SEARCH
Kaiser, Unions Partner With Labor College in Health Care Bargaining, Education Program |
|
 |
|
One of the most difficult issues union leaders face at the bargaining table—and one that union families face every day—is securing quality and affordable health care.
In a move to equip union members with new tools and deeper knowledge of complex health care issues, the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions and health care leader Kaiser Permanente announced a $450,000 joint donation to the National Labor College (NLC) to establish the Kaiser Permanente Healthcare Institute.
The new institute, to be housed at the NLC’s campus in Silver Spring., Md., will establish a program of courses and conferences to educate union leaders and rank-and-file members on health care issues.
The decade-old labor management partnership between Kaiser Permanente and its unions—with about 120,000 union, management and physician employees—has launched hundreds of initiatives, from workplace safety improvements to large-scale organizational changes, achieving measurable improvement in patient and employee satisfaction, quality and service scores, financial results, and operational efficiency.
For more information on the partnership, visit www.lmpartnership.org/.
Coalition Executive Director John August says:
In this time of health care reform debate, among the topics that get lost is the question of how care will be delivered. No organization knows more about delivering high-quality health care than Kaiser Permanente, and that knowledge will be a critical element in the education of [NLC] students for many, many years.
The new institute will include courses focusing on health care bargaining and issues affecting the health care industry in the global economy. College officials will make the courses available individually, but plans to create a curriculum that can lead to a certificate in health care are under consideration. In addition, the institute will sponsor conferences on key issues in health care. The first is being planned for this October.
NLC President Susan J. Schurman says:
Workers today face a complex and fast-paced health care industry, insurance options that frequently change with the market and a growing need to understand the health care industry when they sit at the bargaining table. Thanks to Kaiser’s support, we are delighted to be able to offer this important curriculum to our students.
Schurman says the four-course curriculum is designed to lay the foundation for the understanding the basics basic of health care and finding solutions. The courses are being fine-tuned, but she says they will include health care and bargaining; health care and organizing; a more general survey type course exploring the economics of the health care industry and a fourth course still in the developmental stage.
The first two classes begin this fall: One on health care bargaining will be offered on campus and one covering trends in health care will be available online. Registration information will be available soon on the NLC website.
The long and successful relationship between Kaiser and its unions played a big role in the decision to establish the institute, says Dr. Arthur M. Southam, Kaiser Permanente executive vice president of Health Plan Operations:
Kaiser Permanente has a long-standing commitment to providing coordinated, quality health care to workers and their families, a mission that has been sustained by our solid relationship with the labor community. The creation of the Kaiser Permanente Healthcare Institute in collaboration with the [NLC] will promote understanding of the challenges facing our current health care system and provide labor leaders and other students with the knowledge and skills for driving the effort to make affordable, quality health care available to every American.
1 Comment
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Teacher Stress: Past and Present
By Phyllis C. Murray
In 1979, The New York State United Teachers had made it evident that teaching was identifiably one of the most stress filled professions. NYSUT had been zeroing in on the causes of stress among teachers. In order to do this, their research division conducted a May’79 survey on a representative group of teachers. The data sheet was designed to elicit those situations which were most stressful. The items listed were arranged in order of intensity. The top ten items created the most stress: (3)
MANAGING DISRUPTIVE CHILDREN
INCOMPETENT ADMINSTRATOR-LACK OF ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT
MAINTAINING SELF CONTROL WHEN ANGRY
OVERCROWDED CLASSROOM
FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL
DISAGREEING WITH SUPERVISOR
DEALING WITH COMMUNITY RACIAL ISSUES
PREPARING FOR A STRIKE
TARGET OF VERBAL ABUSE BY STUDENT
THEFT AND DESTRUCTION OF TEACHER PROPERTY
It might be noted that urban teachers reported over three times more items as stressful than the rural teachers and almost twice as many items as suburban teachers. Also evident was the fact that the 31 to 40 year old teachers appeared to be under greater stress with the 41 to 50 year old teachers reporting only half as many items as stressful and teachers over 50 reporting even fewer items.(3)
Effects of Stress
Doctors have noted that continued and prolonged periods of stress results in a disabling condition for the person affected. Many diseases are associated with or aggravated by stress: ulcers, migraines, asthma, ulcerative colitis and especially coronary heart disease. Prior to the onset of the conditions enumerated above, other symptoms occur. There may be indecision, reduced appetite, loss of weight, irregular bowel movement, headache, backache, skin rashes, insomnia, nervousness, tremors, poor memory and irritability.(6)
Teachers are not exempted from these conditions. Labeled Battered Teacher Syndrome, a psychiatrist found that many teachers were exhibiting the same classic symptoms of combat fatigue which faced front-line soldiers. These symptoms included depression, anxiety, hypertension, nightmares, blurred vision and ulcers.(1)
A stress survey conducted by the Chicago Teachers’ Union in ‘ 79 showed similar results with reports from teachers of hypertension, ulcers, colitis, insomnia, migraines, skin problems and lowered resistance to upper respiratory infection.(1)
Stress and Emotional and Psychological Fears
Fear of bodily harm from a student or parent or intruder can be a source of stress. To see a fellow teacher injured or attacked can often be as upsetting to the onlooker as it is to the one harmed. Teacher assaults, termed battered Teacher Syndrome, account for a kind of battle fatigue in classrooms. In 1979, New York City, school crimes had risen 16% over the past year.(1) Teachers were often robbed at gun and knife point and assaulted with pipes and chains. Nationally, more then 5,000 teachers were attacked in school during a month. (1) Of smaller magnitude were the often daily incidents of insubordination in the teacher/pupil relationships i.e. failure to perform appropriate tasks, verbal abuse. Today, the schools have become mini-prisons. There is a police presence in some high schools. Metal detectors, lock-downs, and hall patrols by security guards are visible. Teacher Stress is a day to day reality in the urban setting.
Proposal for Resolving Stress in the Classroom
As a result of the NYSUT Stress Survey, the major stress factor was diagnosed as the disruptive child in the classroom. To zero in on this problem, fifty teachers throughout the state received leadership training in how to deal with stress in the classroom. They were asked to go back to their districts and confer with every teacher in a workshop-type environment. Hence, every teacher in the state would benefit from their training.(3) In schools that experienced a high level of disruptions, a task force was created to administer psychological first aid to the battered teacher.
Although the above proposals or initiatives are commendable, other alternatives have always been present. If one were to examine the UFT contract, he would note the specifics for resolving the problem of the disruptive child. If one were to also examine New York School Law, one would realize that no child as the right to interrupt the education of the group. If the child is disruptive because of an emotional or physical handicap, he must be placed in the most appropriate and least restrictive environment. If parents are neglecting their responsibility as parents, there are provisions under the Bureau of Child Welfare to address and ameliorate these problems.
Conclusion
The burden or responsibility for staying in control of ones health must not be totally relegated to others. Although changes in working conditions are not won singularly, each member participates as an integral part of the union body. The members must see that the grievance machinery is operable and use it. Workshops on stress, resource materials and resource persons are made available to members through the union. The members must also follow the contract with all its safeguards. And since the goals of the union are not in conflict with the goals of the students, both students and teacher serve to gain.
The political arm of the union must see that there is accountability from public officials. Quality education must be a priority in the city. It cannot be used as a negotiable item at the onset of each fiscal crisis by politicians. Nor must community groups use students as pawns in disputes within the community vs a vis parent/teacher conflicts or parent/administration conflicts. If we can find the school that meets the needs of each student, we will find an effective school devoid of the type of debilitating stress ineffectiveness breeds.
Phyllis C. Murray
UFT Chapter Leader
NB
This paper was researched while I attended the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations in 1981.