Labor union representatives told the UNM Hospital administration Friday some employees have been denied pay raises.
The representatives told the administration it is in violation of the Public Employees Bargaining Act that took effect July 1, 2003. The act requires the hospital to provide information to union members to verify pay raise contracts are implemented properly.
"We found out they've been cheating some people for years," said Margaret Trace, a UNMH phone triage nurse. "They refused to give us any information about who they've been cheating."
Representatives said the 2.3 percent employee pay raise that took effect in July has been replaced with a one-time bonus for some employees. Without information from UNMH's human resources department, they cannot determine how widespread the practice has been, they said.
In an Aug. 30 e-mail sent to Eleanor Ch†vez, director of the local 1199 NM union, UNMH Human Resources Administrator Jim Pendergast made a statement that Ch†vez said acknowledges some employees' wages were not increased, but swapped with a one-time bonus instead. She said the swap is a violation of the July union pay contract.
"The testimony was that we have consistently paid bonuses to topped-out employees in lieu of general wage increases is accurate," Pendergast stated in the letter, adding that the research required to determine the issue's scope would be burdensome.
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"We'll be filing another prohibited-practice complaint and another class-action grievance, and you will be taking more taxpayer monies to give to your friend Bob Tinnin and his law associates," Trace told the UNM hospital's clinical operations board.
Bob Tinnin is an Albuquerque attorney UNMH hired to negotiate with labor unions.
UNMH CEO Steve McKernan denied Ch†vez's request for documents relating to employee pay in a July 20 letter, stating there is no "basis, legal or otherwise," to disclose the documents because they are either "confidential personnel records or are attorney-client privileged."
Trace said it's no secret the hospital has two goals.
"One is to get the union out of the hospital," she said. "The other goal is to obtain magnet status."
Magnet status is given to hospitals that meet rigorous standards in employee certification and retention, employee satisfaction, and functioning systems for employees to voice grievances, according to the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
Magnet status, the highest recognition of excellence a hospital can obtain, requires prospective hospitals to go five years without being found in violation of labor laws before granting the status.
"While this hospital continues to treat its employees and the union that represents them so badly, and while they violate their own contracts and continue to lie and steal from their employees, magnet status is an impossible dream," Trace said.
Chairman of the Board Steve Anaya asked Ch†vez during the board meeting how the dispute could best be resolved.
"Follow the law," Ch†vez said. "Give us the information we need to represent our employees."
Ch†vez said the hospital administration is planning a protracted fight in court that could span years, but she is confident the union's case is stronger.
"Even the most anti-union private sector employers know better," she said. "They lose this issue every time they go before the National Labor Relations Board. Why is this board, why is this hospital, why is Jim Pendergast taking up a lost cause?"
