After two bargaining sessions and a few proposals and counter offers, the state Board of Regents canceled all upcoming meetings with the union representing more than 3,800 University of Iowa Health Care workers and “declared an impasse.”
Because union representatives wanted to keep meeting and negotiating — and weren’t ready to declare an impasse — their attorney Tuesday filed a prohibited practice complaint against the regents with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board.
That complaint accuses the board of violating Iowa Code Chapter 20, which laid out at its inception in 1974 the state’s aim to “promote harmonious and cooperative relationships between government and its employees.” But Republican lawmakers in 2017 stripped many collective bargaining rights for most public-sector unions — removing as mandatory bargaining topics items like vacations, holidays, overtime pay and health and workplace safety issues.
Advertisement
Lawmakers kept in wages as a mandatory bargaining topic. And the code still prohibits public employers from refusing to negotiate “in good faith” on mandatory topics — or interfering or restraining public employees from exercising their rights — which are the violations UIHC union representatives are alleging in their complaint.
“The board cannot simply ‘declare an impasse,’” attorney Emily Schott Hood told board negotiators on behalf of the UIHC union in an email Monday. “My client had room to move on mandatory subjects of bargaining, so I’m not confident that we meet the legal definition of impasse. It’s disheartening to see that your client is refusing to bargain in good faith.”
In response to questions from The Gazette, board spokesman Josh Lehman said, “The board's team has been negotiating with SEIU and are continuing to follow the collective bargaining process. There have been exchanges of offers and we are hopeful that we can come to a voluntary agreement.”
Although the Service Employees International Union of Minnesota and Iowa — which goes by SEIU and includes 3,871 UIHC employees — started negotiations asking for a 14 percent raise next budget year and a 12 percent raise the following year, it lowered the ask in subsequent offers. Its most recent proposal sought a 10 percent raise next year and an 8 percent raise the following year.
But the board hasn’t budged from its original offer of a 1.5 percent minimum pay raise and 3 percent bump for returning employees in both of the next two years.
The board also refused to discuss adding back into the topics that could be negotiated — but aren’t required under the law — like workplace violence protections; retention incentives; differential pay for weekend and overnight shifts; and leave benefits.
Newsletter Signup
Delivered to your inbox every day
The board first met with union representatives Jan. 18 in a room on the UI campus they had booked for four hours. The regents ended that meeting after only about 90 minutes because chief negotiator Michael Galloway had a “conflict that came up.”
Galloway, who was participating by phone while driving, said he didn’t know the meeting was going to take as long as it was scheduled and said the union had “raised some things today that we would like to take some time to understand to be able to fully respond to with our team.”
But when the sides met again in closed session Jan. 26, the union made a counter proposal and the board reintroduced its initial proposal, according to the union complaint. Both sides agreed to reconvene last Monday and again on Feb. 23.
But Board of Regents associate counsel Kristin Bauer emailed union attorney Schott Hood to present the board’s final offer and to call off the Monday meeting.
“If your client does not accept this proposal I feel we are at an impasse and we should move forward getting a mediator scheduled,” Bauer wrote last Friday.
Schott Hood responded by saying she didn’t know yet whether the union would accept the board’s final offer — holding steady the proposed 1.5 percent and 3 percent raises — and wanted to continue discussions on other topics.
Galloway responded to that, saying the board won’t discuss any of the other topics.
“You have received the board’s final offer and the board will not agree to the inclusion of any additional language items,” he wrote. “The board has declared an impasse and if you are unable to accept the final offer then you should proceed to mediation.”
Neither side so far has not taken steps toward mediation.
UIHC nurses aired concerns last month over low morale as staffing levels pale in comparison to rising patient demand. They reported more patient violence, waning motivation to pick up extra shifts and colleagues leaving to become traveling nurses.
The full-time average base salary for UIHC staff nurses is about $70,000 — a figure that varies depending on experience, officials told The Gazette in October. Travelers make more both regionally and nationally, while also receiving benefits from their agencies, according to trade publications and workforce recruitment organizations.
The average traveling nurse salary in Iowa in 2023 is $95,366, below the national average of $105,818 and below other Midwest states like Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to ZipRecruiter.
For average staff nurse pay, ZipRecruiter reported, Iowa ranks eighth lowest with an average annual pay of $63,854 — below all other Midwestern states, including Nebraska and Illinois.
www.thegazette.com
Because union representatives wanted to keep meeting and negotiating — and weren’t ready to declare an impasse — their attorney Tuesday filed a prohibited practice complaint against the regents with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board.
That complaint accuses the board of violating Iowa Code Chapter 20, which laid out at its inception in 1974 the state’s aim to “promote harmonious and cooperative relationships between government and its employees.” But Republican lawmakers in 2017 stripped many collective bargaining rights for most public-sector unions — removing as mandatory bargaining topics items like vacations, holidays, overtime pay and health and workplace safety issues.
Advertisement
Lawmakers kept in wages as a mandatory bargaining topic. And the code still prohibits public employers from refusing to negotiate “in good faith” on mandatory topics — or interfering or restraining public employees from exercising their rights — which are the violations UIHC union representatives are alleging in their complaint.
“The board cannot simply ‘declare an impasse,’” attorney Emily Schott Hood told board negotiators on behalf of the UIHC union in an email Monday. “My client had room to move on mandatory subjects of bargaining, so I’m not confident that we meet the legal definition of impasse. It’s disheartening to see that your client is refusing to bargain in good faith.”
In response to questions from The Gazette, board spokesman Josh Lehman said, “The board's team has been negotiating with SEIU and are continuing to follow the collective bargaining process. There have been exchanges of offers and we are hopeful that we can come to a voluntary agreement.”
Although the Service Employees International Union of Minnesota and Iowa — which goes by SEIU and includes 3,871 UIHC employees — started negotiations asking for a 14 percent raise next budget year and a 12 percent raise the following year, it lowered the ask in subsequent offers. Its most recent proposal sought a 10 percent raise next year and an 8 percent raise the following year.
But the board hasn’t budged from its original offer of a 1.5 percent minimum pay raise and 3 percent bump for returning employees in both of the next two years.
The board also refused to discuss adding back into the topics that could be negotiated — but aren’t required under the law — like workplace violence protections; retention incentives; differential pay for weekend and overnight shifts; and leave benefits.
'The board will not agree’
Daily News
Newsletter Signup
The board first met with union representatives Jan. 18 in a room on the UI campus they had booked for four hours. The regents ended that meeting after only about 90 minutes because chief negotiator Michael Galloway had a “conflict that came up.”
Galloway, who was participating by phone while driving, said he didn’t know the meeting was going to take as long as it was scheduled and said the union had “raised some things today that we would like to take some time to understand to be able to fully respond to with our team.”
But when the sides met again in closed session Jan. 26, the union made a counter proposal and the board reintroduced its initial proposal, according to the union complaint. Both sides agreed to reconvene last Monday and again on Feb. 23.
But Board of Regents associate counsel Kristin Bauer emailed union attorney Schott Hood to present the board’s final offer and to call off the Monday meeting.
“If your client does not accept this proposal I feel we are at an impasse and we should move forward getting a mediator scheduled,” Bauer wrote last Friday.
Schott Hood responded by saying she didn’t know yet whether the union would accept the board’s final offer — holding steady the proposed 1.5 percent and 3 percent raises — and wanted to continue discussions on other topics.
Galloway responded to that, saying the board won’t discuss any of the other topics.
“You have received the board’s final offer and the board will not agree to the inclusion of any additional language items,” he wrote. “The board has declared an impasse and if you are unable to accept the final offer then you should proceed to mediation.”
Neither side so far has not taken steps toward mediation.
Nursing pay
UIHC nurses aired concerns last month over low morale as staffing levels pale in comparison to rising patient demand. They reported more patient violence, waning motivation to pick up extra shifts and colleagues leaving to become traveling nurses.
The full-time average base salary for UIHC staff nurses is about $70,000 — a figure that varies depending on experience, officials told The Gazette in October. Travelers make more both regionally and nationally, while also receiving benefits from their agencies, according to trade publications and workforce recruitment organizations.
The average traveling nurse salary in Iowa in 2023 is $95,366, below the national average of $105,818 and below other Midwest states like Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to ZipRecruiter.
For average staff nurse pay, ZipRecruiter reported, Iowa ranks eighth lowest with an average annual pay of $63,854 — below all other Midwestern states, including Nebraska and Illinois.
UIHC nurses union accuses regents of ‘prohibited practice’ in negotiations
After two bargaining sessions and a few proposals and counter offers, the Board of Regents preemptively canceled all upcoming meetings with the union representing more than 3,800 University of Iowa Health Care workers and “declared an impasse.”
www.thegazette.com
