SEIU Healthcare PA
The settlement shows that nurses’ united action can win significant gains, after they successfully faced down corporate healthcare executives at Geissinger-Risant and parent Kaiser Permanente, the largest “nonprofit” healthcare corporation in the U.S.
Wilkes-Barre, Penn. – Today 800 Geisinger registered nurses announced they won a new contract with major improvements in wages, benefits and safety which will retain and recruit staff for quality patient care. The contract covers nurses at Geisinger Wyoming Valley, Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre and Geisinger Healthplex CenterPoint in Pittston. Among many other improvements, the contract includes:
- Raises of 13-26% over three years, with average wage increases of 18%.
- AÂ commitment by Geisinger to create a new health plan or plans that are more affordable for their own employees and a strong voice for nurses in the decision-making process to create those plans.
- Safety and security provisions such as a new Workplace Violence Committee which nurses will be paid to participate in; annual in-person security training for all nurses on paid time; and legal support for nurses who have been assaulted.
- A new minimum of five hours of rest time for nurses before they are required to provide care while on-call. Â
- Improvements in pay for being on-call and fulfilling charge nurse duties.
- Protection of benefits that Geisinger proposed cutting, including mental health days and no on-call days for nurses over age 60.
“This victory proves that when nurses stand together, united with our community, we can achieve really big things,” said Chrissy Minet, who works in the Interventional Radiology department and has 12 years of service to Geisinger. “Going into this contract, we were completely worn down from severe understaffing, turnover and having to be constantly on-call. With better wages, benefits and safety, we can start to rebuild our local nursing workforce here. We especially want to thank our community members for standing with us, which was deeply heartwarming. Most importantly, this new contract benefits them because nurses will be better supported so we can deliver the highest standard of medical care.”
Nurses were fiercely committed to winning a strong contract because they were struggling with growing problems at Geisinger Wyoming Valley that included 300 unfilled nursing positions due to uncompetitive wages and insufficient benefits. In an attempt to fill these staffing shortfalls, Geisinger resorted to an over-reliance on out-of-town travel nurses and the abuse of on-call shifts. Those problems were causing turnover and burnout and making it difficult to provide the standard of care their community deserves, nurses say. Their contract had expired on January 31, and nurses held a five-day strike starting February 17, which garnered widespread press coverage, community support and social media attention, including from U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.Â
During the last day of the strike on February 22, the tragic shooting took place at UMPC Memorial Hospital, in which a police officer was killed, and two officers, a doctor, a nurse and a custodian were shot, which added urgency to the nurses’ advocacy. When nurses returned to the negotiating table, they strongly asserted with executives that safe staffing and security measures were critical to protecting patients, visitors and staff. Still, executives continued to drag their feet and so nurses then authorized another strike in early March, which pushed Geisinger-Risant toward negotiating the settlement. Nurses voted overwhelmingly to ratify the contract on April 11.
“This was my first time on our union contract negotiating committee, and the experience taught me that nurses have to stand up for what’s right – we can’t be afraid to speak up for our patients,” said Jimmy Romanelli, a registered nurse who has a decade of service to Geisigner. “Back during the pandemic, Geisinger executives put up signs that loudly proclaimed us heroes. But Covid exposed and aggravated deep systemic problems in our healthcare system that were never addressed, especially understaffing, turnover and burnout. This contract victory is a huge leap forward in finally reckoning with this crisis. The wage increases, mandatory rest period for on-call, voice in our healthcare plan, increased security and other gains will help make nursing at Geisinger a sustainable career moving forward. I get very emotional when I think about the outpouring of community support we received. This proves that when nurses and regular people stand up to corporate executives, we can hold them accountable.”Â
The population of Pennsylvania is older, sicker and requires more complex care than ever before. Kaiser Permanente acquired Geisinger last year through Risant, and promised a multibillion-dollar investment. Nurses say that this contract is a down payment on fulfilling that commitment to their community.Â
Now that Geisinger nurses have won their contract, they are continuing their advocacy in the state General Assembly. On May 6, many of them will be travelling to Harrisburg to lobby for passage of the Patient Safety Act, which requires minimum staffing levels for each hospital department, and the Healthcare Workplace Violence Prevention Act.
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SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania is the state’s largest and fastest-growing union of nurses and healthcare workers, uniting tens of thousands of professional and technical employees, direct care workers, and service employees in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home- and community-based services, and state facilities across the Commonwealth. SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania members are committed to improving the lives of healthcare workers and ensuring quality care and healthy communities for all Pennsylvanians.