Kaleida Health, unions reached a temporary agreement covering 6,300 workers

The news, announced at 12:15 a.m. Monday, will allow Caleda union members to walk through Caleda facilities if needed in mid-September. But the bargaining committee never issued a 10-day strike notice and was able to reach an interim agreement that will soon be reviewed by union members before a ratification vote in the coming weeks.

A tentative agreement was reached after several consecutive days of negotiations, each lasting into the wee hours of the morning. Negotiators will wrap up a roughly 17-hour session at 2 a.m. Saturday, followed by a 14-hour day that ends just after 1 a.m. Sunday. They returned to the table at 11 a.m. on Sunday and were able to reach an agreement on Sunday night’s hiring — one of the biggest hurdles.

“The last thing we want is a strike, and our committees have worked around the clock this week to avoid that,” said Cory Gambini, president of Communications Workers of America Local 1168. 19 bargaining units to cover was difficult. We will work, but we won an agreement that will keep talented health care workers in Caleda and alleviate the current dire workforce shortage.

The unions have announced that they will not disclose the details of the agreement until the members of the agreement have been briefed.

Kaleida President and CEO Don Boyd said in a statement that the two sides have agreed to a “fair contract that rewards our current employees, helps attract new employees and positions the company in a strong position going forward.”

“As part of this deal, we are proud to have fulfilled our commitment to three of our goals: no settlement agreement, addressing workforce needs around Kaleda Health and investing in our workforce through salary increases and more,” Boyd said. , and they continue to work hard to help us overcome the challenges we face. That’s why our support and investment is so important.

Kaleida and the two unions, CWA Local 1168 and 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, have been negotiating since mid-March, with the previous contract set to expire July 31 after a two-month extension.

Calida’s speeches were the longest in recent memory, and hot-button items revolved around personnel and wages.

As talks dragged on and Kaleida previously said the two sides were $300 million apart on economic proposals, many community members worried that Western New York could have faced the second largest health care labor strike in a year, following the nearly six-week one. Walkthrough at Mercy Hospital last fall. If a strike had occurred, Kaleida’s replacement workers could have cost up to $23 million a week, a serious economic blow to any patient revenue it may lose due to processing delays and patient transfers.

The bargaining battle is between a depleted health care workforce and a crumbling health system, matching a trend of difficult health care negotiations taking place nationwide. Last month, for example, 15,000 nurses in Minnesota went on strike for three days before returning to the bargaining table. More than 2,000 Kaiser Permanente mental health care workers on the West Coast are on strike for eight weeks.

Kaleida, for his part, said more than $200 million in losses related to the epidemic has been reported since 2020. He said the health system will soon receive $25 million in state aid, but that won’t cure the financial pain and suffering. That amount could have been wiped out within a week of the strike.

For workers, they wanted to see improvements in staffing, wages and working conditions, the types of maintenance that would help Kaleida better recruit and retain workers and, in turn, help the health system improve patient care. Those workers voted to authorize a strike if a contract could not be reached by mid-September. They were also taking financial risk during the strike, assuming that strike benefits and state unemployment eligibility would not begin until the 15th day of the walkout.

“Our union members stood up and spoke out to demand changes in their workplace,” said Jim Scordato, vice president of Western New York Hospital Division 1199SEIU. “We successfully negotiated an agreement that will improve the lives of our members.”

The settlement in Kaleida covers 63 percent of the health system’s payroll. The tentative agreement covers a variety of topics, including nurses, dietitians, personal care assistants, service and maintenance personnel, at several Caleda facilities, including Buffalo General Medical Center, Oyshey Children’s Hospital, Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, Highpoint on Michigan. DeGraff Medical Park and many clinics.

Last October, workers at Mercy Hospital in South Buffalo walked off the job and went on strike for about six weeks. The strike cost Catholic Health System about $89 million: about $37 million in lost revenue from reduced capacity and delayed or diverted revenue, and about $52 million in additional labor costs related to temporary staffing.

The amnesty has shifted patients around Western New York and put more pressure on Caleda facilities, Erie County Medical Center and other health care facilities as the cold weather begins to spike in Covid-19 cases.

A strike around Kaleida could have had far-reaching consequences, creating the possibility that patients would have to be transferred outside of Western New York for care.

Next, union members must review the agreement before voting on whether to approve it.

For Kaleida, the health system is in its annual planning process, preparing operating and capital budgets and reviewing its strategic plan. A new collective agreement covering two-thirds of the workforce will undoubtedly be included in this process.