Members and valuable allies posed for a photo on Tuesday evening after lining the hallway outside the HOA Office.  Those gathered showed their support of the bargaining team as they headed into the 8th negotiating session, with little progress to show after as many weeks at the table.

The bargaining team is feeling disrespected after the employer's first wage proposal but is still working toward meaningful language in other areas of the contract. The administration acknowledged that the cost of the HOA contract is less than 2% of the $6.5 billion dollar budget. For the sake of comparison, the latest offer to GEO, the graduate student union, is higher than what they offered the HOA, and that union went on strike today!

The above chart depicts Hospital Revenue, Cost of Living based on CPI, your salaries, and the local Cost of Living for the last two years. According to Labor Relations, the Health System has experienced a gross miscalculation in their predictions on actual revenue for January and February.

Contributing factors for the losses over the last two months:

The discharge rate is 6.7% behind plan through 2/28/23 – indicating longer patient stays and change in patient mix.  Additionally, the total expense per case was 12.6% above plan through 2/28/23 – driven in part by twice the normal expense due to inflation.  The loss of COVID pandemic relief funding was also cited as an excuse for the "loss."  Ironic that the leaders of the Health System would think the pandemic and the related funding would go on forever.  

Remember, it's not really a loss. It's simply not meeting the expectations, actual performance versus predicted performance, for two months. It's a good thing they will start reaping all the profits from acquiring Sparrow beginning on April 1.

We are sure there will be other opportunities for you to show your support and demonstrate your expectations for a fair contract.  Stay tuned...