West Penn Hospital nurses ratify contract with 24% raises

Hundreds of nurses at Pittsburgh’s West Penn Hospital ratified a union contract Wednesday providing significant wage increases and staffing improvements.

Nearly 700 nurses at the hospital in the city’s Bloomfield neighborhood voted to accept a three-year contract that will boost wages by an average of 24% and will guarantee at least $40 per hour for every nurse by the end of the contract. Nurses who have 20 years experience or more will be paid at least $50 an hour.

The vote was 90% in favor, said the nurses’ union, SEIU Healthcare PA.

Nurses at West Penn were poised to strike if an agreement was not reached, but that is now off the table.

Jodi Faltin, a post-anesthesia care nurse at West Penn, said the new agreement will help the hospital retain nurses and better serve patients.

“I have seen how vital each and every nurse is and how this hospital could not operate without our work and dedication,” Faltin said at a Thursday press conference just outside the hospital.

West Penn is part of Allegheny Health Network (AHN). Its spokesman Dan Laurent said the health care system is pleased to reach the new deal with the nurses union.

“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,” said Laurent.

Joanne Germanos has been a labor and delivery nurse at West Penn for 32 years. She lauded the new contract and said she believes it will have a positive impact on retaining nurses and lowering burnout among hospital staff.

The agreement also includes protections from health benefit cost increases and expands the use of steady shifts, so nurses no longer have to rotate between day and night shifts.

Germanos praised the recent contracts won by nurses at Allegheny Health Network hospitals at West Penn, Allegheny Valley, and Allegheny General Hospital. She said the recent success should encourage unionization efforts at all Pittbsurgh-area hospitals, including those in the UPMC network, which has been fighting union efforts for years.

“Imagine what we can accomplish if nurses and hospital workers at every AHN and UPMC hospital transform our health care system,” Germanos said.

Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato joined the nurses on Thursday in celebrating their new contract. She said it represents an investment in the workers in one of the region’s most important industries — health care —and will help Pittsburgh in the future.

“This is about an investment in patient care and safety. This is about an investment in the health care workers that will come after we are all long gone,” Innamorato said.

“They are setting a precedent to make sure that every single employee that walks through these doors is going to be treated with dignity and respect.”