SEIU Health Care members reach pact with Rochester hospital

Voting took place Tuesday at the SEIU Union Hall in Rochester.

“Despite these tough economic times,” said Jodi Kosnopfal, bargaining team member and Linen Processing Distribution Tech at Saint Marys, “this contract shows the value of being united as a union.”

“The number one issue was longevity pay,” said Steve Reese, bargaining team member and Materials Handler at the Mayo Inventory Control Center, “and we added a 15-year step to everybody’s wage scale.”

“One of the biggest differences,” says Heidi Romero, a bargaining team member and Hot Production Worker at Saint Marys, “is that for the last three contracts, we’ve been trying to get a number of people classified as part-time, but working fulltime reclassified as fulltime with fulltime benefits. Some people like me have gone years working fulltime without fulltime benefits. We finally did it this year as SEIU, and we now have language to keep this from becoming a problem again.”

Workers gained respectful workplace language, improved job security language, improved the pension, and made other improvements, the union said.

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The membership achieved a 3.5 percent wage increase the first year and improved pensions and job security and longevity pay, the union said.

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SEIU members were voting on their first contract as SEIU members – previously they were represented by UNITE-HERE Local 21.

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SEIU Healthcare Minnesota represents 17,000 long-term care and hospital workers across Minnesota. In August of 2008, union members at Olmsted Medical Center Hospital and Mayo Clinic Hospitals, Saint Marys, Rochester Methodist, and Albert Lea Medical Center voted overwhelmingly to merge with SEIU. SEIU represents 1,800 workers at Mayo Clinic Hospitals, with 1,200 at Saint Marys.

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