teamsters collect dues directly.
The Teamsters also want Corewell Health to fire nurses who do not pay dues. We rejected this proposal.