Schuylkill County nurses criticize health network over contract negotiations

Mar. 27—Nurses are leaving Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill because of stress and workload, and management isn't doing enough about it.

That is the claim by the union representing nurses at the two Pottsville hospitals as they continue to negotiate a new contract and push for passage of a federal law they believe would help alleviate some of their concerns.

Baschki Robertson, a senior representative for the Office and Professional Employees International Union, said during a virtual press conference Thursday that management of LVH-Schuylkill has come into bargaining with "an aggressive stance" that she said silences nurses.

She claims management wants to abolish nurses' roles on safety and staffing committees and force overtime, which she said is allowed only in emergency situations under Act 102.

OPEIU Local 112's proposals to create safer environments for health care workers and patients and address staffing have been rejected by management, she said.

Brandee Siegfried, of Pottsville, bargaining team leader for LVH-Schuylkill and a nurse for 18 years, said non-unionized employees get bonuses that union members don't get and that staffing "has been an issue" at the hospital.

The union and hospital are negotiating a three-year contract for 95 nurses. The previous contract expired June 30, but it was extended to March 31.

Lehigh Valley Hospital spokesman M. Michael Peckman said he couldn't discuss contract negotiations publicly "out of respect for the collective bargaining process."

Staffing shortages

Siegfried said after the conference the hospital has been losing staff for the past few years. Ten to 15 nurses who have left in the past six months haven't been replaced, she said.

They feel stressed with the workload and don't believe management has listened to their concerns, she said.

The shortages have resulted in a reduction of usable beds, and nurses are often being moved to units for which they are not specialized, Siegfried said.

Christine Newton, of Palo Alto, the union's other bargaining team leader and a nurse in the city for 19 years, said the pandemic exposed problems that have existed for years. She said even with the risk of COVID-19, nurses went to work every day.

"We didn't complain; we worked eight- to 16-hour days," she said, noting some union members contracted the disease.

Newton said nurses also took over the role of family, whether supporting expecting mothers or dying patients, because of visitor restrictions.

"We're fighting for a fair and equitable contract to provide the best care for the community," she said.

Newton called it unfair that nurses not in the union have been given bonuses and extra days off during the pandemic.

Siegfried said at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill S. Jackson Street, the nursing staff and a security guard have had to handle emergencies on the three psychiatric wards, and that some nurses have been injured. One of the proposals she said was rejected by management called for a security officer at the building at all times.

Siegfried said the raise proposed by management of less than 1% is a "slap in the face," and the 3% retirement contribution is lower than other Lehigh Valley Health Network hospitals.

She said management is proposing lowering the raise for nurses with 20 and 25 years of service from 25 to 10 cents and eliminating incremental increases for nurses of three, five, seven and nine-year employment.

"That isn't good for retention," Siegfried said.

PRO Act impact

The nurses' virtual press conference took place at the same time a webinar was hosted by the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Allentown-based law firm Hoffman, Hlavac and Easterly, which represents the hospital in negotiations, on the impact the PRO Act, or Protecting the Right to Organize, could have on businesses, said Robertson. She called the webinar "anti-union and anti-worker."

The act was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in February and awaits a vote in the U.S. Senate.

Newton said the legislation would allow "enforceable penalties" against companies that violate workers' rights and gives workers the ability to speak out without fear of retaliation. She said unions gives nurses a say in hospital decisions.

"It makes the working environment not just better for nurses, but for patients, the hospital and the community we live in," she said.

Siegfried said the act would better protect nurses.

"Nurses are supposed to be heroes, but we're not being treated as heroes," she said.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes the PRO Act, saying it would "undermine worker rights, ensnare employers in unrelated labor disputes, disrupt the economy and force individual Americans to pay union dues regardless of their wishes."

Contact the writer: clee@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6028; @Cleespot on Twitter