Geisinger's nurses’ union announced Tuesday their contract priorities include higher pay, fully covered health insurance and more safety protections following initial negotiations.
Union leaders gathered with supporters at the Holiday Inn in Wilkes- Barre to share their contract priorities immediately after their first bargaining session with Geisinger officials. Their current contract expires in January, and the new 3-year contract needs to be settled by Feb. 2025.
The nurses are a part of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare PA, which is Pennsylvania’s largest union of nurses and healthcare workers.
“The goal for this negotiation is to work on improving the care that is provided to the people of northeastern Pennsylvania, through retaining nurses and through improving the experience of the nurses of Geisinger,” said Ryan Mallis, an ICU Nurse and co-vice president of Geisinger Wyoming Valley’s (GWV) chapter of SEIU.
The nurses say wages have stayed stagnant over the past few years, leading to high staff turnover and staffing shortages.
Sabrina Piedra, a trauma nurse at Geisinger Wyoming Valley, said she sees many nurses attracted by the high wages in the commonwealth’s bigger cities. She cited Pittsburgh’s UPMC system bumping nurses’ starting pay to what equals to more than $50 an hour. UPMC extends from the western part of the state to the north central region.
“That's a huge increase compared to what people are making in our area and not that far to travel to,” she said. “We want to compete so that we can have community members serve our community.”
SEIU’s last contract with Geisinger for its nurses was settled in 2022. That contract, which is the one expiring, included a historic pay raise and mental health days. According to a release posted to their website, SEIU said of the agreement, “Nurses at Geisinger Wyoming Valley voted unanimously to ratify a new three-year contract with the highest wage increase EVER! We all stood strong through a very difficult bargaining process to settle a contract with a historic investment in frontline care that will help us keep nurses in our hospital and bring more nurses back to the bedside.”
While the nurses enjoy working within Geisinger, they said the pay tempts them to look elsewhere.
“I enjoy working at GWV. I like interacting with my patients,” Mallis said. “My coworkers are fantastic, but for many of us, it's becoming unrealistic to stay at Geisinger Wyoming Valley long term when other healthcare facilities are offering better compensation for our time, and with health insurance costs going up, it's even harder to afford basic needs.”
According to SEIU Healthcare PA, Geisinger’s rate of staff turnover is higher than the national average. They said there are currently 310 vacancies within GWV.
Geisinger responded in a statement to WVIA, “The SEIU’s information is incorrect. The turnover rate for registered nurses at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center is lower than both the national benchmark for top-tier hospitals and the national average.”
The union also is calling for increased protections for nurses.
Mallis said they need, “strong health and safety measures to address the nationwide rise in violence against healthcare workers.”
Action Together NEPA, NEPA Stands Up and Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, all supporters of their cause, joined the union nurses in solidarity.
Pashinski agreed with the nurses’ call for higher pay, saying, “If other institutions can pay a rate higher, why can't Geisinger?”
He has supported SEIU in the past, and the union endorsed him during this year’s election.
Pashinski encouraged mutual respect between the union and Geisinger throughout the negotiations.
“I expect the nurses and those from SEIU and their union leaders to be fair with management, and I expect management to be fair with these union professionals,” he said. “I stand proudly with all these professionals.”
As he left, he shouted, “Stay strong, stay united,” to the union.
After being acquired by Risant Health, which operates under Kaiser Permanente, a California-based healthcare network, union leaders believe the new owners will be cooperative with their contract requests.
Geisinger said Kaiser will not be involved in negotiations, as they will happen solely between Geisinger and the SEIU.
“Geisinger values the critical contributions of our registered nurses in the delivery of care at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center,” Geisinger said in a statement to WVIA. “We appreciate the expertise and compassion with which they care for our community and respect their rights as SEIU members. We are committed to good-faith bargaining to reach a mutually agreeable labor contract. While a member of Risant Health, Geisinger operates independently, and these negotiations are exclusively between Geisinger and the SEIU.”
The union started off negotiations on a hopeful note, and they think Geisinger will be receptive to their priorities and requests.
“The bar for Geisinger to provide care has been risen, so they need to work better with the nurses in the facilities for Geisinger Wyoming Valley,” Mallis said.
Piedra sees higher wages as a community investment, and so far, she thinks Geisinger is on the same page.
“I'm very hopeful that they intend to invest in the community and ensure that we remain the premier place to go, that we are setting a bar, that we set the expectation,” she said. “I fully believe that they intend to invest in our community the way we see.”
