ProActive

Newsletter for HPAE Professionals Local 5094

recently met with UMDNJ Interim President Dr. Denise Rodgers and the UMDNJ HR Integration Team. The coalition will also be meeting very soon with a number of key NJ legislators. HPAE will also release a white paper to the press on the UMDNJ Advisory Committees Final Report, with a summary to be released very soon. Keep an eye out for the reports about these actions at the 5094 webpage at www.hpae.org.

FXB/CHP and UCHC: Edgar Aracena 732-640-0894 ext. 416

Central & Southern Campuses: Christine Robertson 732-640-0894 ext. 419

STAFF REPS Newark Campus: Corrado Cotumaccio 201-262-5005 ext. 106

HPAE Health Professionals & Allied Employees 110 Kinderkamack Road Emerson, NJ 07630 800-801-5005

Governor Christies Plan for UMDNJ: The Devil Is In the Details

Governor Christie has proposed a plan to rename UMDNJ as The New Jersey Health Sciences University (NJHSU), privately manage University Hospital separately from the University, and transfer The Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and The School of Public Health to Rutgers University. The plan raises a host of questions, including: How will the plan be paid for? What assurances will be made to the community to maintain critical services? Will there be layoffs? Will we remain public employees or will we be privatized? Will we lose our pension and benefits? Will our contract be honored? Will University Hospital fall outside of NJHSUs umbrella? Will Central Administration see cuts and/or layoffs? What happens if Rutgers refuses to cede its schools in South Jersey to Rowan? There are many more questions to be answered. Read all the questions HPAE is raising at our Local 5094 webpage at www.hpae.org. Weve been asking these important questions to our elected officials, the Governors Advisory Committee, the Universitys administration and the Board of Trustees. One thing we know: if we dont speak up to protect our jobs, our patients, the students and communities we serve, no one else will.

HPAE 5094 Contract Ratification

Last fall our membership ratified 5094's contract for 2010-2014 with 95% casting their vote in favor. On wages, for the vast majority of members, ours was the best overall of any bargaining unit in negotiations with UMDNJ. Members will get around a 5 to 6.5% total increase over a 17 month period from July 1, 2012 to Jan. 1, 2014 based on steps. HPAE is currently working with the university to finalize the draft of our new contracts. When that is complete we will print and distribute it to the members. In the meantime, the Memorandum of Agreement and summary are on our website for reference.

Presidents Message
We all know by now that Governor Christie wants to transfer some of UMDNJs assets to Rutgers University. How nice. Our medical school is ranked among medical schools higher than Rutgers is ranked among universities. How is it that we are being given away to boost Rutgers ranking? Why arent we taking its assets? I attended the public hearing in Newark at the Dental School regarding the merger. We had state legislators there who I believe may be beginning to understand that this is a move that will sink UMDNJ and cost the taxpayers of this state lots of dollars. At least I hope thats what I saw on some of their faces. What about jobs? At the hearing, we were told that there would be no job loss. The Governors Advisory Committee Report recommends streamlining Central Administration. Can this be done without eliminating jobs? Is Rutgers going to guarantee that employees of CINJ, RWJ and SPH will all keep their salaries as is - and if so, for how long?

HPAEs Political Action to Protect Workers and the Community in the UMDNJ Reorganization
HPAE United @ UMDNJ, a coalition of Locals 5094, 5089 and 5135 is hard at work to ensure that UMDNJs workers and the community be protected as UMDNJ is reorganized. The coalition MA RC H 2 01 2

Let me play devils advocate. If a long term employee of Rutgers makes $38,000 a year and a UMDNJ employee with the same experience transfers to Rutgers making $48,000, what do you think will happen? As a union weve always protested UMDNJs unfair practice of hiring new people at much higher salaries than our own to do the same jobs as we do. Do you think Rutgers is going to raise the salaries of all their current employees to match ours or do something else? Maybe theyll freeze salaries, lower them, or even replace those jobs with lower paying ones. That fact is we have no guarantees of what will happen with the merger. If you are not concerned, then you probably think you dont have to do anything to protect your job. But, if you are like me, and are concerned that there are still no answers to our questions, you should probably start thinking about whether this move is good for you. Also, think whether you should work hard to have union representation there for you. I really do believe that there are many operating under the notion that the grass is greener over at Rutgers. Thats unfortunate. Its no greener than UMDNJs. Frankly, I like our grass much better. Judy Cunha,5094 Co-president, March 8, 2012

Health and Safety at UMDNJ

by Diana Crowder
Hi Local 5094 members, I would like to introduce myself, I am Diana Crowder and have recently become the Chair of the Locals Health and Safety Committee. I have almost 30 years of experience working in the occupational health and safety field, and am glad to be able to bring this experience to the Local. As an employee here at UMDNJ I observe and experience many areas for improvement. Let me give you a recent example. One of our members was exposed to chemicals from a floor stripper during wax removal from the floors. She had an allergic reaction and was later diagnosed with asthma, a condition, she had never previously had. When she tried to get treatment through Workers Compensation, she was denied. According to the Workers Compensation doctor it was not work related, even though her own doctor and a pulmonary specialist had determined it was. Our union was able to refer her to a Workers Compensation lawyer and is helping her to prevent being exposed in the future. Unfortunately the employee did not know the process or her rights regarding exposure at work, and suffered a certain degree of extra stress because of this. She was particularly upset by the way the Risk and Claims Department treated her, making light of the incident. Im sure that this member is not alone in not knowing how to obtain services around health and safety or what risks are encountered in her workplace and what she can do to prevent exposure. I would like to provide information to the membership but rather than presenting what I think is needed and in what form you would like to receive it, I would like input from you. We will be sending out a short survey for you to complete and return. I also would like to know if any of you would like to be a member of the Health and Safety Committee. In the meantime, if at any time you need assistance around a health and safety issue on your job, feel free to call me at 201 344-9856. I wish you all a healthy and safe 2012 at home and at work.

KNOW YOUR CONTRACT

3.05 Evaluations: Staff members shall have the option to provide a selfevaluation or written comments to their supervisor in anticipation of their annual performance evaluation... You have the contractual right to submit your own self-appraisal for your annual performance evaluation. The contract states that evaluations will be done on a prompt and timely basis. The selfappraisal must be submitted no later than 3 days prior to the annual performance evaluation. The staff member choosing this option will be provided with a copy of his/her job description. Your supervisor should provide a link to the proper form to use.

WHO WE ARE Profile of an HPAE Member

DIANA CROWDER: Diana Crowder is 5094s
newly appointed Chairperson of the Health and Safety Committee. She works at EMOHS/EOHSS as a Senior Industrial Hygienist. Read her article in this edition of the newsletter titled Health and Safety at UMDNJ!

Labor-Management Meetings
In this edition well use this space to remind you that HPAE holds quarterly meetings with management to address problems and issues that employees identify. In our Labor-Management meetings we work to improve your working conditions. This is often to everyones mutual benefit, as correction of the problems identified in many cases results in better service for the communities we treat. If you can identify problems with how your unit or department operates that you feel are not being properly addressed, then please tell us! Provided that they have substance we will present them to management and seek solutions. If you have proposed solutions that seem practical we will present them as well! Contacts: for Newark Tom Murphy at murphytf@umdnj.edu and for Central/South Judy Cunha at cunhaju@umdnj.edu.

Visit the HPAE 5094 Website & Community Forum!

Our Local has a webpage at hpae.org. The full address is: www.hpae.org/locals/list/umd-pro. At the website youll find news, educational articles and member resources that are vital to maintaining an active and well informed membership. Your campus membership meeting and union events info is posted there. Visit the HPAE 5094 webpage regularly to stay current! And did you know that 5094 also has a community forum? We do, and its a great resource. The forums address is: www.hpae5094.proboards.com. The forum is interactive. It allows you to post questions and express your views. Youll also find news articles gathered daily about UMDNJ and our plight as NJ public employees. Sound off about the latest events affecting your employment! Keep up with whats happening to UMDNJ.

AFT Professional Issues Conference (PIC) April 19-22, 2012 - Washington, D.C. For more information or to register go to: www.aft.org/yourwork/healthcare/hcpic2012/housing.cfm
HPAE Convention -- October 4 & 5, 2012 Tropicana Casino & Resort - Atlantic City, NJ MA RC H 2 01 2