Workers at Geisinger-Lewistown hospital voted to ratify a new 2-year contract on this month by an overwhelming majority. This, after workers held a one day strike in May and months of negotiations.
“We have achieved a contract with some strong improvements from the proposals we started with,” said Lisa Snook, who has worked at the hospital for fourteen years. “We are proud to have won fair raises and big health insurance savings. Those things mean a lot to working families.”
Highlights of the new two-year contract include:
• Significant decreases to health insurance costs. Many employees will see their monthly healthcare contributions cut by nearly 50%.
• 1.5% raise this year and 2% raise next year, plus an additional bonus of $350 for full time and $175 for part time employees.
• Improvements to the seniority system, distribution of extra hours, and notification of schedule changes.
Workers were also able to stop the freezing and lowering of wage scale steps and prevent lowering the starting wages for new employees to under $10/hour.
“As more large healthcare systems take over small community hospitals, it’s vital for workers to take a stand,” said Anne McCalips, a dietary worker. “If we are not united to hold corporations accountable to providing good jobs, then the middle class stands no chance.”
One of the main sticking points of negotiations was retirement. The new agreement means workers’ retirement is being shifted from a defined benefit pension to a 403(b).
“This was a very long, difficult negotiation process, and that means compromises and tough decisions had to be made,” said Teresa Williams, a sterile processing tech. “I’m proud of the work we did, and what we achieved for the employees of our hospital.”
About 150 workers at Geisinger-Lewistown are members of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. Geisinger merged with the hospital in October 2013 and contract negotiations with workers started in January of this year.