Change is coming to OLR, but the Administration is not communicating with us.
As Resurrection continues to move forward with the Provena merger, nurses are growing increasingly anxious about the lack of details provided to those of us who work at OLR. Recently, we learned that the estimated closing date has been pushed back to the fall.
In a new "Frequently Asked Questions" document, Resurrection continued to refuse to commit to maintaining benefits and job security for employees: "Any changes made to the compensation programs or the employee benefits package will be gradual and only then following a careful market assessment process."
As OLR nurses, why should we be concerned?
At Westlake and West Suburban hospitals, Vanguard Health Systems, the new owner, has made dramatic changes:
- At Westlake, the hospital laid off 13 RN IIs without notice.
- RNs were forced to accept arbitrary changes to their regular shifts and schedules.
- At both hospitals, Vanguard announced - retroactively - that they were "suspending" the employer's matching contribution to the 401K. Because Vanguard offers no other type of pension, nurses at these hospitals now receive no employer contribution to their retirement security.
- Vanguard recently changed many aspects of the health insurance. They switched providers from Blue Cross/Blue Shield to Cigna, raised premiums, and increased co-pays and out-of-pocket maximums.
We know changes are coming.
The only way to protect our benefits and job security is for us to join together and organize with AFSCME. Once we're organized, management must negotiate all changes in our wages and benefits. We can fight to secure our jobs and we can negotiate procedures so that if layoffs ever occurred, they would be administered fairly and with notice.
Now more than ever is the time to come together!
Sign your AFSCME card today!