Burlington 2018 Merit Raise Summary

Ratification Vote for Evaluation Raise Proposal

On June 13th at approximately 8pm, your bargaining team reached an agreement that will be presented to members for a vote on Wednesday, June 20th, at 6:30pm in Room 106 of the hospital. The bargaining team is recommending a “yes” vote on the agreement, but there are several important items of note to which we must call your attention.

BACKGROUND:

The union and management bargaining teams met, per the contract, to discuss only the allocation of money management is to give to our entire bargaining unit based on the last year’s merit evaluation. Since the evaluation period only included 2017, those members hired in 2018 are not eligible for this raise. This is the standard Aurora evaluation period. The wage increase amounts were assigned by management to each member based on her/his evaluation and where the member fell in the wage range (high or low) in order to help speed up movement along the wage range for lower-waged employees. However, this year’s increase also recognized individuals at the higher end of the wage range in a meaningful way.

WAGE PROPOSAL FROM MANAGEMENT:

Management got direction on how to distribute raises from an Aurora guide that assigned a range of percentages in accordance with the performance rating and where the member falls in the percentile range for wages. Based on these factors, everyone was awarded a raise for their performance in 2017. All of the bargaining unit met expectations, at least, with many performing higher. The design of this program was to emphasize raising the wages of those at the lower end of the wage rates, but the higher wage-earners did much better than in the past. The effective date of this raise will be June 24th, if ratified.

UNION RESPONSE:

The union bargaining team thoroughly inspected the data and design to ensure that the system made sense, the guidance was followed, and the raises awarded were done so fairly with as much objectivity as possible. Obviously, this was not entirely possible because the very design of the merit raise system includes significant space for managerial discretion in the calculation of raises, but adherence to some system was determined to be better than no adherence to any methodology whatsoever.

The union team determined that management had followed its instruction and gave raises as it was intended, within the standard set by the wage range percentile and performance rating. Every single member got at least what they deserved, according to management’s rating system.  

Thus, the proposal was accepted but the bargaining team felt it important to relay to management that this system is not an accurate system for encouraging or measuring exceptional performance, and is not a meaningful method of valuing individual commitment or teamwork. The constraints of the bargaining session dictated that the discussion be focused solely on the allocation of money for the performance rating. This means there could be little substantive discussion on the design of this program at this time. There will be an opportunity to discuss the means of performance evaluation, wage increases, and any inter-relation of the two at the next full bargaining session upon the expiration of this contract in 2019. If you feel strongly one way or another, it is the perfect opportunity to let your opinions shape hospital policy and help our entire bargaining unit.

NEXT STEPS:

The final say is yours. You may vote “Yes” or “No” on this proposal. The bargaining team is recommending a “Yes” vote so that our members receive this raise as soon as possible. If you have any questions, ask any of the bargaining team members who participated in this discussion: Pam Mueller, Jean Marcone, and Sandy Clark.