Solidarity Photos
We were thrilled to see so many of you show up in support of contract negotiations at our solidarity events, wearing red, and being so engaged in the process. It was great to feel what a strong community we're all a part of, as SHARE members. If you weren't able to attend one of our events, we would still like you and your department be represented in our SHARE photo poster. You can send us a selfie or group photo with your co-workers in support of a strong contract!
Negotiations Update
For the past month, we have increased the frequency of our negotiations sessions and started meeting weekly. There is a shared interest from both sides to move negotiations forward. At this point in the process, we have been mostly focusing on the finances and wages. The SHARE and UMass Chan teams have been going back and forth with wage proposals/ideas and bridging the gaps between the different proposals we have already made. In our most recent negotiations session, SHARE made a presentation about the cost of living, the job market, wage compression, and the problems we have been facing with recruitment and retention.
Meeting by Meeting
Aug 10 - economics - same economic proposal from management as 7/27/22 but written down. Also discussed the rest of the package, including Joint Working Groups. mandatory overtime, Work from Home, non-weather hazardous conditions and bilingual pay.
Aug 24 - continued discussion of non-wage portions of the contract proposals from both sides.
Aug 31 - SHARE presentation on the problems we think need to be fixed with our eventual wage agreement, including retention and recruitment, effect of inflation on members’ finances, the impact of pay ranges lower than those of competing employers, and wage compression resulting from ad-hoc compensation changes over the last couple of years. We talked about different approached to solving these problems, recognizing that SHARE members make less money than many UMass Chan employees and have lower raises than other union groups.
Sept 7 - meeting postponed to Sept 14. Additional meeting scheduled for Sept 21.