Letter to All Sierra Hills Hourly Employees

Click here to download this letter as a PDF.

As most of you have seen, Sierra Hills management has put out a letter to scare and intimidate us. I would expect nothing less from this particular employer. The Company claims they have committed no ULPs (Unfair Labor Practices), we believe this to be untrue. I have personally negotiated multiple contracts over the last 10 years in multiple sectors like manufacturing, mining, oil, aluminum, and healthcare. In that time, I have filed a total of 4 unfair labor practices, with Edgewood we have filed 6 charges, alleging more than 15 unfair labor practices! The Union filing charges is not a tactic, we believe from the evidence the Company is violating the law, and are confident the NLRB will be finding merit in our charges. They have made it clear by their behavior they are NOT trying to reach an agreement! I won’t just vaguely say that they are not bargaining in bad faith, I will tell you the things we are alleging that the Company is doing.

• Failure to bargain in good faith.
• Only meeting once per month. Meeting for only 15 minutes.
• Lying in information Requests. They are stating that we have had CMA workers performing CMA work for years. You work there, is that true? We know it is not!
• Failure to provide information.
• They don’t provide the Union with requested information and continue to do so. Now Edgewood doesn’t even bother trying to provide the required information. They are required by law to provide this information.
• Unilateral Changes
• They changed PTO. They brought in the CMAs. They brought in contractors. They changed the kitchen staff job duties. They tried to bring in an attendance policy. We had numerous issues around cares, and the Company brought in a cares policy. All of this must be negotiated with the Union, period!
• Retaliation against Union Officers and Members
• They have tried to discipline Union officers for enforcing their rights to protect the residents and staff. They have threatened to not give raises and not perform management functions as a result of Unionizing. These are all unlawful.

If we end up on a strike, it’s because of these Unfair Labor Practices. As of now the contract proposals are being circulated among the employees. We normally don’t do this, as we want to manage expectations. The Union is us, not the International, and we have a right to see what we are all fighting for and what the Company is saying. We formed a Union to have a say in not only our benefits and wages, but safety, safety for us and the residents. Edgewood does not want to follow the law or any health regulations. They actually want in the contract that employees will be forced to perform work out of the scope for the facility! The Union-“Us”- insist on this as we want to provide the best care to our residents and the patients and do so in a safe environment.

The time has come for us to stand up to Edgewood and tell them we want a Fair Contract and we want it now!