+ If a union is elected or recognized, can team members opt out?

Not exactly. All team members in the bargaining unit (or the unionized group of jobs) would be represented by the union and covered by a labor contract if one is reached.

You are not required to join the union, but — depending on the contract — you may be required to pay a fee for union representation even if you do not join the union.

Team members who do not join the union are not typically allowed to participate in union business or vote on a contract and may be subject to pressure from the union to join and pay full dues.

Unions, in some cases, have distributed a list of the names of people whom they consider “free riders” in an attempt to pressure them into joining.

Also, team members who do not join will still need to follow the rules in the labor contract. You may still be required to go through a union representative with any issues or concerns instead of dealing directly with your leader.

A union representative may not be as interested in the concerns of team members who do not join the union — leaving those team members without union support or a direct relationship with leaders.

+ If a union is elected and team members are not happy with it, how do they get the union out?

When a union is elected, it is permanent — unless team members vote to decertify it. There is no way to simply give the union a try and ask it to leave if it doesn’t work out for you.

You would have to wait at least 1 year before attempting to remove the union with a decertification election. If a contract is reached, you may need to wait 3 years before you are allowed to file for a decertification election.

A decertification election is similar to a unionization election. You would need to gather signatures from colleagues who want to remove the union to show enough interest to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold an election.

The NLRB would then determine if there is enough interest and, if so, schedule an election where team members would vote on whether or not to continue to be represented.

The union is likely to run its own campaign to continue representing team members if faced with a decertification effort. Unions are very experienced in running campaigns. They have organizers who specialize in campaigning and attorneys who use the law to fight decertification.

Decertification is a complex and potentially costly legal process. And under NLRB rules, Community Health System would not be allowed to assist team members who want to decertify a union. This was exactly the case for a group of nurses at the former University Medical Center in 2005 who had to hire their own attorney to decertify their union. The process took three years. In the meantime, the union delayed bargaining that could’ve provided pay raises that their non-union counterparts in other parts of the Community system were getting.

+ What steps can team members take to ensure their pay is competitive with the market and in line with their experience levels and qualifications?

We encourage you to be proactive about ensuring your pay is in line with your experience and qualifications by:

• Talking openly with your direct leader
• Participating actively in your performance reviews
• Investing in continuous learning and collaborating with your leader on development plans
• Learning more about and evaluating your total rewards/compensation package

To remain competitive and attract highly qualified job seekers, Community participates in numerous external salary surveys (also called market surveys) administered by outside third-party vendors. This allows us to gain market insights that are compliant with the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission’s Safe Harbor/Antitrust guidelines.

Surveys focus on job specifics, geographic regions, organization size, type of healthcare facility, industry norms and more. Although all surveys are a bit different, the data is usually made up of elements of compensation like:

• Base salaries
• Salary ranges
• Incentives/bonuses
• Job classifications (e.g. exempt and non-exempt)
• Supplemental pay practices (e.g. shift differentials, on call, etc.)

You are always welcome to discuss any compensation concerns with your leader. We are happy to explain the market-based thinking behind compensation and pay ranges for specific jobs to give you a better understanding of how your pay compares to the rest of the market and how experience and qualifications factor into compensation decisions.

+ Is a union in the process of organizing Community Health System?

We believe two unions, Service Employees International Union–United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) and California Nurses Association (CNA), are asking team members to sign union authorization cards, petitions and forms. These documents can be digital or paper. Union supporters may say you must sign a card, petition or form just to get more information — but that’s not true. You should never have to sign something just to get more information.

+ Is there a way to anonymously submit concerns/complaints?

There are a couple of ways to anonymously provide feedback to Community Health System: through our Compliance and Ethics Reporting link on the Forum home page MyComplianceAlertLine.com or by calling (888) 394-2301.

+ Would a union protect team members who make complaints?

We have a longstanding policy that prohibits retaliation against any team member who raises concerns or makes a complaint; that policy also imposes strict discipline on anyone who violates it. More importantly, we do not view reports or complaints negatively; we welcome them and are committed to listening and making improvements based on feedback from team members.

For these reasons, team members who make reports, whether via MyComplianceAlertLine.com or other methods, do not need a union to look out for their interests or to ensure their complaints are addressed. In fact, a union may make it harder to raise concerns with leaders.

In a unionized environment, a union representative may have the authority to speak for you. Leaders may not be able to address concerns with you directly and instead may be required to speak to your union representative. And your union representative might not share your concerns or bring them forward.

We prefer our current direct working relationship. It allows us to work together to address your individual needs and concerns.

+ Where can we learn more about unionization?

This website is a great resource for information about unionization. We encourage you to review it. Leaders are another great resource for facts and information. Please feel free to talk with your leader about any questions you may have — leaders are committed to providing you with the facts to make an informed decision about unionization. You may also find more information at National Right To Work Committee and unionfacts.com.

+ Are there plans to change the occurrence policy back to the previous rules, provide incentive pay increases, reduce health benefit costs, allocate sick pay at the start of the year and provide an incentive to encourage team members to work extra shifts?

This question covers a lot of topics so let look them one at a time:

Absence occurrence policy
Our current absence occurrence policy is actually helping to ease the burden on all team members by effectively reducing our team members’ absences. The old policy was not working; it allowed for those with excessive absences to unfairly leave their colleagues short-handed, frustrated and exhausted. Therefore, we feel the occurrence policy is effective and fair and we don’t have plans to change it. However, we are always interested in feedback from you on how we can improve it to meet our staffing needs.

Health benefits
We are proud to provide competitive health insurance benefits and more options than many employers so our team members can choose what works best for them. We work hard to control costs, which are rising for all employers across the country, not just Community. Investing in the health of our workforce is important and we continually look for ways to reduce costs while maintaining and expanding coverage.

We offer four medical plan choices so you can choose a health plan that best fits your personal and financial needs. Your choices include an HMO, a PPO — and new this year an EPO and a HDHP with Health Savings Account option. Team members can pay for medical and dependent care out of pocket costs using pre-tax dollars through a Health Savings and Flexible Spending account. And there are multiple complementary benefit offerings like Long-term disability, Long-term care, critical illness and accident insurance.

Sick time
The time off we offer to cover illnesses is accrued based on hours worked, similar to how we allocate PTO (Paid Time Off). This ensures that every team member’s sick pay is proportionate to their schedule. Team members earn an hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked. Those without enough sick time accrued can use PTO to cover their absences.

Incentive and extra shifts
We have deployed incentive pay offerings in times of crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic, to relieve unexpected staffing shortages or other challenging workplace events, but it is not the norm. To better support your daily work-life balance, we have recently launched a pilot for a new scheduling tool called Andgo for clinical team members. It makes call-outs stress-free, and provides easy options if you want to pick up extra shifts.

We always follow the California pay practice requirements. Any hourly employee who works over an 8-hour shift, and 80 hours per pay period, receives overtime. Additionally, anything over 12 hours in a day will be paid at double time. If you pick up an extra shift, it will follow the same pay practices.

+ Union supporters say team members should unionize so that someone will have their backs. Is that true?

Union organizers are allowed to make many promises when they are campaigning for your support, but they offer few guarantees. The only thing they can guarantee is that if they win, they will attempt to negotiate a labor contract on your behalf.

There is no way to know what the contract will provide until it is reached. You could get more, less or the same as you have today and you will likely be expected to pay dues automatically out of your paycheck.

Our leaders are committed to having your back! If you feel like your leader is not providing the appropriate amount of support, please talk with Human Resources. We want to work together to ensure you are supported and feel like the entire organization has your back.

+ What is collective bargaining?

The employer and union bargain over wages, hours of work, benefits and other conditions of employment. Federal law says there is no requirement to reach an agreement. Collective bargaining, as defined by the law, requires an employer and the representative of its employees to:

• Meet at reasonable times

• Confer in good faith about certain matters

• Put into writing any agreement reached if requested by either party.

By law, a union can promise you anything, but it cannot guarantee you will get more than you have now, or even keep what you have. Bargaining is a give-and-take process between management and the union. You could end up with less than, more than or keep the same as you have now. There are no guarantees.

+ What happens if a union represents team members at Community?

The union would have the right to negotiate a contract on your behalf.

All wages, benefits, policies, and working conditions would be part of those negotiations.

There is no time limit on how long negotiations might take.

While the bargaining takes place, no matter how long it takes, there may be no change to your wages, benefits or working conditions. This means raises other employees receive might not be provided to the unionized unit/department while negotiations are ongoing.

+ What does the law say about collective bargaining?

There are no guarantees. Everything would be up for negotiation. Your compensation could increase, stay the same or decrease.