UF Health Jacksonville Staff Secure Strong Contract with Union Support

UF Health Staff in Jacksonville Secure New Contract with Overwhelming Support

In a significant development for healthcare workers in Jacksonville, Florida, employees at the University of Florida (UF) Health system have overwhelmingly approved a new contract designed to enhance their working conditions and benefits. The agreement, supported by 99% of the voting staff, promises to safeguard health coverage and optimize time-off benefits among other improvements.

Mary Blocker-Williams, president of Local 1328 of AFSCME Florida and a patient care associate, emphasized the importance of this contract. "With this contract we made real progress with specific roles and duties that need extra focus to both reflect the hard work that is being done and fill the staffing needs that we have," she stated.

The increased engagement of the union members played a crucial role in securing the new terms. Blocker-Williams noted, "This is a direct result of the members getting more active. Now, for example, when you help train a new employee, you are getting additional pay for taking the training class and for the time you spend working with them. So the members are going to see that their activism is paying off in their pocketbook."

The newly ratified three-year contract maintains current insurance premium levels and introduces a more robust grievance process. It also removes black-out periods restricting leave, offers a $2-an-hour pay raise for charge nurses, allows for up to 4% merit increases contingent upon the approval of the City of Jacksonville’s budget, and provides a $1-an-hour minimum extra pay for employees in precept roles.

To ensure timely communication, management is now required to respond within 15 days to meeting requests and provide written notice within 15 days of implementing any new policy changes.

Membership growth and heightened participation are evident in both locals 1328 and 1781, which represent UF Health workers in the Jacksonville area. This contract approval, with a vote of 503-2, reflects growing awareness and action among workers, despite recent anti-union legislative efforts in the state. During the two-day voting period, 45 new members joined AFSCME, highlighting a surge in union involvement.

"People are becoming more aware of how things in the hospital are impacting them and the fact that they can actually have a say through their union," commented Ramon Williams, a respiratory therapist and president of AFSCME Local 1781. He added, "The contract is really seen as a stepping stone towards the next one. We have held the line on our health insurance, we’ve made some investments in pay. Now let’s take this momentum and keep building so we can focus on workplace safety, across-the-board pay raises and all the other issues we can tackle when more of us are involved."