Reposted from email to members on July 21, 2022

We wanted to let you know about a positive step forward in our negotiations with UMass Chan. This afternoon (July 21), SHARE representatives Andrea Caceres and Elisabeth Szanto met with John Lindstedt, Executive Vice Chancellor, Administration and Finance, and David LaChappelle, Director, Employee & Labor Relations, Human Resources. This meeting was to follow up on some of the remarks that Mr. Lindstedt made at the last Town Hall meeting in response to questions about the COVID Appreciation Bonus.

We had a good conversation. They told us:

They value SHARE members’ contributions to UMass Chan, and they value having a collaborative relationship with the SHARE union
UMass Chan is part of the larger UMass organization, and of the Massachusetts state system, and they have to work within that structure
They are advocating strongly and consistently for an equitable agreement for SHARE members, including recognizing their work throughout the COVID crisis
They share our interest in settling the whole contract and delivering raises as soon as possible
They are ready to move forward with the economic part of contract negotiations – raises, bonuses and other things that cost money

We also talked about the difficult economic times we are living in and the impact that has on SHARE members, UMass Chan’s interest in treating employees in different groups fairly, UMass and SHARE taking a flexible and creative approach to solving problems together, the problems of short-staffing, and the idea that we might meet again if we get stuck in our contract negotiations.

It was a constructive meeting and a good step forward. The negotiating teams meet again next week, and we will keep you updated. The SHARE blog has a short summary of last week’s negotiations.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions.