Raises for West Penn, Allegheny General nurses could help retain workers, union says

Staffing shortages at Pittsburgh-area hospitals have been exacerbated by the pandemic, with many nurses fleeing the health care industry for good.

Pennsylvania’s largest union for health care workers said an agreement reached last week with Allegheny Health Network will raise nurses’ wages in an attempt to combat staffing problems.

SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, said in a statement that nurses at Pittsburgh’s West Penn and Allegheny General hospitals will receive raises of up to 13%. The pay increases will be effective in full immediately.

Katrina Rectenwald, a registered nurse who is president of the nurses’ union at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh’s North Side, said the past two years have been extremely hard on local nurses. She believes the raises will help retain nurses on staff.

“We’ve worked through wave after wave of covid and through both staff and PPE shortages,” Rectenwald said. “This wage package is the kind of investment we’ll need to see more of to rebuild the front lines of care in our hospitals.”

A recent survey conducted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work found that 93% of hospital workers in Pittsburgh were considering leaving their jobs, and that many had sought raises and improved benefits as methods to help avoid nurses leaving the industry.

Union nurses at West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield negotiated an agreement that makes a 9% average investment per nurse and covers nurses of all experience levels, according to a press release.

Nurses at West Penn received a mixture of raises and bonuses, depending on their wage scale, according to a union spokesperson. Every nurse received a raise effective immediately, and some nurses also received a bonus.

Susie McShea is a registered nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at West Penn. She has worked there for 36 years and said that before nurses at West Penn formed a union at the hospital, her wages were capped, but now that cap has been lifted. She said now all nurses at West Penn have been able to receive wage increases, which has boosted morale.

Allegheny Health Network spokesman Dan Laurent said the raises were part of a $92 million workforce investment that the health network announced earlier this year. Laurent said AHN is hoping to see similar results with nurses in Canonsburg in upcoming negotiations.

“It is important to note that these investments 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,” Laurent said.