Contract Negotiations

This week we began negotiations for our next contract. We will try to post a quick update every week or two throughout contract negotiations. If you have questions, please talk to a SHARE rep in your area, or call the SHARE office at 508-929-4020. (At the bottom of this post is a list of who is on the negotiating teams.)

Our first session was productive. The members of the SHARE negotiating team and the members of the management negotiating team introduced themselves, we agreed on groundrules for negotiations, the management team made a presentation on the Medical School's strategic goals, and the SHARE team made a presentation about who SHARE members are and what we care about.

We have grouped our hopes for this contract into four broad categories:

1. Money
2. Career development, training and education
3. Work-life-family balance
4. "Other"

Raises are generally the last issue resolved in negotiations (even though they are generally the first thing people want to know about) because management will want to know the total cost of everything in the contract before committing to an amount for the raises.

We plan to focus in on each of the four areas, starting next week with career development. Members who responded to the survey were enthusiastic about the idea of more opportunities for growth and learning, and we are hopeful that we can work with the School to make progress in this area.

If you have not yet taken the Contract Survey, it is not too late! Click on the tab at the top of the page marked **2013 NEGOTIATIONS SURVEY**. If you have taken it, thank you. The responses we received are very helpful in shaping the SHARE team's approach to negotiations. Stay tuned for survey results in an upcoming post on this blog, and for a schedule of the next round of member meetings.

SHARE Negotiating Team

The SHARE negotiating team consists of the elected leaders and staff of SHARE:

Kathy Bateman, Executive Board at large (MaPS)
Andrea Caceres, SHARE
Kirk Davis, SHARE
Deb Engvall, SHARE
Peter Fallah, Vice-President (IRTP)
Jana Hollingsworth, SHARE
Paul Julian, President (Library)
Sherry Nguyen, Treasurer (DES in Auburn)
Elisabeth Szanto, SHARE
Alana Wesson, SHARE
Dianne Williams, Secretary (Psychiatry)


UMMS Negotiating Team
The Medical School management negotiating team consists of department managers and representatives from HR:

Erin Cummings (HR)
Tim Cummins (CPS)
Jane Fama (Library)
Marc LaBella (HR)
Kristin Mullins (HR)
Jodie Nosiglia (HR)
Justin Peristere (CPS)
Bill Schmiedeknecht (HR)
Bill Tsaknopoulos (Facilities)