Unionized health care workers rallied outside the University of New Mexico’s Sandoval Regional Medical Center Monday afternoon because unlike other employees, they did not receive a raise earlier this month.
“We’re here today to make it crystal clear that we want the 3% raise. We have a proposal behind me — which we have afforded to the hospital — which simplifies the whole matter. It says we will agree today; right now,” said Shane Youtz, an attorney representing the union. “If they want to come out and sign this giant piece of paper, we’ll have a signed agreement, and every one of these employees will have a 3% raise.”
The United Health Professionals of New Mexico division of American Federation of Teachers represents about 200 employees at the medical center.
UNM Health has said the union’s members did not get the same raise as everyone else because “leadership filed a Prohibited Practice Complaint with the state’s labor board alleging the hospital violated state law when it gave the same raise to the workers AFT seeks to represent that the hospital gave to all other workers.”
Chris Ramirez, a UNM Health spokesperson, said it is not offering the union a raise now — it is offering them the chance to negotiate the contract.
“When we gave this membership group a wage increase that wasn’t bargained for, AFT filed a complaint against UNM and that hasn’t been resolved,” he said. “When we gave them a raise they complained about us, when we didn’t give them a raise they complained about us.”
Youtz said the idea that the prohibited practice complaint prevents the 3% raise is “frankly laughable.”
“The Union filed a prohibited practice complaint relating to the previous wage increase because UNMH did not first bargain with the Union before implementing that wage increase,” Youtz said in an email. “State law (just like federal law) prohibits an employer from adjusting the wages of union employees without first consulting with the union. Our previous complaint seeks only an order requiring UNMH to negotiate future wage increases with the Union.”
Another issue is that the union wants to include “pro re nata” — translated to “as the need arises” — employees in its membership, according to UNM Health. But because they are not regular employees of the hospital, the hospital said they shouldn’t be included in the union membership.
Standing in front of the medical center Monday, emergency room nurse Samantha Hines said she and her colleagues have earned the raise.
“It’s not fair to us. We are the frontline workers. We know exactly what is going on in this hospital,” Hines said.
Pay them the raise, get on with life. The hospital surely has better things to do than play games. Does anyone wonder why medical people and their support staff is leaving New Mexico for higher wages and “better conditions.”