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NNU Bargaining – Tentative Agreements Summary

Below is a brief summary of tentative agreements. Please refer to the language of each of the tentative agreements for the details and full terms of each provision.

Dues Deductions (9/27)

  • Dues withheld will be forwarded to NNU separately for each payroll that period deductions are made from a nurse’s paycheck.

Medical Examination (10/19)

  • Nurses who are absent from work for three or more days can provide documentation from their licensed independent healthcare provider, which now includes a licensed mental health provider in addition to a physician or NP.

Vacation Schedule (10/30)

  • If UCMC fails to provide nurses with notice that they are nearing vacation cap, RN will continue to accrue vacation time until they receive the notice.

Credit for Experience (10/30)

  • Removes credit cap for nurses who accept positions at UCMC when nurse worked at affiliate (Ingalls/BSD/Care Network) at time they accept UCMC role. These RNs will be given credit for full years of experience equivalent to that of UCMC RNs and their related experience.
  • Salary step placement at point of hire for RNs returning from LTD or working as IHR will be equivalent to that nurses’ previous full years of related experience.

Posting of Notices (10/30)

  • NNU representatives will be provided two visits per year with an ELR rep to examine Union bulletin board.

Leave of Absence (11/7)

  • Nurses may apply for leave to temporarily volunteer to work as a RN with a 501(c)(3) charity to provide medical assistance in response to natural or other disasters, including with NNU Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN).
  • When granted charitable leave, nurses will utilize available accruals, but may be granted unpaid leave if available accruals aren’t sufficient to cover leave for time approved.

Orientation (11/14)

  • Additional time allocated to NNU for new employee orientation when orientation is conducted virtually.

Vacation Pay (11/30)

  • UCMC will maintain a program similar to what is now in place (Policy HR1002) to permit nurses on a tax-free basis to donate accrued vacation time to other employees facing a personal or family medical emergency requiring a prolonged/extended absence that would result in substantial loss of income.

Death in Family (11/30)

  • UCMC on an individual basis will consider granting bereavement time to a nurse following the death of a person with whom the nurse had a close personal relationship where the Nurse’s relationship was the functional equivalent of family member for whom bereavement is currently provided.
  • Nurses can request to use accrued vacation and personal leave in connection with the death of a person with whom a nurse had a close personal relationship even if not an immediate family member, and may take additional unpaid leave as permitted by the Illinois Bereavement Leave Act.

Completion of Late Stays (11/30)

  • If there is a pattern of late-stays to complete cases started before the end of a shift in procedural areas, the union may make a proposal to add regular full-time shifts to the schedule for discussion at NPPCC.

CDOR Holiday Rotation (12/4):

  • Allows for off-shift scheduling within the CDOR for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve when there are fewer scheduled procedures for equitable rotation of scheduled holidays for CDOR staff.

Preparation of Schedule (12/4):

  • Allows nurses, in seniority order, to bid up to four weeks off a year as part of the annual vacation bidding process (up to 3 weeks during the first round of annual vacation bid, and an additional 1 week for nurses who earn 5 weeks of annual vacation).

Preceptor Duty (12/4):

  • Provides for preceptor pay for RNs who precept externs, students, and others who are in non-nursing roles.
  • Includes lump sum daily preceptor pay for salaried nurses who precept the groups noted above (amount TBD during economic discussions).

Holiday Rotation in the ORs (12/19):

  • Some nurses who work CDOR off shifts may be temporarily assigned to other shifts to balance holiday coverage across the department and to avoid an undue burden on nurses working off shifts.
  • A day shift nurse assigned to an evening or night shift on a holiday shift ending at 11:00 p.m. or later will not be scheduled to work the following day.

Uniform Vouchers (1/9):

  • Newly hired nurses will be eligible for a $100 uniform voucher after they successfully complete their probationary period.

Work Schedules (1/17):

  • CBA’s alternating weekend off procedures will apply to ambulatory nurses in areas newly organized in 2019 (most of whom do not presently work scheduled weekends).

Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Team (1/17):

  • Adds contract language establishing Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner team & voluntary SANE call pool in adult and pediatric EDs.
  • UCMC will recruit to have a SANE-credentialed nurse scheduled on shift in both EDs.
  • SANE nurses on the schedule who are assigned to SANE-credentialed nurse role receive $5/hour differential for all shift hours, regardless of whether they see SANE patients during their shift. Other SANE credentialed nurses receive the differential when assigned to provide care to a SANE patient.
  • SANE nurses receive one-time certification bonus after earning SANE credentials.

Transition to Payment for Comp Time for Salaried RNs (2/13):

  • Salaried RNs get extra straight time pay for each cumulative, full additional hour worked over a two-week schedule
  • Must record hours for all work
  • Can use existing banked comp time hours for the life of new CBA
  • Using accrued time is OK for approved vacation and approved sick/medical leave
  • UCAN excluded

Evening & Night Differentials (2/13):

  • $3.75/hour (evening shift) and $5/hour (night shift) differentials

Time & Attendance (2/13):

  • Nurses will receive a 5-minute grace period for clocking-in, which is the current practice

Workplace Violence Prevention (2/13):

  • UCMC will pay nurses for up to 3 days off if they are injured due to a workplace violence incident or if there’s a credible threat to a nurse’s physical safety. This payment bridges the 3-day waiting period before workers’ compensation applies, if applicable.
  • NNU will be able to appoint members to the Workplace Violence Prevention Committee
  • NNU will be able to receive NNU nurses’ workplace violence event reports submitted through the hospital’s Event Reporting System

Union Meeting Facilities (2/13):

  • UCMC is returning the first floor CCD conference room to the NNU to provide a conveniently located space for membership and other union meetings

Transfer Language (2/13):

  • Nurses in most areas will be allowed to transfer to new roles after 6 months in their current positions; 9 months in perioperative and procedural areas; 12 months for new hires

Labor & Delivery Scrub Team (2/13):

  • UCMC will build a specific scrub nurse team in Labor and Delivery where nurses will be paid $2/hour for all scrub shifts worked. This team will receive paid scrub nurse training through AORN Perioperative 101, the program specifically requested by the NNU.

Weekend Program (2/22):

  • Weekend Program Nurses who work any holiday hours on their weekend will receive holiday pay equivalent to the appropriate overtime rate.
  • Weekend Program Nurses who are absent related to an illness that is excused under the Medical Center’s Communicable Disease Policy will not have those absences regarded as a break in continuing of weekends worked.

Nurse Parking (3/5):

  • All 2nd shift nurses will receive Garage A and B parking, after completion of chiller project.
  • Nurse parking rates will be frozen for the term of the collective bargaining agreement.
  • The percentage of garage spaces allocated to NNU nurses will be frozen