After a final 26-hour negotiation meeting, unionized nurses at Allegheny General Hospital struck a deal with hospital management on a new contract.

The three-year agreement between the 1,200 nurses and nurse practitioners represented by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania and AGH’s parent company, Allegheny Health Network, will make significant investments in wages and staffing levels, said Annale Yobbi , vice president of the nurses’ union and a Lifeflight nurse at AGH.

Yobbi, who was part of the negotiation committee, spoke at a rally on Friday outside of the North Side hospital in Allegheny Commons Park.

The contract includes an average raise of 23% over the life of the contract. That’s more than the 21% raise recently won by Kaiser Permanente workers in California, who went on strike in October.

Other key provisions include the following:

A starting rate of at least $40 an hour by the end of the contract for all nurses with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. A new salary scale for salary and specialty nurses based on years of licensure, and significant raises for nurse practitioners. Commitment to hiring 70 per diem pool nurses (nurses trained to work in various departments) to reduce the use of agency and traveling nurses. Improvements to some unit-based nurse-to-patient ratios. Additional commitments to the hospital’s existing “zero tolerance” policy for workplace violence and abuse of staff. The installation of additional weapon detection and panic alarms throughout the hospital.

Dan Laurent, spokesman for Allegheny Health Network said the system is “extremely pleased to have reached a new contract with our represented nurses at Allegheny General Hospital.

“The agreement is reflective of our commitment to providing competitive wages and benefits for all employees at AHN, and to maintaining a workplace experience for all employees that is conducive to the delivery of exceptional care for our patients,” Laurent said. “ This new contract with our AGH nurses is part of a planned investment in AHN’s workforce that will further strengthen our ability to continue recruiting and retaining the best and brightest health care professionals.”

Negotiations began on Labor Day. The union authorized a strike in October, but did not walk out.

“We had really high expectations because we’ve been living with a staffing crisis for far too long,” Yobbi said. “Across the country and certainly in Pittsburgh, hospitals have tried to combat the staffing crisis by investing tons of money in temporary solutions like traveling nurses, agency nurses, and bonuses that already exhausted nurses to work even though we know that the approach was not enough to keep nurses at the bedside.”

Angie Noel, a registered nurse at AGH, noted the impact of the wage increases.

“I currently make $31.26 an hour, but within just a couple of years I will be making $40 an hour. There is not another hospital in the city where I can make $40 an hour,” Noel said. “I think we’re going to see more and more nurses who want to come to AGH, and stay at AGH, because of the wages and staffing. Nurses in Pittsburgh will know that this is the best hospital to work in.

“I also think this contract is going to raise standards for nurses across our city,” Noel added. “Other hospitals will need to step up if they want to compete with what nurses will get here.”

Speaking at the North Side gathering, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey called the deal a “significant blessing for the city.”

“If we’re going to have a city where everyone can thrive, then we need hospitals where everybody can get quality care,” Gainey said.

Another hospital within the health system, West Penn Hospital, will begin negotiations next year as a contract for nurses is set to expire in the summer.

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