Nurses at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital vote to unionize

Over 700 nurses at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital unionized at the end of August after decades of organizing efforts. 

The nurses voted to unionize with SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania on Aug. 19 and 23 with a vote of 402-305. The union will include all full-time and regular part-time registered nurses.

Magee nurses petitioned to unionize on May 27 this year over concerns regarding understaffing, employee pay and more representation in decision-making at the hospital.

After the nurses first petitioned in May, UPMC responded in June arguing that certain senior nurses in leadership roles — who would have made up 20% of the vote — function as supervisors and could not vote. UPMC also said that the National Labor Relations Board — which conducts union elections — lacked a quorum to make decisions after President Donald Trump fired one of its board members. 

The regional NLRB offices rejected the first UPMC claim against senior nurses and scheduled a union election despite the lack of quorum argument.

However, on Aug. 19, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the NLRB could not prosecute unfair labor practices because the structure of the NLRB itself is likely unconstitutional. The case is likely to reach the Supreme Court, where some argue the current court justices lean heavily against unionizing.

State Rep. Dan Frankel said that, though he’s unfamiliar with this court decision, the NLRB is critical in decision-making that ensures workers can hold fair elections. 

“I would be very concerned that the NLRB could be compromised in its ability to continue to do the work that is so critical to ensuring that workers in Pennsylvania and around the country have a voice at the table in terms of determining their own destiny,” Frankel said.

Frankel added that the work environment for nurses at the bedside is particularly challenging, which leads to lower retention — even though their work is critical. 

“Maternity and neonatal care is really important and, I think, challenging for anybody in that workforce,” Frankel said.

UPMC provided a comment commending the nurses’ decision to unionize.

“We respect the decision of UPMC Magee nurses to unionize with the [Service Employees International Union] and look forward to building a respectful partnership,” a UPMC spokesperson said. “We remain committed to fostering a collaborative work environment focused on providing exceptional care for our patients.”

One of the nurses who voted to unionize was Mo Deken, a senior professional staff nurse at Magee, who hopes for an increase in staffing and retention. Deken said she believes unions foster collaboration and is inspired by unionized facilities such as Allegheny General Hospital and West Penn Hospital.

“I’ve worked in union places and non-union places and I think, in general, when nurses have the ability to advocate for themselves and their patients, the care is better,” Deken said. “The younger nurses need to learn from the older ones, and we need to keep those older nurses at the bedside for longer.”

Stephanie Corey, a registered nurse at Magee who voted to unionize, said these ratios should be improved.

“The staffing here is a problem sometimes, and I’d like there to be a system where we call in more nurses when we need more nurses,” Corey said. “We don’t want nurses to have inappropriate numbers of patients or have too many really high acuity patients. It’s inappropriate — it affects patient care. It’s a safety issue.”

Some nurses, including Mona Ellis, a registered nurse at Magee for the last ten years, voted against unionizing. Ellis said this hospital is the best place that she has worked, citing the nursing “perks” Magee provides — including the option to take an extra week of vacation and choose not to be pulled into another unit.

Ellis also has wavering opinions over union dues.

“I have a great boss who hears us,” Ellis said. “I don’t like the fact that they’re going to take, from my understanding, 1.8% out of each paycheck for dues. I think that’s a pretty good amount of money that I worked very hard to get.”

Despite some nurses’ concern over understaffing, Ellis said the management in her oncology unit works hard to ensure the ratios of nurses and patients remain on the lower end — even in the face of nursing shortages.

“Right now, in nursing, you can’t materialize people and make them work,” Ellis said. “The max[imum] we have on my unit is six [nurses] in daylight, seven at night. But I come from a place where, when I started, we had higher ratios. One of the reasons I came here was that the ratios were better.”

Allegheny County executive Sara Innamorato celebrated the recent unionization decision at Magee. 

“There is an incredible amount of gratitude that we owe the nurses at Magee for doing something so selfless, so inspiring and so brave to fight against a behemoth and an anti-union campaign, to come together in solidarity and form this union,” Innamorato said.

Advanced practice registered nurses at Magee are scheduled to vote on whether to unionize on Sept. 6 and 9, which would include about 100 health professionals. 

Other unionized UPMC Hospitals in Western Pennsylvania are Western Psychiatric, McKeesport and Washington. 

Daniel Heuckeroth, who works in the transport department at Magee, said he believes the whole hospital needs a union. Heuckeroth argued that UPMC only provides its workers with the “bare minimum” and is worried he won’t be able to retire, despite his increasing age.

“It’s not only pay, but I feel the overall responsibility is also on the employer when it comes to our retirement. Our parents had pensions, and companies took care of their people,” Heuckeroth said. “People worked their whole lives for companies, and I feel like now we’re just disposable, almost.”