UPMC’s recent move to dole out $500 bonuses did little to quell mounting concerns among some workers who accuse the health care giant of trying to squash their efforts to unionize.
“There was no ‘thank you pay’ until we started organizing to strike,” Juilia Centofanti, a pharmacy technician at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood, said Friday. “Paying us a living wage of $20/hour would mean $400 more in every single paycheck. You better believe I will cash this $500 check because we have already worked to make UPMC a billion in profit.
“We’re owed this and so much more and I will continue organizing with my co-workers for the pay, safer staffing and union rights we deserve.”
Centofanti plans to be among an unknown number of UPMC employees planning a one-day strike later this month in the name of better wages, benefits and treatment from the Downtown Pittsburgh-based health care giant, organizers announced Friday. She was among a couple dozen employees, elected officials, faith-based leaders and union supporters at a small rally and news conference outside of UPMC’s corporate headquarters at the U.S. Steel Tower in Downtown Pittsburgh.
“I’m proud of these workers — they’re standing up to demand fair pay and treatment,” said state Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-West View. “UPMC had their best year on record during the pandemic, yet the workers who kept UPMC hospitals running in the middle of a global public health crisis didn’t even receive hazard pay. Enough is enough.”
UPMC officials declined to comment on the planned strike and allegations of unfair pay and retaliation.
The Nov. 18 walkout aims to achieve “fair pay, safer staffing, better working conditions, and the right to form their union without retaliation or interference,” organizers said. They say they’re joining hourly workers from around the country from a wide range of industries “who are standing up to demand fair pay and treatment.”
“We’ve spent day and night seeing the community through this pandemic, only to see signs on our way to work advertising jobs at Amazon or the coffee shop offering better wages when we’re putting our lives on the line every day to take care of our community members when they’re sick,” said Zarah Livingston, a patient care technician at UPMC Mercy hospital. “On Nov. 18, we are standing up and fighting back.”
In recent years, the National Labor Relations Board in Pittsburgh has issued orders to UPMC regarding claims of unlawful intimidation, threats and surveillance of workers and the removal of union literature from a break room at UPMC Presbyterian, Shadyside, Children’s and Mercy hospitals. UPMC has flatly denied such retaliation.
Hard numbers on the number of employees who walk off their jobs — with advance notice so as not to impact patient care — are not yet available “because more and more workers sign up every day,” organizers said.
More than 700 employees signed a petition seeking “$20/hour minimum wages, affordable high-quality health care, elimination of all medical debt and respect for union rights.”
Among those who plan to protest: transporters, dietary workers, housekeepers, nurses, patient care techs, medical assistants, pharmacy techs, surgical techs, valets, therapists, health unit coordinators and administrative assistants.
Similar one-day protests in the past have drawn several dozen of UPMC’s 92,000 employees.
SEIU Healthcare does not currently represent most Pittsburgh-based UPMC employees, though efforts to galvanize employees to unionize have been brewing over the past decade. (Exceptions include Western Psychiatric Hospital and UPMC Altoona, which retained unions that existed prior to UPMC’s operation.)
The goal of protesters is to win the power to negotiate better wages and benefits packages. They also want to have a larger say, or at least ensure their voices are heard, in high-level decisions made by those at the helm of the multibillion-dollar nonprofit.
“We cannot have a healthy region if our biggest employer is paying poverty wages. Wages are the biggest social determinant of health, and right now, Pennsylvanians are tired of propping up an institution that keeps their massive workforce in poverty,” said Jeffrey Shook, a University of Pittsburgh professor of social work and sociology who was alongside union supporters at Friday’s event. “Our research shows people need $20/hour to reduce the material and financial hardships experienced by many workers — which include poor health, undue stress, lack of mobility and diminished chances for their children.”
John Galley, UPMC’s chief human resources officer, told the Tribune-Review earlier this week that the idea for the $500 bonuses “started with senior management, who recognized the amazing work our teams are doing.”
The $46 million worth of bonuses are part of about $300 million the health care provider said it plans to spend in 2022 to improve compensation and benefits. To address staffing shortages, UPMC will increase the hourly rate when employees take on additional shifts during nights and weekends.
Senior-level employees at UPMC were not eligible for the $500 bonuses.
Despite extra costs and challenges associated with the covid-19 pandemic, the 40-hospital nonprofit health care provider and insurer took in a record-high $23.1 billion in 2020 operating revenue and remains on track for another record-breaking year.
Natasha Lindstrom is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Natasha at 412-380-8514, nlindstrom@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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