K.H.M.H. Workers Union Agrees to 3 Million-Dollar Cost-Cutting Exercise

The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Workers Union says that last week they were able to reach common ground on the cost cutting efforts at the K.H.M.H. as a result of budget cuts that have been proposed for similar statutory bodies.  The K.H.M.H. Workers Union says that the biggest compromise was a freeze on increments, but they were able to come to an amicable solution of cost cutting of over three million dollars. Here’s how Andrew Baird of the K.H.M.H.A. Workers Union explains it.

Andrew Baird, Vice President, K.H.M.H. Workers Union

“The Union and Karl Heusner was able to sit down at the table, dialogue and look at the finances of Karl Heusner and we sat down and looked at areas where cost cutting could have been made. We signed off on that agreement like a week and a half ago.  Part of it was the forgoing of increment for one year and we looked at how we can cut back on overtime. We are asking the staff, for example, for public and bank holiday where the they are entitled to over time once working on those days – we are asking the staff to opt from getting overtime but rather to take those hours in lieu of time off in lieu. So, cutting back on electricity, sundries and stuff like that. The only allowance that was revised, if I may use that word, was the telephone allowances. It was revised from getting direct finances per month or per annum rather now to a package now from BTL where we do will see some savings from that. Definitely, no other allowances were touched.   The union was in consultation with the staff to explain what was going on and if we couldn’t have met the threshold of the budge that was cut from Karl Huesner definitely we would have had to have some wages cut. So, of course we preferred to have an increment freeze than wages being cut and people losing their jobs.”

Andrew Baird

Andrea Polanco

“Was there any projection done to determine how much savings they would do as a result of these measures?”

Andrew Baird

“If I can recall, it was somewhere around three point two million dollars of recovery in the form of cost cutting that we need to had to realize. So, we’ve realized that and so right now we are in good shape where the cost cutting is concerned and this may be revisited within the next six months from where we have signed off and will see how the financial activities of the Karl Heusner is going.”