Mount Nittany workers vote to authorize strike if necessary. The latest on negotiations

Mount Nittany Medical Center and the union representing about 950 of its workers missed a Tuesday deadline to reach a new labor contract. On Thursday, 99% of union hospital workers voted to authorize their negotiating committee to send a strike notice, if necessary.

Negotiations are set to continue Monday, and workers called striking “a last resort,” according to a Friday press release from Service Employees International Union Healthcare.

“We’re hopeful that next week we can get to a fair contract agreement that invests in safety, staffing, and all of us. We know Mount Nittany has the resources to do so,” Jadyn Maske, an environmental services aide and member of the negotiating committee, said in the press release.

FULL STORY: Mount Nittany, workers’ union fail to reach agreement on new labor deal

Here are key takeaways:

• Registered nurse Jessica Mulroy said costs of living in Centre County have skyrocketed while wages have not kept up. SEIU Healthcare is pushing for a contract that moves “all Mount Nittany Medical Center workers forward.”
• Mount Nittany’s latest offer includes a 4% first-year wage increase for registered nurses, new pay differentials for precepting and weekend shifts, and a 2% across-the-board raise for all union members, a hospital spokesperson said.
• Union members point to the health system’s expansions as evidence it can invest more in staff, including a new 10-story patient tower opening this year and a $90 million outpatient center that opened near Toftrees in September 2024.
• The last work stoppage at Mount Nittany was in 2004, when workers struck for five days. The hospital says it has contingency plans to continue safe patient care if a strike occurs.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.