Potential strike looms after unionized workers, Mount Nittany fail to reach deal Thursday
Negotiations between Mount Nittany Medical Center and unionized hospital workers ended Thursday without a new labor agreement, leaving the two sides at an impasse less than two weeks before a potential strike.
Registered respiratory therapist Kelsye Stott said in a written statement that the two sides made progress on safety issues but were unable to find a breakthrough after Mount Nittany held to its 7% general wage increase spread over three years.
Stott said the hospital’s management told unionized workers they “do not have any further authorization” to increase their general wage proposal, putting an end to negotiations Thursday.
“Coming into negotiations today, we were hopeful that we would be able to get to a contract agreement that invests in recruiting and retaining all workers essential for quality care,” Stott said. “We don’t want to have to strike, but Mount Nittany management has left us with no choice when they’re offering raises that don’t keep up with costs that keep rising and a 4.2% inflation rate.”
A spokesperson for SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania — the labor union that represents the hospital’s roughly 950 unionized employees — told the Centre Daily Times no additional bargaining sessions were scheduled as of Thursday night.
Stott said the union is prepared to either resume discussions when management “receives further authorization to negotiate” or strike for the first time since 2004. A five-day work stoppage is scheduled to begin July 27.
Months of negotiations have failed to produce a new labor agreement, with much of the public back-and-forth focused on wages.
Mount Nittany’s general wage proposal includes a 3% increase in Year 1 and 2% increases in Years 2 and 3. The union’s proposal includes a 5.75% increase in Year 1, a 4.5% increase in Year 2 and a 4% increase in Year 3.
That leaves the two sides 7.25 percentage points apart with a little more than a week until the strike. In response to the hospital’s initial proposal, 98% of union members voted last week to strike.
Based on public reports, Mount Nittany Medical Center’s operating margin — a key measure of financial performance — stood at a healthy 17.94% in the latest fiscal year, more than double the statewide hospital average of 7.15%. Between that and varied construction projects, union members have painted the hospital more as unwilling, as opposed to unable, when it came to increasing wages.
Mount Nittany said in a statement Thursday that its proposal also includes significant investments beyond general wage increases, including pay grade adjustments for 19 non-nursing positions, two weeks of paid parental leave and no changes to employee healthcare benefits.
“We know these negotiations are important to our employees and to the future of our health system,” Mount Nittany said. “Our goal remains to reach a fair agreement that recognizes our employees’ contributions while ensuring Mount Nittany Health remains a strong, independent health system able to continue serving our community.”
Should the strike come to pass, Mount Nittany has said it has comprehensive contingency plans in place. The hospital, emergency department, physician practices and outpatient clinics would continue to operate as normal and patients were told to keep their scheduled appointments unless they were contacted directly by the health system.
