Unionized nurses at Geisinger’s Wyoming Valley facilities settled with the company late Friday after months of negotiations.
Nurses are calling the contract a victory. It addresses their priorities of higher pay, more affordable healthcare and stronger workplace safety.
“Going into this contract, we were completely worn down from severe understaffing, turnover and having to be constantly on-call,” union member Chrissy Minet said. “With better wages, benefits and safety, we can start to rebuild our local nursing workforce here.”
Geisinger officials said they are pleased to have reached an agreement with the union.
“Geisinger is committed to remaining a top place to work for all health care professionals in northeastern Pennsylvania, and this agreement positions SEIU registered nurses as regional leaders in compensation and benefits,” Geisinger said in a statement to WVIA. “We look forward to continuing caring for our community together.”
The 800 unionized nurses at Geisinger Wyoming Valley, Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre and Geisinger Healthplex CenterPoint are represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare PA. Negotiations with Geisinger started in November. The union's previous contract expired at the end of January.
The nurses said “uncompetitive wages and insufficient benefits” caused employee burnout, leading to the vacancy of 300 nursing positions. They said Geisinger relied on travel nurses to fill those positions.
Throughout negotiations, they felt that Geisinger did not budge on those issues, which led to stalling and eventually a five-day strike in February. Nurses also voted in March to authorize a second strike if necessary.
Union members said the new contract will strengthen the quality of care in Northeast Pennsylvania.
“Back during the pandemic, Geisinger executives put up signs that loudly proclaimed us heroes,” union member Jimmy Romanelli said.
“But COVID exposed and aggravated deep systemic problems in our healthcare system that were never addressed, especially understaffing, turnover and burnout. This contract victory is a huge leap forward in finally reckoning with this crisis. The wage increases, mandatory rest period for on-call, voice in our healthcare plan, increased security and other gains will help make nursing at Geisinger a sustainable career moving forward,” Romanelli said.
NEW DEAL IN FOCUS
According to the union, the new contract includes:
■ Raises of 13-26% over three years, with average wage increases of 18%
■ A commitment by Geisinger to create a new, more affordable health plan and a strong voice for nurses in the decision-making process for those plans
■ Safety and security provisions such as a new Workplace Violence Committee which nurses will be paid to participate in; annual in-person security training for all nurses on paid time; and legal support for nurses who have been assaulted
■ A new minimum of five hours of rest time for nurses before they are required to provide care while on-call
■ Improvements in pay for being on-call and fulfilling charge nurse duties
■ Protection of benefits, including mental health days and no on-call days for nurses over age 60
