Labor organizations and supporters from across Centre County pledged Wednesday evening to stand alongside more than 950 Mount Nittany Medical Center employees if they walk off the job later this month, urging hospital executives to return to the bargaining table with a new offer before a planned strike begins July 27.
Representatives from the Pennsylvania State Education Association’s Central Region, State College Area Education Association, Teamsters Local 8, CGE-UAW, SEIU Local 668, Seven Mountains AFL-CIO and other unions gathered at Sidney Friedman Park in State College to show their support for the healthcare workers, who have been unable to reach a new contract agreement with hospital management after months of negotiations.
Many supporters among the crowd held signs reading “Invest in all Mount Nittany workers. Excellent patient care takes all of us.”
The rally came one week after workers represented by SEIU Healthcare PA delivered the federally required strike notice of at least 10 days following a vote in which about 98% of union members approved a five-day strike beginning July 27 if a new contract is not reached.
Negotiations began April 29, and the previous three-year contract expired June 30. If it occurs, it would be the hospital’s first strike since 2004.
The union says its priorities include wage increases that keep pace with inflation, stronger protections against workplace violence and investments in staffing to improve recruitment and retention.
Hospital officials have said they remain committed to reaching a fair agreement while ensuring patient care continues uninterrupted.
Mount Nittany’s current contract proposal includes a 3% across-the-board wage increase in the first year, 2% increases in each of the following two years, additional pay grade increases for 19 positions, a 5% increase in year one for registered nurses, larger shift differentials and various workplace safety measures, among other items.
“Our proposal represents a meaningful investment in our employees while ensuring Mount Nittany Health remains a strong, independent health system for the future,” the health system wrote in a statement on Wednesday.
Hospital officials have also said that comprehensive plans are in place in the event of a strike. The medical center, emergency department, physician offices and outpatient practices will remain open if a strike occurs and patients should keep scheduled appointments unless contacted otherwise.
Connor Lewis, staff organizer and region advocacy coordinator for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said local unions are prepared to support workers throughout a strike if negotiations fail.
“I want to make it clear: workers from across Centre County will be on the picket line with them every single day that they have to strike,” Lewis said. “They will not be alone. They will have the support of area labor unions. They will have the financial resources of area labor unions, and they will have the unwavering solidarity of working families in this area.
“I think that Mount Nittany executives are living in the Centre County of 15 years ago. This is a new Centre County. Thousands of workers have organized in the past two years. This is a union county, and State College is a union town, and Mount Nittany has an obligation to get back to the table, get serious and negotiate a fair agreement with their workers.”
Much of Wednesday’s event focused on the connection between healthcare workers’ contract demands and patient care.
Shai McGowan, president of the State College Area Education Association, said there is a “powerful connection” between the work of teacher and healthcare professionals.
“In education, we say working conditions are student learning conditions. When educators, paraprofessionals, and secretaries have the staffing, resources, support, and respect they need, students receive the quality education they deserve,” McGowan. “The same principle applies in healthcare. Working conditions are patient care conditions. When nurses, technicians, service workers, and every member of the healthcare team have the support they need, patients receive safer, higher quality care. When workers are stretched too thin or undervalued, it isn’t just employees who suffer; patients and families feel the impact.”
McGowan said healthcare employees who worked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic deserve compensation that reflects their contributions.
“These are the same dedicated professionals who cared for our community during the darkest days of COVID-19,” she said. “They showed up with many of us, when many of us were asked to stay home, they risked their own health and their family’s health to care for ours. It is shameful that after those sacrifices, the Mount Nittany executives are offering raises that do not keep pace with inflation.”
She also questioned the hospital’s continued investment in expansion projects while negotiations remain unresolved.
“As I see the continued expansion of both the main hospital and its clinical sites, I can’t help but question where the organization’s fiscal priorities lie,” McGowan said. “While investing in updated facilities is important, investing in the employees who provide patient care must be an equal priority. New buildings and expanded spaces have little value without the dedicated, well-supported professionals needed to care for patients and keep those facilities operating effectively.”
Mount Nittany maintenance worker and union officer Josh Rosefsky believes that executives are more focused on reputation and expansion than prioritizing its staff. He says the wages offered do not meet the needs of his co-workers.
“These past months of negotiations with Mount Nittany executives have been difficult from the beginning,” Rosefsky said. “Our goal was simple: an agreement that protects patients and workers from workplace violence, moves standards of community care forward, and makes a fair investment in all employees who make award-winning care possible.
“But instead of investing in the workers who make the hospital’s reputation growth and profits possible, Mount Nittany executives have offered wage increases that are far from record inflation. Instead of investing in retaining and recruiting staff for the best care for our community, Mountain Nittany executives have prioritized constructing new towers and buildings.”
Rosefsky said employees remain hopeful an agreement can still be reached before the strike deadline.
“Striking is always a last resort,” he said. “We still hope to reach a fair agreement that invests in quality care and quality jobs for all. But Mountain Nittany workers have overwhelmingly decided to stand up.”
Other labor organizations echoed that message.
Rachel Wigmore, a fifth-year Penn State doctoral student representing CGE-UAW, said graduate workers preparing to negotiate their first contract see similarities between their own organizing campaign and the healthcare workers’ efforts.
“Mount Nittany has repeatedly said how important its workers are in its mission, but at the same time deny what your labor is worth,” Wigmore said. “This is very familiar to us… In my opinion, it all comes down to a lack of respect and a respect that we’re here united to demand… Both of these attempts to divide were quickly rejected by workers because we know that standing together is how we win, and we will keep standing in unity until we end.”
Jon Light, president of Teamsters Local 8, which represents about 2,500 technical service workers at Penn State, said his union would honor the workers’ picket line.
“What we have here are essentially bad ideas,” Light said. “When corporation greed forgets who made them the profits, bad idea. Putting a community at risk by not negotiating a fair contract that meets rising inflation, bad idea. Not recognizing the highly skilled labor and professionalism that workers do every day for this hospital, another bad idea. To test the fortitude of these workers, bad idea.”
Negotiations between Mount Nittany management and the union are expected to resume on Thursday.
Hospital officials said “they look forward to continuing good-faith negotiations as we work toward reaching a fair agreement.”
Union representatives said they also hope to reach an acceptable deal, but are ready to strike on July 27 if not.
“We are prepared to strike for what should always be the heart of healthcare: the best quality care for our patients in our community,” Rosefsky said.
