Keep Moving!

Thank you to Janet Huehls, a Certified Wellness Coach and Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist here at UMMS, for the following insightful advice. And to SHARE Treasurer Kathy Bateman for sending it in to be posted on the blog!

This weekly email, provided by the exercise program at UMass Memorial Weight Center, is also blog: www.keepmovingweekly.wordpress.com

  Please become a subscriber to the blog by clicking the link above and sign up using the icon on the right side of the home page.  Once you sign up, email me and let me know you can be removed from the email list.  Friends and family are welcome to sign up for the blog as well. 

Thank you!

The term “sitting is the new smoking” is not an exaggeration.

“Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death.” James Levine, MD, PhD. Researcher Mayo Clinic and founder of N.E.A.T.

The human body is amazingly designed to move.  Each system works better when we move and suffers when we are inactive.  Even if you exercise regularly, prolonged sitting still puts you at risk.

This is powerful knowledge because anyone can improve health in this way.  If you can move, even in a small way, you can improve health by moving often.

Our current environment provides us with many reasons to sit and has led us to the newer science of inactivity.  Like opposite sides of the same coin, exercise physiology studies what happens in the body when we move and inactivity physiology studies what happens when we are still.  It turns out both studies are critical for understanding health.

The physiology of inactivity has discovered that when we don’t move, things start to back up in the cells. The process to deal with sugar and fats in the blood slows down or halts.  Sugar and fats in the blood accumulate and are triggers for disease.

The good news is that it does not take much movement to get the system working again. Simply moving from sitting to standing, taking a short walk, stretching – all activate the muscles’ ability to manage these triggers for disease.

Standing desks are one attempt to fix this problem, but standing still is not much better.  Imagine stagnant water, things accumulate.  Inactivity or simply stillness is the root of the problem.  We need to move to get the system working.

If you exercise regularly no one would call you a couch potato. But…you can be an active couch potato. The chair does not care if you exercise regularly or not – stillness will cause these changes in the body despite your fitness level.

The term lifestyle activity is used to describe how much we move during the day. Getting 10,000 steps a day on a pedometer all at once  does not have the same benefit as taking 5000 steps in one shot and then spreading the other 5000 out during the rest of the day.

When you are trying to lose weight or maintain weight loss add a goal for lifestyle activity in addition to exercise goals.  Often, lifestyle activity is a great first step if you are not ready to exercise yet and a great addition if you are exercising but the scale is not budging.

Bottom line – how often we move during the day is as important as how often we exercise in a week.

Keep Moving, Be Well,

Janet

These weekly emails are general guidelines. These guidelines apply to patients who are cleared by a physician for the type of exercise described.  Please contact your physician with any concerns or questions. Always report any symptoms associated with exercise, such as pain, irregular heartbeats, and dizziness or fainting, to your physician.  

Janet Huehls, MA, RCEP, CYT, CWCRegistered Clinical Exercise Physiologist

Certified Wellness Coach UMass Memorial Weight Center 774-443-3886

Questions about July 3

Q. Do SHARE members have to work on July 3?

A. Most SHARE members will not have to work on Friday, July 3. Some SHARE members may be required to work in order to keep their department open that day. Those employees will have Monday, July 6 off. 

Q. Do I have to use my own time to take July 3 off?

A. No. If you do not have to work July 3, you will be paid for the holiday.

Q. How will my time be counted if I work July 3 and take July 6 off?

A. If you do work July 3, you will earn holiday compensatory time, which you can use to take July 6 off. (For rules about what counts toward the calculation of overtime, see the section "Overtime" on page 24 of the SHARE contract.)

Q. How can I find out if I have to work on July 3?

A. If your department needs to be open on July 3, the department manager will make a plan for the necessary coverage and communicate that to any employees who will be asked to work that day. If you are not sure if you will be expected to work, check with your supervisor.


If you have more questions about any of this, talk to a SHARE rep in your area, or call the SHARE office at 508-929-4020.

Fourth of July Holiday

UMMS HR recently sent a memo about the Fourth of July holiday which said that "the University of Massachusetts Medical School will be officially open for business on Friday, July 3, 2015 and Monday, July 6, 2015." This has caused some confusion, since most SHARE members were expecting to have Friday, July 3 off, because that is the way that Saturday holidays have been handled in the past.

We reached out to HR to clarify, and have two reassuring messages to relay:

1. No one is losing out on getting a holiday, although some UMMS departments may need some staffing on Friday.
2. HR will send out a clarification, this week we hope, about which departments will need skeleton staffing and which can be closed on July 3.

EAP & Thought for the Day

“Don't let what you can't do stop you from doing what you can do.”  -John Wooden

Quotes like this one can land in your inbox on a weekly basis, along with a short motivational message. To get yourself some regular inspiration, simply sign up for the free "Thought of the Day" email on the Employee Assistance Program webpage.

We can't mention the Thought of the Day here without putting in a good word for the Employee Assistance Program itself. We consistently hear that the EAP counselors are thoughtful, wise, and helpful. And the SHARE organizing staff knows from personal experience that the EAP staff offers important support and guidance, regarding both workplace and personal issues, for employees of the UMass community. 

About the EAP: The UMass Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a workplace-based program providing consultation, assessment, intervention, information and referral for employees and their household members. The EAP offers personal assistance to address a variety of issues, including individual, family and work-related concerns. The EAP is free and confidential  to the full extent of the law.  Employees and household members can obtain assessment, short-term problem-focused intervention, and referral and information for treatment or other assistance.We are conveniently located in Worcester, MA and serve all of Central Massachusetts.

SHARE Opposes Proposed GIC Health Insurance Increases

It’s not often that SHARE heads up Beacon Hill to knock on the doors of elected officials. However, Governor Baker’s House 1 FY2016 Budget Recommendation includes a change in the GIC Health Insurance plans to increase employee contributions from 20% to 25%, regardless of date of hire. In response, SHARE Representatives came to the State House as part of an AFL-CIO Union Lobby Day to educate legislators about this proposal, and ask them to oppose it.

Union members and representatives came from across Massachusetts to participate. We footed up and around the labyrinthine halls to meet with legislators representing Central Massachusetts and many of their senior staffers. Along the way, we met other union representatives from Central Massachusetts, including women from the Court system and the Mass DOT. (In one particular meeting-- where I happened to be the only man present--the others happily joked “Did you ever think you’d see the day when unions were 95% women?”) We traveled with these other groups to some of the legislators’ offices together, carrying our common interests. One woman explained that, since a procedure two years ago for chronic illness, she would have to regularly take six medications for the rest of her life; she calculates that Baker’s Budget Recommendation would cost her an additional $150 per month, just for these medications.

The change would significantly increase out-of-pocket costs for all State employees, some of whom already ration essential treatment due to cost. Coupled with premium rates that will increase by as much as 9%, this change would cost many families as much as $1,500 next year. On top of that, the GIC has already approved increases to employee co-pays and deductibles that will further increase out-of-pocket costs. Taken together, these changes represent $160 million of increased costs for employees next year.

One particular highlight was our visit with Senate Majority Leader Harriet Chandler, who invited us into her office, and spoke with us thoughtfully about the issue. She pointed out to us that her roles in the State government over the years have provided her a particularly informed understanding of healthcare and insurance issues in Massachusetts, and explained that we had nonetheless provided her with new insights, while graciously thanking us for information that would be useful to her voting decisions.

We can expect more cost-shifting to public employees to come under the current administration. You can participate by encouraging your local legislators to oppose the Governor’s current budget proposal. You can find the leaders of local cities and towns online. Tell them the story of what the change would mean for you and your family. Below you’ll find more details you can pass along.

• A proposal in Governor Baker’s FY 2016 budget recommendation seeks to raise the share of health insurance premiums paid by many state workers by 25 percent.
• Roughly 45,000 workers would go from an employer/employee premium split of 80/20 to 75/25.
• If implemented, the cost of a family health insurance plan through the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) would increase by as much as $1,500 next year.
• This change represents a cost-shift of $34 million onto state workers.
• Our out-of-pocket costs are already going up next year through increases to employee co-pays and deductibles, and higher annual premiums that the GIC has already approved.
• The average premium for a GIC health plan will increase by 5.7% next year, with some increasing by as much as 9%
• In total, these changes represent $160 million in increased costs on state workers in FY 2016.
• The state has already achieved significant savings by increasing co-pays and deductibles paid by workers.
• Rather than raise costs on workers even further, the AFL/CIO advocates that some of these savings should be used to lower premium contribution for employees hired after 2003 who are currently paying 25 percent, and equalizing all state employees at a 20 percent premium contribution.

College Scholarship Opportunity: Central Massachusetts AFL/CIO

The SHARE office recently received the following notice in the mail from Joe Carlson, the President of the Central Massachusetts AFL/CIO, about a really great scholarship opportunity for our members. The lottery for these scholarships will be open to any SHARE members, as well as children and grandchildren of our members, who will graduate from high school this year and attend college next year. The details are posted below. Please note that applications should NOT be sent to the SHARE office. If you would like a copy of the nomination form, please click here

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To: All Affiliated Locals of the Central Mass AFL/CIO,

We are pleased to announce that we will be awarding six $1,000.00 scholarships as well as a number of  $500 Platinum sponsored scholarships.

The scholarship recipients will be drawn by lottery at the May community services committee meeting and the winners will be announced at the Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament on Friday, June 5, 2015.

The scholarships will be presented at the Labor Day breakfast September 7 2015

To be eligible, the student must be a 2015 graduating high school senior and going on to college, and a child, grandchild, or member whose local is affiliated with the Central Ma. AFL/CIO. Union members must live or work in the jurisdiction of the Central Ma. AFL/CIO.

All names must be submitted by May 1, 2015 and returned to:

Paul Soucy

AFL/CIO Labor Community Services

Central Ma. AFL-CIO

400 Washington St

Auburn, Ma. 01501

Fraternally Yours,
Joseph P. Carlson, President
Central Massachusetts AFL/CIO

SHARE Voices: When to Pick Workplace Battles

In this SHARE Blog Review, Union co-president Sherry Nguyen describes a useful article for weighing options in dispute resolution. As a SHARE member you can also use our Problem Solving processes, as well as receive support from SHARE representatives. Please contact the SHARE office for help.

And, if you would like to submit an idea, a request, or a submission for publication on the SHARE UMMS blog, please email your thoughts to kirk.davis@theshareunion.org

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When to Pick Workplace Battles

Submitted by Sherry Nguyen

A few weeks ago I read an informative article in the Wall Street Journal by Sue Shellenbarger, and I’d like to share some of the key points with you.  We’ve all experienced tensions in workplace, whether with coworkers or superiors.  The question is what to do about it.  Although most people try to avoid conflict, this is neither the most productive nor healthiest route.  Avoidance can create more useless tension that has a negative effect on productivity and creates unhealthy stress levels.

So what can be done?  In the article, “To Fight or Not to Fight? When to Pick Workplace Battles,” Shellenbarger emphasizes that the best action depends on the situation.  There are definitely some situations where waging war would be a losing battle and retreat is the most prudent action. Some of these situations include:

• Picking fights over issues that are not relevant to your work or outside of your area(s) of responsibility
• Battling over trivial issues based on personality or power
• Waging war without offering solutions or suggestions

(Read the article at http://www.wsj.com/articles/picking-your-workplace-battles-1418772621 for more situations and details.)

Along with these suggestions as when not to do battle, the article offered winning strategies when you do decide that confronting the situation is the best way to proceed. These winning strategies include planning ahead, talking with your colleagues, and knowing when it is appropriate to disagree.     I highly recommend you read more (link) about these winning strategies.

Conflicts are a fact of life.  While it can be risky to speak up – hurt feelings, a damaged career -- not speaking up, especially if the annoyance is shared by others, can result in simmering frustrations which can lead to passive aggressive behaviors such as slacking off and backstabbing.  While learning when to pick a battle is an art worth learning, you have the benefit of SHARE staff who has the experience to help you through it, either with you in meetings with your supervisor or behind the scenes as a coach. 

The article “To Fight or Not to Fight? When to Pick Workplace Battles” was written by Sue Shellenbarger, and appeared in the Wall Street Journal on 12/16/14.