Despite the rain and biting wind, union members from Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton rallied Thursday for higher wages and what they called fair treatment from their employer.
Members of Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, or PASNAP, affiliated unions at GCMC called on Geisinger to bring their wages up to what they said are the higher salaries of employees at the health system’s other hospitals.
“Real investment isn't measured in stories and concrete and steel. Real investment isn't measured in billboards and scholarships. It's measured in people who show up every day for their community,” said Jen Huber, the union president of GCMC’s registered nurses.
PASNAP presented a petition signed by nearly 400 GCMC technical, professional and advanced practice professional employees that demands market wages to Geisinger’s corporate headquarters in Danville Thursday morning.
The petition comes after the union said it was denied meetings with Geisinger corporate management to discuss wages and their impact on employee retention as a contract reopener.
“Our PASNAP-represented colleagues are critical to the care we provide at Geisinger Community Medical Center. We value their commitment to serving our community, and we respect their rights as union members," Geisinger spokesperson Matt Mattei said in a statement.
"We’re committed to maintaining the terms of our existing collective bargaining agreements and to engaging in good-faith bargaining in accordance with those agreements,” Mattei said.
Asked later Thursday about specific points raised at the rally, Mattei said Geisinger stood by the statement.
Union says GCMC has retention issues
PASNAP said the union believes Geisinger is paying salaries to nonunion technical and professional employees at campuses near GCMC that are an average of 15% higher than what they pay GCMC workers in the same positions. The union said it believes that has caused a more than 30% turnover in those employees since their last contract began in 2024.
Drew Yanni, a physician’s assistant in the ICU at GCMC, said when he started two years ago, he worked on a team of nine PAs. By January, his team will be down to two- just him and one other PA.
“Those of us who remain are being run into the ground. We're being told, not asked, but told that we must switch between day and night shift within the exact same week just to maintain minimal staffing. We're already being asked repeatedly to work excessive overtime,” Yanni said.
Tiffanie Frisbie, a union member and physical therapist assistant, said low staffing has caused burnout. She said patients have become more medically complex and require more time and resources from their clinicians.
“At the same time, our staffing numbers are stretched incredibly thin. We cannot continue to ask fewer and fewer therapists to do more and more while expecting the same level of quality care,” Frisbie said.
She said she’s seen physical therapists follow the money out of Geisinger.
“Not so fun fact: in just the last six months, nine of our therapists have left the hospital for better-paying jobs. And since I've been with Geisinger, it's at least more than double,” Frisbie said.
The staff disruptions can also disrupt patient care, said Emily Stanski, a vascular lab tech and union secretary.
“Losing experienced employees doesn't just mean filling an empty position; it means losing institutional knowledge, clinical experience, established relationships, and the continuity that patients and their families depend on,” she said.
Union says pay discrepancies drive away employees
Yanni said many of his colleagues were driven out by pay discrepancies between them and people in similar roles at Geisinger Wyoming Valley.
“They gave our sister hospital, Geisinger Wyoming Valley, a raise. The ICUPAs all got a raise [but] us, and basically they said, "Hey, sorry, you have to wait three years to negotiate. You don't get this raise as well," in an attempt to get us to be upset with our union more so than with them,” Yanni said.
He said his remaining colleagues reached out to Geisinger’s upper management to propose scheduling changes that would relieve their burnout.
“In June, we met with upper leadership and proposed our changes. They told us they would get back to us in one week, and we did not hear back until September 21st. The response came from the director of labor relations, and basically he said they were not interested,” Yanni said.
Yanni said travel PAs get paid ‘more than double’ permanent staff salaries.
“You may ask yourself why why they would throw away hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay travel PAs, why Geisinger would die on the hill of scheduling changes and let three of our last five ICU PAs walk away, and the answer is simple: Geisinger wants to destroy this union,” he said.
Union members said the pay discrepancies make it difficult to attract new graduates to work at the hospital.
“We also have graduates choosing positions at neighboring facilities because the difference in starting pay is so significant,” said Christina Sowell, a respiratory therapist and union member at GCMC. “How can we expect to recruit and retain qualified therapists, any staff, when they can earn considerably more simply by working somewhere else?”
The union said it requested to reopen contract negotiations, despite the current three-year contract’s validity through April 2027, upon finding out about the pay disparity between GCMC union employees and employees at other Geisinger locations.
“We made three separate requests to meet with GCMC administration to discuss the patient care concerns resulting from unfair pay and the need for retention. Three times we asked for a conversation, and three times we were refused,” said Stanski.
Support from elected officials
State Reps. Kyle Donahue and Kyle Mullins, both Democrats from Lackawanna County, joined the union for Thursday’s press conference.
Donahue expressed frustration with the union’s claims that Geisinger refused to meet with them and that the health system pays traveling professionals higher wages than in-house employees.
“I’m here to stand today with these workers and make one thing very clear: they deserve better. I'm calling on Geisinger leadership to stop avoiding these conversations, meet with PASNAP and work towards a fair agreement that recognizes the value of these employees,” Donahue said.
Mullins urged the health system to treat all of its employees fairly, not just based on their union status or which hospital they work at.
“We aren't talking about competing healthcare systems here, we're talking about the Geisinger umbrella. We should be expecting this healthcare system to be treating all of its professionals at all of its locations with equity and dignity, and respect, and that's exactly what we are here to call on them to do, to take advantage of that chance, of that opportunity, to do the right thing,” Mullins said.
State Rep. Bridget Kosierowski (D-Lackawanna), a former nurse, weighed in with a submitted statement.
“I urge Geisinger leadership to come to the table, listen to these dedicated professionals, and work toward a fair resolution. Our healthcare workers show up for our community every day, and they deserve an employer willing to show up for them,” Kosierowski said.
State Sen. Marty Flynn (D-Lackawanna) also said he supports the union and urges Geisinger to come to the negotiating table.
“We cannot afford to lose experienced healthcare professionals because they can earn better wages just down the road. Retaining these workers is important to our local healthcare system and the patients who depend on it,” Flynn said.
