Nurses at Allegheny General Hospital recently ratified a new three-year contract. (Louis B. Ruediger | TribLive)
A new three-year contract recently ratified by nurses at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh will raise wages, boost staffing and end dreaded day-to-night shift turns
Oncology nurse Joanna Stone said the contract, approved by the 1,500 nurses represented by the SEIU Healthcare PA union Monday, would keep experienced nurses at the hospital and improve outcomes for patients
Although the union voted nearly unanimously to authorize a strike after negotiations continued past the expiration of the nurses’ 2023 contract, Stone said Allegheny Health Network addressed many of the nurses’ most significant concerns
“I do feel like we were heard,” she said
AHN spokesman Bill Toland said in a statement the health system was pleased to have reached a new contract
“The agreement is reflective of our commitment to providing competitive wages and benefits for all employees at AHN,” he said
The contract includes average raises of 16% for nurses and a commitment from AHN to increase staffing, though Stone could not say how many additional people would ultimately join the ranks at Allegheny General
The new deal also spells the end of forced day-to-night shift rotations that call for nurses to switch between night and day shifts within the same week, which Stone said was a struggle for many at the hospital
“It’s not just staying awake; it’s staying awake in a clear mind,” she said. “The back and forth is very difficult on the body.”
Stone said a new scheduling system is still in the works
As artificial intelligence continues to become more ubiquitous — and AHN contends with a lawsuit alleging it misused AI at its facilities — nurses also pushed for a clause that offers humans final clinical discretion instead of any AI tools
“We never want to be placed in a position where AI would force us to do something against our judgment,” Stone said
Now, Stone said Allegheny General would continue to support nurses and advanced practitioners at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, who are represented by the same union, as they continue bargaining more than a year after a vote to unionize
The union and UPMC ended their 42nd bargaining session early on Friday, “after a discussion about malicious and false accusations that SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania made at the bargaining table late on Thursday,” according to a UPMC release
UPMC did not immediately respond to an inquiry about details of the interaction
In a statement, Lindsey Zaremba, a nurse at Magee, said that nurses had shared their “lived experience and concerns with staffing in our hospital that does not meet national standards” during negotiations Thursday
“In response to us sharing our experiences, UPMC administrators walked out of our negotiations the morning of October 30,” Zaremba’s statement said. “This is part of a larger pattern of UPMC disrespecting nurses’ professional voices.”
The nurses’ contract at Allegheny General, settled within two months, proves that hospital systems can “work collaboratively with their nurses on solutions to address the nursing crisis,” the statement said
“It is past time for UPMC to follow suit, respond to our proposals, and invest their massive profits in a contract that elevates women’s and family health for our region,” Zaremba’s statement said
Negotiations are set to resume Nov. 9
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