Last week UAPD finished putting all of our economic proposals on the table. We are looking for a fair across-the-board wage increase for all classifications, plus additional money for those groups that face serious parity and recruitment and retention issues.
While we have made some progress towards an agreement, our team is concerned that the State has not made enough movement on important proposals, like:
• Maintaining the prohibition on timekeeping
• Achieving salary parity where it does not exist
• Increasing on-call compensation and limiting the amount of work call requires
• Increasing CME pay
• Ensuring that evaluations come from qualified (MD, DDS, etc.) peers
• Respecting doctors’ professional judgment
• Providing adequate protection from lawsuits and licensing problems
Recent discussions at the table have included:
Notice: Under a number of articles, UAPD has proposed requiring the State to notify the union when changes are made in the workplace, so that we can more effectively protect the rights of doctors.
On Call: UAPD has proposed increasing on-call compensation. We’re also trying to define call as work conducted via telephone, which should not require logging into an EHR system or having computer and internet access.
Vacation Leave: UAPD is asking that small facilities be exempt from departmental policies that limit the percentage of people who can be off work at one time. In some small facilities, one or two people being on leave has resulted in vacation request denials for everyone else.
Payroll Errors: We’ve proposed new rights for doctors who have been underpaid by the State.
Voluntary and Involuntary Transfers: UAPD has proposed that a State employee who wants to transfer to another facility be given priority over a new hire or contractor, even if there is a staffing shortage at their current workplace. In addition, when involuntary transfers are necessary, they should be imposed on the person with least years of service.
Malpractice: In addition to stronger protections for professional judgment, UAPD has proposed language under 12.7 Malpractice Suit(s) to protect doctors’ licenses when the State chooses to settle a lawsuit in which the doctor is named.
Telehealth: UAPD proposed a new article on telehealth programs to protect those BU 16 doctors who now work in telemedicine or telepsychiatry, as well as those working on-site at the facilities served by remote doctors.
Our team will be meeting six times over the next two weeks. We will continue to update you about bargaining, and hope that we can soon report substantial progress on the key issues that doctors have identified.