AFSCME 2474 Makes Hennepin Healthcare Happen
AFSCME 2474 is a union of almost 900 frontline staff at Hennepin Healthcare, which includes Hennepin County Medical Center. We represent Medical Assistants, Mental Health Workers, Protection Officers, Nurse Licensed Practical, Social Workers, and many other job titles.
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Our labor is at the heart of Hennepin Healthcare's public mission to provide outstanding care to everyone, regardless of ability to pay. AFSCME 2474 members use our intimate knowledge of the healthcare system to advocate for patients and improve care.
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The public has a stake in Hennepin Healthcare
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As a safety-net institution, Hennepin Healthcare is the backbone of community health and wellness. In today's uncertain world, our mission is more critical than ever.
Hennepin Healthcare CEO Jon Pryor's cuts to front line care puts at risk Minnesota's ability to sustain a quality health system that serves everybody.
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UPDATE: More than 8 months after negotiations began - and on the same day we published this Web site and launched our public Facebook page - Hennepin Healthcare management changed their final offer. AFSCME 2474 will get 2% across-the-board raises in 2018 and 2019, paid retroactively. Management will NOT seek to eliminate our dental plan. Though the changes represent progress - and testifies to the power of collective action - CEO Jon Pryor is demanding a near 50% cut to our performance raise, which would cost members thousands of dollars annually.
Janus has arrived. We're ready.
We won't let CEO Jon Pryor of Hennepin Healthcare bust our union - not without a fight.
"You make the way as you go"
~ Antonio Machado
Life is like that. We learn democracy by practicing democracy. We learn how to get workplace dignity and a fair contract by moving in the direction of workplace dignity and a fair contract.
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For ordinary people like us - without millions of dollars or an executive seat at the corporate table - to "make the road by walking" means going outside our comfort zone and taking those first small steps.
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We find our voices in the labor movement and speak them assertively - and as we do, things that never could have happened, suddenly are possible.
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When public employees suffer cuts, the public we serve loses.
If implemented, the severe cuts proposed by Dr. Pryor's administration would not only undo many years of established employer-union practice, and make it harder for Hennepin Healthcare workers to make ends meet - it will detract from quality of patient care and promote unsafe conditions.
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Hennepin Healthcare relies on the ingenuity and resourcefulness of AFSCME 2474 members. Demanding huge takeaways interferes with our mission by transferring resources from the front line - where patients receive care - into the pockets of wealthy administrators.
When public employees earn less than their counterparts in the private sector, it is difficult to recruit and retain quality staff. Turnover goes up. Morale goes down.
Ultimately, underpaying and understaffing hurts patient experience and disrupts Hennepin Healthcare's public mission.
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Workplace violence
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In 2017, there were 742 incidents of workplace violence and 359 assaults at Hennepin Healthcare. Patients and AFSCME 2474 members deserve a safe care environment - demoralizing cuts push us backwards.
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Many veteran Mental Health Workers and Protection Officers have been physically assaulted repeatedly over the years. The emotional strain and exposure to bodily harm in performing our job duties contributes to high turnover and corresponding instability in the workforce, which further heightens risk and negatively impacts patient experience. Wage and benefit cuts add insult to injury.
Coming soon
AFSCME 2474 members share their story.
Hennepin Healthcare can afford the wages and benefits of frontline staff
Despite the unjust payment structure associated with Medical Assistance and Medicare, Hennepin Healthcare revenue is strong. There is no financial crisis.
Earlier this year, Hennepin Healthcare opened a new $220 million-plus clinic building. Management is also spending big money on ads re-branding the organization from Hennepin County Medical Center, to Hennepin Healthcare.
Forcing front line staff to pay for lavish buildings and ad campaigns with our wages and benefits undermines Hennepin Healthcare's mission by putting image over substance. No matter how you sell it, patients know when staff are underpaid and understaffed because it is reflected in their experience.
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Worth fighting for
AFSCME 2474 members work with skill in a challenging healthcare environment. Day-in and day-out, our members are on the front line fulfilling Hennepin Healthcare's mission.
Many of us dedicated a big part of our adult lives to building the organization from the bottom up. We're proud of the work we do - and are willing to fight for our jobs and the mission we love.
We already are among the lowest paid staff at Hennepin Healthcare. We can't afford more cuts, nor can the public. Senior management, however, can afford to reduce their bloated compensation - and without negative implications for patient care.
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Union busting is bad for workers, patients, and the whole Minnesota community
AFSCME 2474 has a long history of partnering with management in pursuit of our common mission. If Hennepin Healthcare is to continue offering world class healthcare, management must respect us as equals - equals whose labor is a valued contribution to the organization.
Unlike administrators, AFSCME 2474 members interact directly with patients on a daily basis - the knowledge and skill we offer Hennepin Healthcare and our Minnesota community is irreplaceable.
We deserve the dignity of a fair contract.
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CEO Jon Pryor makes more in three weeks than many full time Hennepin Healthcare workers earn in a year. He's a multimillionaire - made rich at public expense. Needlessly targeting some of the lowest paid staff with aggressive cuts to wages and benefits is wrong. Minnesota deserves better leadership.
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Little wonder Hennepin Healthcare ranked in the 7 percentile - worse than 93% of similar organizations - in its recent comparative biannual employee survey. Among the principle findings: Staff lack confidence in senior management.
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We make the way as we go together
Step One
Like
All of us want to be liked. Our Facebook page is no different.
We will do one very loveable, very shareable, very comment worthy "Stop the takeaways" post per week, on Wednesdays, starting late-August, until arbitration is complete.
Step two
Engage
Like, comment, and share AFSCME 2474 "Stop the takeaways" Facebook posts.
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Know that when you do, you are supporting quality, accessible healthcare, and lending your hand to a labor movement in need of community love.
Step three
Contact representative
Yes, politicians can be scary, like the frightening monsters we once imagined lurking under the bed.
But we're older now. Wiser. And more courageous. We can talk with them - or at least leave a message with their assistant, or email.
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Maybe you'll find they're not as terrifying as they once appeared. And this one phone call will be the start of a lifetime of letting your representatives know your mind.
As a safety-net institution, Hennepin Healthcare workers are legally barred from striking or engaging in work slowdown. Our power to win fair contracts depends on public support. CEO Jon Pryor has plenty of time in front of cameras. Now it's time to tell our story.
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Thank you. We make this road toward workplace dignity and quality public healthcare by walking with you.