We made significant progress on non-economic issues last night.  Largely, the administration agrees to several interests which the HOA has made a priority for this round of bargaining. The elephant in the room, which seems to be keeping us from tentatively agreeing to some new or updated provisions, is the implementation language.

As an example, we agree (in principle) to new meal allowance language and amounts.  Where we don’t agree is on preloading the allowance onto the Mcard before the start of each month. The HOA’s position is we want to avoid out-of-pocket expenses when our members are eligible for the meal allowance. The funds should be provided upfront, based on the schedule.  Any adjustments could, of course, be made for the following month.  

According to GME’s Chris Rupkey, some programs don’t preload meal allowances and prefer to reimburse our members after the fact. The Program Administrator for Internal Medicine, Lisa Miller, is concerned that preloading Mcards may create additional work and overwhelm the folks over at BlueBucks. The HOA has not been provided with any data indicating preloading would be an obstacle or increase the workload.  

We have tentatively agreed to updated language on Discipline, a new Grievance procedure, Parking, and Facilities. These are big issues to get agreement on. Of course, nothing is final until your salaries are agreed to, and our members always have the final vote on a new agreement.

We are looking forward to sharing (in detail) the state of negotiations during our May 1 “May Day” membership meeting.