County to hear union’s requests for UMC changes

Art Nadler

Monday, May 3, 1999 | 10:58 a.m.

The Nevada Service Employees Union hopes to win support from the Clark County Commission on Tuesday in its effort to persuade University Medical Center to change working conditions at the hospital, union officials said Friday.

The commissioners also act as the hospital's board of trustees. They will meet at 2 p.m.

Hospital employees have been working without a contract since July, Kevin Collins, assistant executive director of the union, said. The union and hospital began negotiations in March 1998 and agreed to enter into federal mediation in November.

Pay isn't the problem, Collins said. Union members, including nurses and health care workers, want working conditions improved.

One point of contention, Collins said, is the issue of "floating," or moving nurses among jobs. UMC employees have the right to refuse floating, but UMC wants to change that, he said. Nurses contend they aren't trained for certain positions.

The union also wants on-call policies to change. After working 12-hour shifts, many nurses are asked to return to work within 30 minutes after leaving work.

"We are working 72 to 80 hours a week," Jerri Strasser, a registered nurse, said. "I don't think patients are in danger on a daily basis, but that could change if the hospital takes a hard line on on-call. Now nurses are working the equivalent of two full-time jobs."

The union also is seeking full-time or part-time status for per-diem employees. They have no health insurance or job security, yet many work 40 hours a week, Collins said.

Desert Springs Hospital gives its per-diem employees full benefits, and the union has reached a similar tentative agreement with Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, Collins said.

"As an employee of UMC for 17 1/2 years ... and making the hospital one of the top 100 in the country, the hospital should do the right thing and reward us with a good contract," Strasser said.

In a written statement, UMC says it has been bargaining in good faith and is willing to provide employees with a financial package equivalent to other hospital employees in Clark County.

"In large part, an understanding has been reached regarding economic concerns," John Espinoza, UMC's human resources director, said in a written statement. "However, there remains certain operational issues that would be detrimental to UMC, if the union were to prevail in their demands."

Collins said individual union members plan to address the commissioners and present them with a petition signed by "a couple thousands" health care workers, union members and members of the public calling for support of the union's demands.