Union nurses at West Penn Hospital overwhelmingly approve new contract

Nurses at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood ratified a new three-year contract late Wednesday, weeks after it seemed a strike could be looming.

The nurses, who are represented by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, announced major gains in the new agreement at a news conference Thursday.

The contract covers roughly 650 nurses at the hospital. It includes an average pay raise of 24% and will guarantee an hourly wage of at least $40 by its end. It also boosts pay for more senior nurses — those with at least 20 years’ experience — to a minimum of $50 per hour. According to the union, staffing ratios will also be updated to improve nurse workloads.

Joanne Germanos, a 32-year labor and delivery nurse, said retaining experienced nurses has been a struggle at the hospital, adding that the new contract could reverse that problem.

“I saw far too many experienced, knowledgeable nurses leave the bedside to pursue better-paying jobs,” Germanos said. She said she's hopeful the new pay rates will have a positive impact on staff retention.

“Investing in frontline staff is critical to stopping the revolving door and addressing the staffing crisis,” she said.

Germanos said new staffing guidelines “will make a world of difference,” because having overburdened nurses “contributes to a lot of nurse burnout,” and reduces the amount of time and attention nurses can give to each patient.

The SEIU said 90% of the nurses voted in favor of the new contract, according to SEIU. The agreement comes weeks after nurses announced they were prepared to strike amid negotiations.

West Penn is part of the Allegheny Health Network. Dan Laurent, an AHN spokesperson, said the company is “pleased” to have reached the agreement.

“The contract ratified this week is reflective of our organization’s commitment to providing competitive wages and benefits, and a fulfilling work-life experience, for all our employees, including both represented and non-represented team members,” he said.

Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey joined the nurses at the news conference Thursday. Innamorato said as a longtime patient of West Penn, improved working conditions for nurses there is “personal” to her.

“West Penn Hospital is where I got stitches when I was a kid, and it's where I receive health care to this day,” she said.

Though the West Penn nurses' contract is with AHN, Innamorato and Gainey argued that other health care employers should provide similar benefits to their workers. Their remarks appeared to be a thinly veiled criticism of the UPMC system, whose workers are largely not unionized.

“We're excited for the signal that this sends to all health care providers throughout our region,” Innamorato said.

Gainey called the new contract an example of the “power” of unionized workforces.

“We've created a better day, not just for the hospitals, but for the entire region,” he said.

Nurses at West Penn were more explicit in their urges for health care workers at other hospitals to unionize.

“Imagine what we can accomplish when nurses and hospital workers at every AHN and UPMC Hospital are all standing together as one union to transform our health care system,” Germanos said.

Jodi Faltin, a nurse in West Penn’s post-anesthesia care unit, said her role on the bargaining committee makes her feel as though she has more control over her job than she had at other hospitals. She previously worked at UPMC Presbyterian and Shadyside Hospitals as a trauma and neuro-intensive care unit nurse.

“When I worked at UPMC, you would often just get an email telling you what changes are happening in your day-to-day work,” she said. “Here, whenever we're told about something … we've already known it's coming because we've had some say in it.”

Elsewhere in the AHN system, nurses and hospital workers at Allegheny Valley Hospital approved their own new three-year pact earlier this week.