New contract calls for some workers at Allegheny Valley Hospital to get raises up to 26% over next 3 years

Union workers at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison are lauding a new three-year pact that will raise the hourly wage of some employees by as much as 26% over the next three years.

Members of Service Employee International Union Healthcare Pennsylvania began negotiations with Allegheny Health Network officials in early June. They voted overwhelmingly to approve the pact, according to a news release from the union representing clerical, technical, service and maintenance workers.

Union workers at AHN’s hospital in Canonsburg also are affected. The contract affects about 100 employees at each of the two hospitals, said Matt Yarnell, the union’s state president.

This month, workers at Allegheny Valley Hospital will get raises averaging 6.2%, with an additional 12.2% in wage hikes over the next three years.

Some employees will get raises above the averages up to a total 26% increase.

The average raise for workers at Canonsburg Hospital will be 5.7% in July, followed by raises totaling 11.7% over the next three years.

None of the unionized employees at either hospital will get a raise in July of less than 3%, plus 50 cents an hour, officials said.

“Hospitals across the country are facing staffing challenges that are leading to significant turnover,” Yarnell said, noting that the hospital system has had to address the shortfall in workers by hiring so-called “traveler” employees through an outside agency at a significantly higher cost.

“Our feeling as we entered the negotiations was that if they’re going to spend the money to hire traveler employees then they should be investing in their own employees,” Yarnell said. “We know the main reason workers are leaving is pay. So this contract specifically addresses a way to retain workers.”

Union members said they lobbied hospital officials to make significant investments in pay to reduce turnover and improve recruitment as the nation faces a hospital staffing crisis that was exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic.

“We’ve been on the front lines since the pandemic started,” said Kristine Hulefeld, an echocardiography technologist at Allegheny Valley Hospital. “Many of our coworkers left for higher pay or less stress somewhere else. But we stayed because we’re committed to our patients and our hospital.

“The investments we negotiated as a union will ensure that we can recruit and retain staff moving forward.”

Dan Laurent, vice president of communications for AHN, said the health care system earlier this year announced that it would make a “substantial planned compensation and benefit investment in our workforce.”

“We are very pleased to have reached fair and competitive new contracts with our represented team members at AVH and Canonsburg Hospital,” he said.

Laurent said the contract “reflects the investments we are making to reward employees across the organization, at all levels, inclusive of represented and nonrepresented team members, for the high quality, compassionate care they provide to our patients, particularly during these challenging times.”

The contract will run through June 2025.

SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania represents 45,000 workers in the medical field across the state.