Union members fear this week's wage negotiations at UNM Hospital won't be as collaborative as they would like.
Margaret Trace, a member of the 1199 NUHH, said negotiations have been more confrontational than collaborative since 2000. The National Union of Hospital and Healthcare employees represents the hospital's nursing staff and some technical employees.
"When you look at the negotiations last year - bad faith from the get go - the administration, Steve McKernan and his henchmen prolonged negotiations," Trace said. She said prolonging negotiations takes money away from the workers - money taxpayers approved.
"That is pretty low," she said.
UNMH policy sets nonunion employees' wages using independent salary surveys to determine what those wages are. For the bargaining unit and the four unions that represent employees at UNM, either the union comes to the hospital asking for compensation adjustments or the hospital notices adjustments might need to be made for certain employees, said Steve McKernan, top administrator at UNMH.
Those involved cannot discuss negotiations until they are completed, and McKernan said every hospital is going to be different because of specific pay plans. He said beginning wages at UNMH may be low relative to the community, but the wages of those who are fairly senior at UNMH tend to be little higher.
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"With most people, it's not a dollar issue," Trace said. "It's respect."
In late April, hospital administrators at UNMH received salary increases ranging from 11 percent to 18 percent. McKernan's salary went up by 20 percent and is now $374,000 per year.
Trace said giving McKernan a 20 percent raise sends the wrong message to UNMH's other employees.
"It implies that his work is a million times more valued than other people's good jobs," Trace said. "That is what people are so upset about - that they would pay several people so much money. They are stealing from their own employees."
McKernan has been the top administrator at UNMH since 1996, and said he has worked to improve employee relations. But Trace said this has been nothing but a disaster.
McKernan said there are indications that employees are satisfied at UNMH. The latest in-house survey, from 2002, showed a 60.2 percent employee satisfaction rate. The employee turnover rate is about 12 percent, and the vacancy rate is 2 percent - two figures that are way down from four years ago, McKernan said.
"As management, we would point to low vacancy and low turnover as indications that the employees are satisfied with the hospital as an employer," he said.
Trace said one of the union's concerns is that UNMH hires people to work against the union, something that is not isolated to the 1199 bargaining unit or UNMH.
"It's kind of a historical viewpoint," Trace said, adding there are people the hospital contracts that union members regard as union busters.
UNMH has a labor-relations policy that allows unions at the hospital.
"That is the policy of the board and of the hospital, and we abide by that," McKernan said. "We've always followed that policy."
