The University of New Mexico Hospital is pleased to announce wage increases for all of its employees who work at the campus on Lomas Blvd., the hospital’s clinics, and for many of the employees who work at UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center – A Campus of UNM Hospital (SRMC).
UNM Hospital is able to provide this 3 percent general wage increase because of newly increased Medicaid reimbursement. UNM Hospital appreciates the support of the New Mexico Health Care Authority in obtaining this increased reimbursement. This is the second wage increase for UNM Hospital health care workers in the last eight months.
“Our teams work incredibly hard on behalf of our patients to provide high quality, safe, equitable health care,” said Kate Becker, CEO of UNM Hospital. “I am so proud we are able to offer this wage increase. No amount of money can truly express how appreciative we are, but I hope our teams know how much we value their contributions to make our state healthier and safer.”
Wage Increase Details
A 3 percent wage increase went into effect for all non-union employees as of August 4, 2024. UNM Hospital administration is very pleased it has successfully negotiated a three percent increase with the following labor unions also effective August 4.
- National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees District 1199NM Licensed & Technical Staff
- National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees District 1199NM Support Staff
- Communications Workers of America (CWA)
- Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA)
- International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) working at SRMC
One Group of Employees will Not be Included
Unfortunately, UNM Hospital will not be able to provide a wage increase to those employees at SRMC that United Health Professionals NM division of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) seeks to represent.
In February, despite failed negotiations, UNM Hospital administration provided the employees that AFT seeks to represent with the same 3 percent raise provided to other UNM Hospital employees in January and February. It was important to UNM Hospital’s administration to equally support all health care workers at all UNM Hospital campuses. However, AFT’s leadership filed a Prohibited Practice Complaint with the state’s labor board alleging the hospital violated state law when it gave the same raise to the workers AFT seeks to represent that the hospital gave to all other workers.
The hospital disagrees with AFT’s position. Nonetheless, the hospital will respect AFT’s position that this new wage increase should not be provided to its membership absent a bargained-for agreement. That is the demand by AFT’s leadership. The public should know that UNM Hospital’s administration has asked AFT’s leadership to come to the negotiation table at least four separate times in the last year to bargain over terms and conditions of employment and wages for SRMC’s regular employees, but they have thus far refused. AFT’s continued refusal to bargain with UNM Hospital over wages for SRMC’s regular employees, combined with AFT’s position that UNM Hospital cannot unilaterally raise the wages of its regular employees, effectively handcuffs UNM Hospital into being unable to implement wage increases for these employees as it did in February.
The Sticking Point in Ongoing Negotiations with AFT
In short, AFT wants to include PRN employees into their membership. PRN is Latin for “pro re nata” which translates to “as the need arises.” PRN employees are freelance, temporary employees and are not regular employees of the hospital. Including PRN employees in the same union as the employees who work shift after shift, year after year, and have demonstrated a commitment to our community is wholly unfair to the hospital’s regular employees. While PRN employees are important to help any hospital fill critical gaps, they are not obligated to work, do not have set schedules, and may work at other hospitals filling their gaps. AFT leadership has disagreed with this viewpoint and has refused to meet with UNM Hospital’s negotiators.
What’s Next?
UNM Hospital has reached bargaining agreements with all other unions that represent hospital employees, and the hospital is very much interested in reaching an agreement with AFT so that the employees it seeks to represent can also enjoy a wage increase.
Instead of coming to the table, AFT leaders have launched a campaign of misinformation, false claims, and personal attacks to mislead the public into believing that SRMC is somehow unsafe, or employee morale is low. Hospital data proves those claims are far from the truth. Despite this, AFT leadership continues to expend its resources to distract from the central issue-- which is the administration stands ready to bargain in good faith regarding the terms and conditions of employment and wages of the regular employees who work at SRMC. However, AFT leadership’s tactics continue to impede progress toward reaching this goal.