Dear UC Colleagues:
Next week on Monday, the 7th, to Wednesday, the 9th, AFSCME 3299 frontline patient and service workers will be striking against UC for racial, economic, and gender equality. We have consulted with our UAPD attorney about your potential participation and support of this strike. It is perfectly legal for you to support another union’s activities, including walking their picket lines, as long as it is on your own time. This includes your lunch and break times. What you cannot do, according to article 42 of your MOU is to engage in a sympathy strike or to have an unauthorized absence during these 3 days. Click the link below for the schedule of the rallies at the various UC campuses. If you have any questions, contact the UAPD for more details.
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Have union news to tell us? Contact Sue Wilson at swilson@uapd.com.
UC Student Health Doctors Supporting Upcoming AFSCME 3299 Strike
May 4, 2018The Results are In: Congratulations AFSCME 43rd International Convention Delegates
May 4, 2018The following were elected to serve as delegates at AFSCME 43rd International Convention in Boston, MA., July 16, 2018 – July 20, 2018. The theme of this year’s convention is, “Rise Up”.
Julie B. George, M.D. Department of State Hospitals
Ronald H. Lewis, M.D., F.A.C.P. Private Practice
Milton L. Lorig, M.D., J.D. Private Practice
Rufus W. Moore, M.D. Los Angeles Department of Mental Health
Rosa Nguyen, D.M.D. State Department of Correction & Rehabilitation
Gary Pedneault, M.D Los Angeles Department of Health Services
Shakalpi R. Pendurkar, D.D.S., M.P.H. Gardner Health Services
In accordance with the UAPD constitution and bylaws, the UAPD President, Stuart A. Bussey, M.D., J.D., is automatically included as one of the UAPD’s eight delegates.
Thank you to our UAPD members who voted in this election, the 11 nominees for their effort and enthusiasm on behalf of the Union, and congratulations to our elected delegates.
Stuart A. Bussey, M.D., J.D.
UAPD President
Message from UAPD President about upcoming LA County Contract and Salary Negotiations
April 20, 2018Dear LA County Colleague:
Please click on the 88-second video message below to hear how your colleagues plan to improve your MOU and how you can help by (re)committing yourself to full UAPD membership.
After watching the video click the appropriate link at the bottom. You will be redirected to a Docu-sign membership form.
Thanks.
Stuart Bussey, M.D., J.D.
UAPD President
LA County Physicians, Psychiatrists, and Dentists (BU 324/325) click here
LA County Pharmacists (BU 301) click here.
BU 16 On-Call Assignment Now Less Onerous for Some Institutions
February 21, 2018Bargaining Unit 16 employees at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation are starting to see some relief from high call volumes and workloads that have been stretching the limits of what can be considered a reasonable expectation for after-hours Physician On-Call assignments.
Building on newly negotiated contract language, “mini-MOD” assignments are being tested at Central California Women’s Facility, CSP-Los Angeles County, Mule Creek State Prison, Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, California Institute for Men, Kern Valley State Prison, and Salinas Valley State Prison.
Members—and represented BU 16 employees—who are not currently part of the testing should contact their UAPD steward or union representative to discuss the viability of bringing this new MOD to your facility.
If you are not a member of the union, please use this link to become one. High union density enables employees, including BU 16 doctors, to bargain over issues that impact working conditions and patient care.
A Brief Update on Sierra Conservation Center
February 13, 2018SCC recently rolled out the Electronic Health Record System (EHRS). A grievance was filed regarding the inadequate training. The department has agreed to provide additional training to staff.
The UAPD participated in the Meet and Confer process regarding the installation of additional security cameras to be placed at SCC.
Management has not been honoring vacation requests pursuant to the BU 16 MOU. The UAPD is working with the local labor representative to ensure Bargaining Unit 16 members time-off/vacation requests are honored pursuant to the contract. There is a scheduled meeting to follow-up on management’s committed to counseling the supervising dentists and rectifying the situation so BU 16 members are afforded time-off/vacations requests pursuant to the MOU, as opposed to arbitrarily.
Grievances filed against CDCR’s Telemedicine and Telepsychiatry Programs
January 28, 2018When the telemedicine and telepsychiatry programs were first launched by the department, physicians were told that they would not have to cover On-call assignments. The department then decided to start requiring them to cover on-call assignments. The Department changed telemedicine working conditions without notifying the UAPD. A grievance was filed and the Department responded by notifying the UAPD that they were initiating a telemedicine on-call pilot program. That program failed and the Department concluded that they will not be requiring telemedicine doctors to cover on-call assignments.
We filed a grievance regarding Additional Appointments for Telemedicine. The Department has now said that telemedicine has a right to Additional appointments.
The UAPD met with the Department to discuss a proposed policy. CDCR has not updated the policy to reflect the agreed upon changes from the last meeting. Nonetheless, CDCR has added additional telepsychiatry sites without notifying the UAPD.
We filed a Cease and Desist regarding implemented changes to the program without notice to the union. The UAPD had a Meet and Confer with the Department to discuss the opening of the Diamond Bar location.
The UAPD has scheduled quarterly Telehealth Committee Meetings to address these issues.
Just Culture Policy Finalized!
January 26, 2018Under the new policy, Union members and management will educate the workforce on the new policy, identify potential system deficiencies in various departments, and recruit team members to assist in resolving potential problems. Just Culture will focus less on disciplinary actions and focus more on corrective actions. UAPD members will have access to all bargaining unit members when discussing Just Culture. So, they will be able to recruit new members and provide updates on Union activities.
UAPD and DHS developed new programs to continue efforts for Physician recruitment and retention. In order to continue building on the successful events sponsored by the Union and the County, a new recruitment incentive and student loan payment reimbursement was established. New hires in Correctional Health will be eligible for up to $30,000: $10,000 after 6 months and another $20,000 after 18 months on the job. New employees could opt for the student loan payment reimbursement program. Physicians would receive up to $30, 000 at the end of each year up to 4 years (total $120,000 in reimbursement). The Department of Mental Health has expressed interest in creating similar programs for recruitment and retention of Psychiatrists in Los Angeles County.
AHS News and Negotiation Updates
January 26, 2018Negotiations continue at a very slow and frustrating pace. AHS does not provide the necessary information for the Union to prepare a market proposal. Most of the union’s proposals have been submitted except for market adjustments and extended hours proposal.
AHS has withheld payment of the 4% lump sum payment to psychiatrists per the currently expired MOU. AHS maintains that it cannot instruct its payroll department to make the payments to the doctors. UAPD will file a request for arbitration to get these bonuses paid. Also, AHS has failed to provide evidence that the outpatient clinics did not meet the metrics for the past two measuring periods. UAPD has asked that all physicians receive the maximum bonus payment. AHS is still struggling to provide the evidence. UAPD will file for an arbitration for these bonus payments, per the MOU. Read more …
UAPD Endorses Tax on Sugary Beverages
September 15, 2016The CCSF doctors UAPD represents are dedicated to safety net medical care and public health. A survey of the Union membership in advance of the 2014 San Francisco “soda tax“ proposition yielded 96% support for that measure.
With Berkeley’s approval of a penny-per-ounce sugary beverage tax in 2014 and Philadelphia’s passage of a 1.5 cents per ounce tax in June of this year (currently under legal challenge by the American Beverage Association), the possibility of overcoming the industry’s financial power on a national scale suddenly seems possible. UAPD is proud to join the effort in endorsing Proposition V, just as we did in 2014.
The Chronicle’s recent editorial in favor of the proposition can be found here.
An American Journal of Public Health article analyzing the results of Berkeley’s tax can be accessed here.
Additional information can be found at the campaign website.
UAPD Corrects Time Off Issue for San Francisco Physicians
April 17, 2016In the 2015 round of contract negotiations, San Francisco Department of Public Health physicians identified additional time off as a top priority. The UAPD bargaining team eventually prevailed in changing the contract from CTO “may be granted” to CTO “shall be granted” for work falling within established guidelines. With members’ input, those guidelines were agreed to last September.
In late February, several part-time physicians contacted the Union after being denied the compensatory time they had requested. They were told that not only must a physician work in excess of their regular work schedule, they must also work over eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week in order to get CTO hours at the 1.5x rate. Thus, part-time doctors would almost never be eligible for CTO.
UAPD engaged DPH and DHR in discussions at that time. In April a conceptual agreement was reached and, earlier this week, the new CTO request form was agreed to (download it here). DPH Payroll has been notified that part-time physicians who work in excess of their normal work schedule, due to conditions falling within the established guidelines, will receive CTO at the 1.5x rate even if they have not worked more than eight hours that day or 40 hours that week.
The UAPD bargaining team fought hard to win the new CTO provisions, but feedback so far indicates that most doctors are not utilizing it. We encourage our hard-working members, both full- and part-time, to take advantage of this important benefit!