Huge Victory for Healthcare Workers!!!
A huge victory for healthcare workers in Minnesota was won today! I worked on this project in my own small way - so I'm very excited.
Now anybody that works in healthcare, like I did for 5 years, will tell you that it's becoming more about dollars than about patients. Our esteemed local institution is not exempted from this observation. Just ask somebody who works there.
But there's a new wave coming in healthcare, and we can see the first breaker hitting shore in the Twin Cities Allina Health System. Anybody that works at your normal healthcare institution knows how it works there - management studies, redesigns then hands down a decision. Those with the most valuable insight, the frontline employees, are by and large ignored and left to deal with the messes management makes. But Allina and Service Employees International Union Local 113 are tapping the insight of frontline workers in a serious way.
Management at Allina has invested institutional power to union employees, members of Service Employees International Union Local 113. Unlike the command and control structure of most medical institutions, the workers have a real voice in what happens in their work areas. Workers and management are required to reach consensus when jobs are being redesigned; workers and management are required to reach consensus about department restructuring. The respect for employees goes so far as to assure no layoffs - through guaranteed redeployment and training for similar job class, for similar pay on a similar shift!
Here's the story describing the strategic alliance: "Through the 10-year alliance, Allina and Local 113 are committed to work together to achieve excellence in patient care and satisfaction, movement toward full employer-paid single and family health insurance for hospital workers, workforce development, education and training, and improve performance and productivity. Allina has agreed to remain neutral in the efforts of non-union workers to organize by joining SEIU."
All the hemming and hawing of CEO's about the cost of healthcare has done nothing to control it. Maybe if those CEO's listened to their workers, like Dick Pettingill of Allina, they would actually be able to bring costs under control...novel thought?
