OFFICIAL STATEMENT

STATEMENT | Mercy Health – UAW Labor Relations

May 7, 2019

Over the weekend, the Hospital sought to address the Union’s main concerns, which were on-call and health
insurance benefits.
• The last, best and final offer that was proposed on April 10, maintained that total healthcare costs for
associates would remain the same during the 2019-2020 period.
• The Hospital proposed a limit on the number of consecutive hours a nurse could work on-site within a
24-hour period. This provision is not part of the Hospital’s last, best and final offer per the
request of the RN Unit Chairperson.
• Throughout negotiations, the Hospital proposed operational solutions to address on-call. Union
leadership repeatedly rejected these proposals.

After the UAW’s notice of strike was issued, the Federal Mediator & Conciliation Service, the federal agency
that mediates labor relations, reached out to both Mercy Health – St. Vincent Medical Center and Children’s
Hospital and the UAW to assist the parties in reaching a solution this past weekend.

During this meeting, the Hospital provided the union a “what-if a modified proposal looked like this” to address
concerns raised by the Union.
• Included in the Hospital’s “what-if” solution:

• Limits on Out-of-Pocket Maximum Health Insurance Costs

o The Hospital proposed that, for the term of the new collective bargaining agreements,
our associates’ individual insurance out-of-pocket maximums would not increase more
than 20% from the 2019 out-of-pocket maximums.

• Exploring Opportunities to Reduce On-Call

o The Hospital recognizes that many of our associates work on-call to ensure we can
continue to provide care to our community.
o The Hospital had committed to reviewing the current on-call practices and exploring
opportunities to reduce the Hospital’s operational need for on-call.

Despite the Hospital presenting solutions to the issues that the Union raised in several public venues, the
Union leaders summarily dismissed these solutions and refused “to take it back for a vote.” We are
disappointed that our associates were not given an opportunity for their voices to be heard.

The Hospital offered to pay more than $1.4 million dollars in retro-pay dated back to September 2018 after the
last mediated discussion over the weekend. Additionally, the Hospital once again offered retro-pay and was
rejected by Union leadership – it was made clear that this would no longer be offered if the units went on
strike.

In fact, the last best and final offer, would have represented an additional $3.3 million investment in wages
and benefits. All of this, in an industry where reimbursements continue to decline. These points were
addressed in a good faith effort to avoid a strike.

Despite the Union’s strike, Mercy Health remains steadfast in its mission of serving our community as we
have for more than 163 years and will continue to do for future generations.