February 9, 2009

RE: Bay Area Hospital Contract Vote

Dear Bay Area Hospital UFCW Local 555 Members,

We want to take the time to personally thank all of you who took the time to vote on the contract proposal on Tuesday. The turnout for the vote was truly impressive; it was the largest turnout Local 555 has ever had for a contract vote at Bay Area Hospital and one of the largest for a contract vote of any Local 555 worksite. Way to go! Your voice was loud and clear as 81% of you voted no on the proposal. We have contacted the attorney for the hospital to notify him of the results and requested additional bargaining dates to resume the process.

Based on what we heard from you at the informational meetings and after the voting took place, there are several economic items in the offer that you, the members, are very unhappy about, including:

1.    No Cost of Living adjustment in 2009
2.    Only a 1% Cost of Living adjustment in 2010
3.    The 1% possible bonus for the fiscal year 09-10 with a 2 million dollar profit from Operations
4.    The 8 hour rest time from the end of your shift rule (eliminating the “Double Back”)

Because you have rejected the employer’s offer, when we return to the bargaining table we will be beginning from scratch.  The next offer we bring may look very different. It is our hope that we will be able to retain the mutually agreed upon language changes that were reached through the Interest Based Bargaining process and build upon that, however we must get the hospital to agree to that across the table.

We will be holding a meeting with your Bargaining Team and Steering Committee Members in the near future to discuss a coordinated campaign strategy to get the improvements you want in an offer to be ratified. You can also get updated information after bargaining sessions online at www.ufcw555.com/hcbargaining and clicking “Bay Area Hospital Updates.”

In Solidarity,

Dan Clay	Ken Spray	Scottie Graser
President	Collective Bargaining Director	Assistant Collective Bargaining Director