PITTSBURGH — Allegheny General Hospital nurses have voted to hold an informational picket and agreed to authorize a strike if necessary, as they call for investments in staffing and retention in their workplace.
A spokesperson for the SEIU Healthcare PA said the vote passed by 99% on Thursday night. The union currently represents 1,500 nurses.
The nurses’ contract was set to expire on Oct. 13, but nurses extended it until Oct. 30.
Their current plan is to hold an informational picket on Oct. 29.
If all else fails, the union said, while they do not want to, members would go on strike in order to " take a stand for the future of healthcare" in the community. A 10-day notice would be given to AHN before a strike happens to help ensure patient safety.
The group has expressed struggles caused by a rising number of patients, which they say is increasing dramatically annually. The union also stressed that AGH has the highest level of patient acuity (sickness level) in Western Pennsylvania.
Nurses are saying these difficulties are starting to cost them, colleagues.
“In our region, nurses are spread so thin, and we’ve had to take care of more and more patients who are sicker and sicker,” said Emily Guckert, a registered nurse at AGH who has been in healthcare for eight years. “I work in neurosurgery, where we operate on people’s brains and spines, because I wanted to be able to focus on just one patient at a time and give them my full, undivided attention. But recently, there’s been an exodus of operating room nurses, many of them with years of experience, while at the same time we’re getting an increase of patients who require more complex surgeries. AHN is opening up additional operating rooms to admit these patients, but not increasing staffing to handle the expansion.”
According to SEIU, AHN has made $160 million in profits just this year. Similarly, parent corporation Highmark Health has made $2 billion.
“AHN-Highmark must commit their massive profits to evidence-based staffing levels to meet the actual number of beds in the hospital, not projected patient volume; professional compensation that retains experience and invests in all nurses to provide the highest level of care; and the protection of benefits that support nurses’ health and work-life balance, including affordable healthcare, adequate time off to spend with their families and retirement with dignity,” a spokesperson said.
Allegheny Health Network issued the following statement in response to the vote.
“As AHN Allegheny General Hospital continues to engage in good-faith contract negotiations with our SEIU-represented nurses, we are confident that an agreement can and will be reached that is fair and competitive for our employees. With additional bargaining scheduled, we prefer to keep those discussions at the bargaining table, where they will be most productive in helping us achieve a resolution that is in the best interests of our nurses, our organization, and the patients we care for. We are aware that the SEIU bargaining committee has received approval from members to authorize a work stoppage. This authorization vote is a normal part of negotiations, and it does not mean that a strike will occur. Rather, this authorization gives the bargaining committee the authority to issue a 10-day strike notice if they feel it’s appropriate. We are hopeful that, as in the past, this will not be necessary, and we look forward to continuing constructive dialogue with the SEIU until an agreement is reached.”
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