Dig Deeper Texas

I really wish I could tell you some of the details of what has happened during the merger that show how unprepared and uninformed UTHSCSA was about the merger and how little was done to protect the interest of CTRC employees. But I can’t.

To give you an idea of the range and depth of the incompetency in dealing with the merger, I’ll use an analogy. Pretend that UTHSCSA is a cab company and CTRC is a city bus company. The cab company decides to buy the bus company but without knowing the following information:

(I’m just guessing as far as cab and bus company concerns so don’t base your knowledge of cab or bus operations on this analogy.)

The cab company doesn’t know the financial situation of the bus company. The cab executives working with the merger don’t really know if it’s operating at a profit or loss.

The cab company doesn’t know that bus passengers pay before they get on the bus. They simply assume that the passengers pay after they reach their destination as in cabs.

The cab company doesn’t know that bus drivers have a different licensing process and that it can’t switch cab drivers for bus drivers.

The cab company doesn’t know that legally bus drivers aren’t allowed to leave the bus to help passengers on the bus with their items.

The cab company assumes that it can simply change bus stops without realizing that the process must be approved by the city first.

The cab company doesn’t realize that the buses run on diesel or how much diesel costs.

The cab company doesn’t realize that the buses must meet certain federal regulations to continue to receive federal grants.

The cab company fires all of the bus company’s pr people thinking that they could just use the cab company’s instead. Then they find out that the bus company pr people market to a different audience and were good at getting other agencies to pay for the marketing.

The cab company thinks that bus fares are too low but doesn’t realize that they are subsidized by federal programs with accompanying federal requirements.

The cab company fires all of the bus company’s route schedulers before they realize they don’t have anyone able to plan bus routes.

The cab company doesn’t plan on providing additional training programs to bus drivers since they don’t do it for cab drivers even though bus drivers are required to have additional training to maintain their licenses while cab drivers are not.

The cab company shuts down the bus company maintenance and repair shop assuming that they can just use the cab company one. But the buses don’t fit into the repair bays and the cab mechanics don’t have the right equipment.

Get the picture? I wish I could say that I’m exaggerating but I’m not. Unfortunately, the process hasn’t been helped since many UTHSCSA employees think that they are bailing out CTRC and are doing them a favor. And the over-use and misuse of “that’s the way the state or the UT system requires it” statement is pathetic.

• All contracts are canceled since they must now be with UTHSCSA to be considered legal. Except under certain circumstances that indicate all too well that not “all” contracts had to be canceled immediately.

• The UT system doesn’t provide continuing education benefits. Actually, other UT institutions do, it’s UTHSCSA that has decided not to provide such benefits.

• We don’t have overtime. Except, of course, they do for non-exempt employees as stated on their website.

And of course, there are many more examples. Too often, UTHSCSA has presented directives or policies as set in stone even though there may be discretion allowed in the process which is really bad when anyone can find out the information on the web. Why? I guess it’s just easier to steamroll the process rather than take the time to workout what would be best for all involved.

Why haven’t the leaders of CTRC stepped in to negotiate some of these concerns especially if it was a “merger” rather than a “bailout?” Could it be that the remaining leaders already have their positions set at UTHSCSA and therefore weren’t aware or don’t care that most of the other employees are losing significant benefits? All CTRC employees have lost their seniority–for some that’s ten years down the drain. “That’s state policy” may be true, but at this point why should the employees believe them?

Ultimately, I think most CTRC employees believe that the “merger” will work out for the best in the long run. But UTHSCSA has essentially dug itself a hole in terms of employee relations. Whatever the employee culture was before CTRC employees were added can’t have improved by alienating what is now ten percent of UTHSCSA’s employees.

Technorati Tags: CTRC, UTHSCSA, Cancer Therapy and Research Center, UT Health Science Center San Antonio

Filed under: CTRC, Cancer Therapy and Research Center, UT Health Science Center San Antonio, UTHSCSA