About SHARE at UMMS
SHARE AT UMMS
SHARE Local 4000 represents over 450 staff working within administrative, technical, facilities, Commonwealth medical services, and patient care positions. We work in every floor of the medical school in academic departments, labs, clinics, offices, mail rooms, mental health units. We care deeply about the mission of the medical school. In addition to making sure our members have economic progress and job security, we partner with UMMS to improve work life. Through partnership, we are better able to have a say about how work gets done to improve our work experience. Our contracts create labor-management Joint Working Groups to enable us to work as a team to solve problems and make work less frustrating. We celebrated our 20 year anniversary in 2017.
OUR HISTORY
In 1997, the State Healthcare and Research Employees Union (SHARE) was formed when it was voted into existence by UMass Memorial employees. At the time, it was one union local representing 2,200 employees. When UMass Memorial Hospital privatized, thereby becoming a separate employer from UMass Medical School, we necessarily forged two separate union locals and contracts with each employer. In 2018, employees at UMass Memorial Marlborough Hospital voted to become union members, too. Today, we represent over 3,000 employees at three separate work locations, locals, and contracts. Over time, we’ve worked to cultivate a unique culture in each of our workplaces, growing and evolving in partnership and alongside our employers.
WE CONNECT WITH OUR COMMUNITY
We share our vision with sister unions at Harvard University represented by the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) and at Cambridge Health Alliance represented by the Union of Social Workers(USW). Combined, we form the New England Organizing Project (NEOP).
We promote our own union model as a viable alternative for organizing existing unions. Our unions are also affiliated with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a national union representing over a million members.
Additionally, we’re constantly studying and connecting with other local, national, and international groups to cultivate the best community we can. We do this informally, connecting with local organizations and initiatives, as well as through institutions such as the Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA), the Harvard Trade Union Program (HTUP), and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).
WE BELIEVE IN WHAT WE DO
In our workplaces, we support cutting edge research and push toward important goals. We support ambitious missions in research, education, and patient care at UMass Medical School UMass Memorial Medical Center, and UMass Memrorial Marlborough Hospital. These institutions work because we do.
On the clock, we work in many different job titles, performing countless roles. In addition to our work at UMass, we’re mothers, fathers, artists, leaders in our local towns and cities, ukelele players, cooks, entrepreneurs, world-travelers, knitters, readers, and softball players.
As we move forward, SHARE incorporates new members and fresh perspectives every day.