Unions file antritrust lawsuit against UPMC
A group of unions has filed an anti-trust lawsuit against UPMC, calling on the government to investigate the health care giant’s alleged “abuse of market power against workers and patients.”
The suit alleges that UPMC uses a “dominant market position to allegedly suppress wages and increase workloads, and then lock workers into substandard conditions by restricting their movement and illegally retaliating against workers who speak out for better conditions.”
Click here to read the full complaint.
The plaintiffs say the complaint follows a nine-month investigation.
President of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania Matt Yarnell held a virtual meeting about the complaint earlier this week.
UPMC Chief Communications Officer Paul Wood sent Channel 11 the following statement:
UPMC is moving to $18 per hour for our non-union workforce by 2025. This is the highest entry-level of any health care provider in the state. UPMC is among the best places to work in all the regions we served throughout PA, NY and MD due to our wages and our above-industry employee benefits, which are designed to support our employees and their families.
o UPMC added first-dollar health care coverage, through the introduction of HRAs, for our employees making less than $18.04 per hour or about $37,500 per year. For 2023, we added HRAs for our employees making up to around $75,000 per year to help offset these same costs.
o UPMC was the first health care organization in PA to offer Paid Parental Leave and among the first to offer backup/emergency daycare for our workforce.
o UPMC’s health care premiums are often half of what other health systems in the area charge.
o UPMC also provides an important role in the community for those without college degrees. UPMC provides careers that allow individuals to come to UPMC in entry level roles, and utilizing our career ladders, support systems, and tuition assistance programs they can go as far as they would like in advancing themselves. Tuition assistance is also offered for dependent children and spouses/partners.
UPMC’s average wage is more than $78,000.
o There are no other employers of size and scope in the regions UPMC serves that provide good paying jobs at every level and an average wage of this magnitude.
Nursing care UPMC provides for our patients is based on their acuity and needs, not staffing ratios, enabling us to staff with flexibility, deploying our nurses to best meet patients’ needs.
There is no policy that prohibits someone who leaves employment at a UPMC facility from being hired by another UPMC facility.
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