Wednesday, April 18, 2001
The Forum pact expires May 1, and Teamsters at St. Elizabeth's face a May 9 deadline.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city's two largest health-care providers have union contract deadlines looming.
At Forum Health, contract talks were scheduled all day Tuesday and today for members of the Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association, the union representing 700 registered nurses at Forum's Mahoning County facilities.
Forum's Mahoning operations include Northside Medical Center and Tod Children's Hospital in Youngstown and Beeghly Medical Park in Boardman. Forum also operates Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren.
At Humility of Mary Health Partners, officials are negotiating with Teamsters Local 377, representing about 850 employees in a wide range of job classes, including maintenance, building trades, housekeeping, secretarial, clerks and cafeteria workers, all employed at St. Elizabeth Health Center.
Evonne Woloshyn, a Forum spokeswoman, said officials there began negotiating for a new three-year contract in early March. A three-year pact expires May 1.
"We remain optimistic that we'll be able to reach a settlement," she said.
Bonnie Lambert, YGDNA president, confirmed the talks were under way but would not comment further.
Key issues: A summary of the contract issues distributed to union members stated the nurses are asking for wage increases of 19.5 percent over three years, an average of 6.5 percent a year, while Forum has offered 1.5 percent a year.
The union is asking for a package of increased insurance and pension benefits, the memo says, while Forum wants to create a systemwide pension plan and to increase employees' payments for prescription drugs and health-insurance premiums.
The hospital is proposing a rotation for holidays, which would ensure that all nurses could get some holiday time off, but the union wants all holiday time to be based on seniority, the memo says.
Woloshyn would not discuss the issues or the memo, saying both sides have agreed not to reveal details during talks.
At St. Elizabeth's, Ken Morris, Teamsters Local 377 business agent, and a hospital spokeswoman both declined to comment on the progress of the talks there, which began April 4. The union's three-year agreement expires May 9.