From: "Mark Rickling" <mrickling at hotmail.com> Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1999 13:10:57 -0500
District 1199P/SEIU Press Release
AGH RNs Vote for Union To Protect Quality Patient Care, Gain a Voice
Major Improvements Seen in Health Care for Patients, Community
In an election with major implications for improving health care in Pittsburgh, nearly 1,500 registered nurses at Allegheny General Hospital have voted to protect patient care and gain a voice in their future by joining together with District 1199P/SEIU, Pennsylvania's largest and fastest-growing health care union.
"This is a big step forward for thousands of nurses, health care employees, and patients in Pittsburgh," said AGH RN Donna Jordanhazy. "With a union, nurses who provide care at the bedside will have a voice in decisions. That's good for us, our hospital, and our patients."
AGH nurses voted 731 to 634 form a union in a two-day election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board.
"We are ready to begin working together with management to make our hospital a better place to work and provide care for our community," said AGH RN Linda Powers.
AGH nurses are the first group of RNs at a Pittsburgh hospital to join together to form a union.
"We've heard from employees at other hospitals who want to form a union, too," said AGH RN Lisa Taylor. "With all the changes in health care brought by managed care and cost-cutting, more and more nurses, doctors, and other health care employees are deciding that we need a voice to protect patient care and our profession."
AGH is Western Pennsylvania's second largest acute care hospital.
District 1199P/SEIU is Pennsylvania's largest and fastest-growing health care union, with 14,000 members. Nationally, SEIU represents more than 675,000 health care employees, including more than 105,000 nurses and 20,000 doctors.
Pittsburgh News - November 20, 1999
AGH nurses unionize By Luis Fabregas and David M. Brown TRIBUNE-REVIEW Nurses at Allegheny General Hospital on Friday decided to unionize.
The margin of victory was not big - 731 votes for going union to 634 against - but it was enough to cause a full-scale union rally outside the North Side hospital last night that sounded like a pep rally for a high school championship game.
They stomped. They chanted. They raved about their victory.
"I'm thrilled. I couldn't be happier," said nurse Linda Powers. "I think we have finally proven that we can come together and have a strong, meaningful voice that will be heard not only for ourselves but all of Pittsburgh."
Nurse Diane Lataille agreed.
"This is a marvelous thing. You can feel the excitement in the air. There are a lot of happy people tonight," she said.
Out of the hospital's 1,500 nurses, 1,365 voted on Thursday and yesterday.
With their votes, the nurses agreed to join the Service Employees International Union.
Connie Cibrone, president and CEO of Allegheny General, said last night that officials will work to do their best for the hospital and its patients.
"Regardless of one's position on the union issue, I believe all of us care greatly for this institution. In an organization dedicated to the healing of others, we must heal our own organization.
"I look forward to the months ahead as we continue to build our new system of care and revitalize Allegheny General."
Allegheny General nurses now join about half a million nurses across the nation who belong to a labor union, according to the American Nurses Association. There are about 2.5 million registered nurses licensed to practice across the nation.
Unionization attempts at AGH began in 1996, before the financial collapse of its parent, the Allegheny Health, Education and Research Foundation.
At the time, nurses rejected an affiliation with the Pennsylvania Nurses Association, fearing retaliation from hospital management, union officials said at the time. Teamsters Local 249, which has also tried to unionize nurses at St. Francis Medical Center in Lawrenceville, also failed in its bid to organize the AGH nurses.
This time, however, nurses' complaints have been heard loud and clear. They have charged management with inadequate staffing practices that have left nurses overworked and underpaid. In late September, more than half of the nurses filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board requesting union representation.
Although no nurses have been laid off, officials of West Penn Allegheny, the hospital system's new parent company, have already slashed 100 jobs across the six-hospital system.
Officials said most of the positions, eliminated in October, were already vacant.
Hospital spokesman Tom Chakurda said before the results were announced that there are no immediate plans to eliminate any nursing jobs at Allegheny General.
The hospital has made it clear they disapprove of pro-union efforts. Earlier this week nurses told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review they were asked to attend anti-union meetings during working hours.
But at the heart of their plight is what they say is the quality of care given patients.
"Being part of a union enables nurses to advocate more strongly for the delivery of quality patient care," said Edmund Bronder, a senior policy fellow at the American Nurses Association. "Nurses choose to be union members because they want a voice in decision making."
Chakurda said the ratio of registered nurses to patients at Allegheny General has remained the same over the last five years. He would not say what the ratio is because it varies from unit to unit, he said.
Other than UPMC McKeesport, unionized nurses in the region include Butler Memorial Hospital in Butler County, Monsour Medical Center in Jeannette, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in East Liberty and the Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic in Oakland.
Earlier this month, PSEA Health Care withdrew a petition filed with the National Labor Relations Board to conduct a union representation election for about 350 nurses at Washington County Hospital. The union cited a lack of interest.