With the deadline for a new union contract approaching, Mount Nittany Hospital workers said they were shocked and disappointed by what they described as the medical center’s refusal to invest in employees as negotiations continue.
Union officials said Mount Nittany Medical Center’s latest contract proposal included a zero percent wage increase for workers, despite what they described as high profit margins. The proposal also included cuts to benefits aimed at promoting staffing and retention, union officials said.
Two employees briefly stepped out of negotiations to describe their reaction.
“We kind of feel like we kind of put everything we have into that facility and taking care of patients and doing the things that we do on a day-to-day basis and to see that be a zero percent was pretty surprising,”
Workers also raised concerns about proposed changes to seniority bonuses that employees currently earn for staying with the hospital.
“New employees coming in, they would have them split where they didn’t have their longevity bonuses, or longevity raises I should say. It basically makes it so they have one rate the entire time they’re here,” said Josh Rosefsky, a utilities specialist. Rosefsky said the change would make it more difficult to recruit new hospital staff.
With little time remaining before the current union contract expires, workers said investing in wages and workplace safety will be priorities in the next few days of negotiations.
“We’re still looking for workplace safety. That’s a big thing. There’s been too many incidents recently. Safety is a really really big priority, but we also want it to remain such that everybody can continue to afford to work there too,”
Another worker said, “We’re not looking to divide up the union and the hospital. We’re looking out for the lower end of the hospital obviously.”
Mount Nittany Health responded with a statement saying it intends to continue negotiating in good faith and remains focused on maintaining long-term sustainability as an independent health system while continuing to provide fair and competitive pay and benefits for all members of its team.
Contract negotiations between Mount Nittany and the union will continue throughout the day on Wednesday. Another session is set for Monday and Tuesday of next week before the deadline on July 1.