AGH nurses celebrate after approving three-year contract with staffing, salary increases
Staffing levels were a major issue during negotiations, and the union had taken a strike vote to increase pressure on the hospital
Nurses at Allegheny General Hospital have agreed to a three-year contract that they said “invests heavily in staffing and retention,” less than a month after signaling an overwhelming willingness to strike.
The nurses on Monday voted to ratify the deal that will be in effect through Oct. 13, 2029. Contract negotiations started in September.
“As a union, AGH nurses have led the way with groundbreaking contracts over the years, which have transformed our local market for nursing and inspired thousands of nurses to form unions,” said Annale Yobbi, a flight nurse who has worked at AGH since 1992. “Our new contract builds on these trailblazing accomplishments by investing in staffing to meet our actual patients’ needs, retention of experienced nurses and all nurses, and protection of benefits which support our well-being.”
According to SEIU Healthcare PA, the union representing about 1,500 nurses and nurse practitioners, the contract increases staffing levels across units to keep up with the patient population, in addition to including a $35 million investment in wages to support retention and recruitment.
Staffing levels were a major issue during contract negotiations. The union said the number of patients at AGH had been “dramatically” increasing annually, even as patients were becoming older and sicker, leading to longer hospital stays and more intensive needs.
On Oct. 15, the nurses voted 99% in favor of authorizing a strike should it become necessary. The vote did not mean a work stoppage was imminent, but it increased pressure on the hospital to get a deal done.
Allegheny Health Network, the multibillion-dollar healthcare conglomerate that owns AGH, said in an emailed statement, “We are extremely pleased to have reached a new contract with our represented nurses at AHN Allegheny General Hospital. The agreement is reflective of our commitment to providing competitive wages and benefits for all employees at AHN.”
Over the life of the contract, nurses will see their pay jump nearly 16% on average – with a minimum $8 hourly increase for those with more than five years of licensure, the union said.
The contract also provides:
• Protection of nurses’ health benefits, with an option for a 100% employer-paid co-insurance
• Safeguards on a defined benefit pension and 403(b) plan
• Maintenance of paid time-off benefits
• AGH’s first-ever agreement on artificial intelligence to protect staffing ratios and nurses’ clinical judgment
• A commitment to end forced rotating shifts, which require nurses to switch from days to nights within a single work week
The nurses will hold a “Celebration of Nurse Unity” rally at noon Wednesday across the street from the hospital at Allegheny Commons Park, where they will outline their new contract and announce plans to support nurses who are bargaining a first contract at UPMC’s Magee-Women’s Hospital in Oakland.
“What we achieved in this contract and on parental leave would not have been possible without the tireless advocacy of nurses both at AGH and on the other side of the river at West Penn and Magee,” Yobbi said. “These victories prove once again that when nurses unite together, speak out and take action, we can raise standards for our patients, our profession and our community.”
