Think a union doesn?t make much difference? Ask the more than 400 workers at Fairview Lakes Regional Medical Center and its affiliated clinics in Chisago County.
In only their second contract, clerical, service and maintenance employees represented by SEIU Local 113 will achieve parity with hospital workers elsewhere in the Twin Cities.
Gaining metro-level wages means some workers will receive across-the-board raises as high as 42 percent over the three-year term of the contract, said Jennifer Burke, business representative for SEIU Local 113. Rehabilitation aides, dietary and housekeeping workers will benefit the most, she said.
All workers will receive raises of at least 4 percent a year. On top of that, Burke said, workers will receive step increases for longevity and actually pay a smaller percentage of premiums for family health insurance under the new contract. Workers will pocket $521 a year more on health insurance premiums even after higher costs are factored in.
?This is a huge settlement," Burke said. ?I don?t think members understood the impact being union could have."
Members overwhelmingly ratified the contract on Nov. 19, with 97 percent voting in favor. More than 80 percent of union members turned out to vote. Getting wage parity is the result not only of solidarity among SEIU members, Burke said, but also of strong support from nurses in the hospital represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association, and from Laborers and other union members who work at the hospital.
In addition, she said, Fairview Lakes CEO Dan Anderson ?went to corporate and got the money."
Previously, starting salaries at Fairview Lakes were $1.56 to $2.47 an hour below what union workers made in comparable jobs at other Twin Cities hospitals, Local 113 research shows. Top scales at Fairview Lakes were $0.60 to $3.34 an hour lower.
Parity takes place in the second year of the contract, which begins Oct. 1, 2004. ?Each individual gets a different increase depending on where they fall in the scale," Burke said.
Local 113 represents workers at the main hospital in Wyoming and at affiliated clinics in Chisago, Forest Lake, Lino Lakes, North Branch, Rush City and Wyoming.
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Think a union doesn?t make much difference? Ask the more than 400 workers at Fairview Lakes Regional Medical Center and its affiliated clinics in Chisago County.
In only their second contract, clerical, service and maintenance employees represented by SEIU Local 113 will achieve parity with hospital workers elsewhere in the Twin Cities.
Gaining metro-level wages means some workers will receive across-the-board raises as high as 42 percent over the three-year term of the contract, said Jennifer Burke, business representative for SEIU Local 113. Rehabilitation aides, dietary and housekeeping workers will benefit the most, she said.
All workers will receive raises of at least 4 percent a year. On top of that, Burke said, workers will receive step increases for longevity and actually pay a smaller percentage of premiums for family health insurance under the new contract. Workers will pocket $521 a year more on health insurance premiums even after higher costs are factored in.
?This is a huge settlement,” Burke said. ?I don?t think members understood the impact being union could have.”
Members overwhelmingly ratified the contract on Nov. 19, with 97 percent voting in favor. More than 80 percent of union members turned out to vote. Getting wage parity is the result not only of solidarity among SEIU members, Burke said, but also of strong support from nurses in the hospital represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association, and from Laborers and other union members who work at the hospital.
In addition, she said, Fairview Lakes CEO Dan Anderson ?went to corporate and got the money.”
Previously, starting salaries at Fairview Lakes were $1.56 to $2.47 an hour below what union workers made in comparable jobs at other Twin Cities hospitals, Local 113 research shows. Top scales at Fairview Lakes were $0.60 to $3.34 an hour lower.
Parity takes place in the second year of the contract, which begins Oct. 1, 2004. ?Each individual gets a different increase depending on where they fall in the scale,” Burke said.
Local 113 represents workers at the main hospital in Wyoming and at affiliated clinics in Chisago, Forest Lake, Lino Lakes, North Branch, Rush City and Wyoming.