Geisinger health care workers ratify new contracts, avert strike
A planned strike among union health care workers at Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton was averted Friday when they ratified three-year contracts.
More than 900 members of affiliated locals of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals union previously voted overwhelmingly in favor of a five-day strike, starting May 9, with 98% voting yes, unless contract agreements were reached.
Workers spanning multiple job classifications at GCMC — from registered and licensed practical nurses to certified registered nurse anesthetists, social workers, chaplains, technicians, pharmacists and respiratory, physical and occupational therapists — voted in March to authorize a strike if necessary.
That vote followed a late January picketing session outside the Scranton hospital, where workers cited concerns about staffing ratios and hospital security.
The Northeast Pennsylvania Nurses Association, a PASNAP local representing 535 GCMC registered nurses and certified registered nurse anesthetists, had been negotiating for a new contract after the prior contract expired Jan. 12.
On Friday, 90% voted to ratify a new contract, which includes the right to file a grievance if GCMC is not appropriately staffing the hospital, a security personnel “huddle” to discuss all relevant safety incidents with the goal of implementing a visitor registration and control procedure to help track who comes into the hospital and ensure the safety of all patients and staff, and wage increases — 16% across the lifetime of the contract, according to a PASNAP release.
“We secured the biggest increase I’ve seen in my career as a nurse, which should go a long way toward keeping RNs here at GCMC, caring for the community we love and that has long supported us,” perioperative care nurse Kali Gargone, membership chair of the Northeast Pennsylvania Nurses Association at GCMC, said in a release.
Additionally, 95% of the 345 licensed practical nurses, technicians and degreed professionals who had been bargaining since May 2023 for their first contract voted Friday to ratify the contract which includes back pay for overtime bonus shifts worked since May 7, and a new wage scale to improve recruitment and retention at the hospital. The average across-the-board increase will be 11% over three years, with some employees seeing as much as a 20% increase in the first year, per the release.
Also, 90% of the 56 nurse practitioners and physician assistants who had also been bargaining since May for their first contract voted to ratify the contract which includes a wage scale that respects experience and expertise, per the release.
Renee Blakiewicz, vice president and chief nursing officer of Geisinger’s northeast region, issued a statement on the ratifications of the contracts.
“We’re pleased to have reached three-year labor agreements with PASNAP that recognize the outstanding care our nurses, nurse anesthetists, advanced practitioners, professionals, and technologists provide at Geisinger Community Medical Center every day,” she said. “The considerable wage and benefits agreements they’ve ratified put them among the most well-compensated professionals for their positions in our market. These contracts reaffirm Geisinger’s commitment to recruiting and retaining talented and dedicated care providers and supporters, as well as our forward-thinking approach to employee engagement and professional development.”
