Today we met with Allina management. We discussed seniority and moving job classes. We agreed that you can move between job classes and keep a portion of your seniority, and your pay will rise in the new job class along with your years of service in that new job class.
We than moved onto a more economic discussion. Management read a statement about the financial difficulties that Allina is in and is looking towards. Management states that they are loosing 98.9 million at the corporate level with the infusion from the CARES ACT. They also state that AHEMS is 7 million off budget in 2020. They also stated a desire to put more resources towards across the board raises (Cost of Living). With that they offered a three year contract of 2021-0%, 2022-1.5%, 2023-1.5%. This means that any one at the top of any pay scale would get a pay freeze. If you are on a step you would be able to go up to the next step. They also offered to create a new job class in the comm center for a call taker.
The union is reviewing their proposal and stated that we will have our response back to them for our meeting on the 15th. The union choose not to provide the company with a proposal at this time. The one we had written up was so far off their base that it would have been immediately rejected. We chose to take their proposal and make it fit our asks.
Right now, we are having productive talks and are trying to reach an agreement that will benefit the company and the union members for years to come. Right now, we are miles apart from a financial deal and it will take work from both sides to make sure we come together. The union is prepared to work hard and make sure a deal gets done that benefits both sides not just the company.
If you have questions or concerns please reach out.
Your negotiating committee