Meharry Medical College and its employee union signed a 5-year labor contract (today/yesterday) after 18-months of negotiations. The agreement follows both Meharry and the Service Employees International Union coming under new leadership.
Don Driscoll left his post as the head of SEIU’s Tennessee operations in December, and Dr. John Maupin resigned as president of Meharry in June.
Meharry’s new president, Wayne Riley – who joined the school January 1st – says it was a classic failure to communicate in regards to health insurance benefits, pay raises and job descriptions. Also, he says the former administration was unrealistic about some items, such as an attempt to prevent the union from recruiting within Meharry facilities.
“Well, that’s a basic union function that I think we maybe had staked out an intransigent position early on but I know that’s bread and butter issue for any union.”
Several Metro Council members intervened in June to try and broker an agreement after employees complained that grievances would be nearly impossible to file under the school’s terms. Maupin, who is now the president of Atlanta’s Morehouse School of Medicine, said the SEIU had made running the school unreasonably difficult.
Both Meharry and SEIU officials now agree that the hospital functions better with a contract in place and said they’ll work together to compromise more quickly even on items within the current contract.
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