Tuesday, September 30, 1997
Health-care professionals unite for rights
UNION: Members now have the power to alter employment policies
By Kathryn Combs
Daily Bruin Contributor
Earlier this month in possibly one of the largest union elections in California, 2,000 health care professionals employed by the University of California voted to join the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE).
This decision to join UPTE is the first integral step for health care professionals toward having a voice in the development of employment policy.
"Now, the university cannot impose changes on the terms of present employment for UC employees without negotiating with the union first," said Eddie Acosta, an UPTE organizer at UCLA.
UCLA's health care professionals, including clinical social workers, therapists and pharmacists, voted nearly 2 to 1 for unionization.
"The health care industry is changing daily, and health care workers need to have some voice in those changes," Acosta said.
Officials are unsure of the effect this will have on the relationships between Medical Center management and employees.
"(The vote) is neither an advantage or a disadvantage," said Maure Gardner, manager of compensation and labor relations for the Human Resources division of the UCLA Medical Center.
"It's a responsible choice by those who voted (and) I don't think that it's different or unusual than our relationships with other unions," Gardner said.
"There were a lot of elements and events over the years that contributed to the way people voted," Gardner added.
UC employees have aired complaints ranging from heavy caseloads to layoffs and the restructuring of departments without employee input, UPTE officials said.
"When the university makes up its own rules, they generally make up personnel policies that cut costs. These tend to be bad for employees and bad for the patients that they take care of," said Libby Sayre, executive vice president of UPTE.
Organizers see this vote as an assertion of employee rights.
"We want to participate in the changes that are occuring in the workplace rather than just waiting for the next bomb to drop," said employee Lourdes Inchauspi.
Inchauspi, a clinical lab technician from the department of pathology and laboratory medicine, experienced firsthand the major restructuring last winter which led UPTE to file an Unfair Labor Practice Charge with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).
According to Eddie Acosta, everyone in this department was laid off, but not everyone was hired back.
Some say that layoffs are only one reason for strengthening their union.
"The UC's attempts to privatize three of the five medical centers were a motivating factor, as were cuts in staffing levels, layoffs and a decline in the quality of patient care," said Jalger Kalmijn, president of UPTE, in a statement earlier this month.
UPTE organizers see this vote as an assertion of employee rights.
Beginning in October, UPTE will survey new union members, hold elections, and then begin contract negotiation.
"One of the things about a union contract is that it is enforceable," said Sayre. "The problems with UC policies is that they are not fully enforceable. Now UC employees can enforce them through the grievance and arbitration process," Sayre said.