Mar 10, 2015 2 min read

Nurses at Canonsburg Hospital voted overwhelmingly Monday night to unionize.

The nurses voted 75 to 21 to join Service Employees International Union, meaning contract negotiations are expected to commence soon with Allegheny Health Network, which operates the hospital.

There are 118 nurses who work at the hospital in North Strabane Township, which has been operating since 1904 and was absorbed in the mid-1990s by the health care organization that eventually became AHN.

A representative with SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania provided two written statements from nurses who voted in favor of forming a union. The spokeswoman did not respond to questions about what the current average pay is for nurses at the hospital, what additional benefits the union will be requesting or what prompted the workers to join SEIU.

“We are in a changing health care environment, and through our union, we can work with management to make our hospital even better for patients and the community who we serve and for each other,” said Merri Beth Allen, a nurse who has worked at Canonsburg Hospital for 32 years.

The SEIU’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., did not return a phone message or email.

Allegheny Health Network spokesman Dan Laurent said the system disagreed with the decision but accepted it and is now prepared to begin contract negotiations in the near future.

“We strongly believe that effective labor-management relations can be achieved without the influence of a third party,” Laurent said. “With that said, we also respect the right for employees to organize. Moving forward, we are fully committed to engaging in a productive and collaborative relationship with all members of our workforce at Canonsburg Hospital.”

SEIU also has represented maintenance, business office and clerical workers at the hospital for 30 years, Laurent said.

Carol Cramer, a medical-surgical nurse who has worked at the hospital for 37 years, said they were “thrilled” with the vote’s outcome and hoped it would give the nurses a “stronger voice” in the future.

“We look forward to working with hospital management to strengthen the high standards of care we are all proud of at our hospital,” Cramer said.