Contract reached
The bargaining committee for union employees at Washington Hospital announced Monday night it reached a tentative agreement with management on a contract, following more than nine hours of negotiations.
Service Employees International Union Healthcare Pennsylvania, representing about 400 hospital workers, and management from Washington Health System, parent of the hospital, began talking about noon and reached an accord about 9:30 p.m.
Karen Gownley, spokeswoman for SEIU in Harrisburg, had no other details. She said the talks took place in the Washington area, but did not know the venue.
She said workers will meet to vote on the tentative pact, but did not have a timetable.
The talks ended an eight-day layoff in negotiations.
The SEIU employees had been working without a contract since Jan. 31, when their three-year pact expired. The two sides negotiated Jan. 30 and 31, with the latter session continuing into the early morning of Feb. 1. That was the last time they talked until Monday.
Negotiations began in late December. Monday’s session was the 10th.
The union represents workers in the maintenance, housekeeping and dietary units, plus unit secretaries. They comprise about one-fourth of the payroll of the health system, which numbers 1,723.
SEIU members, concerned about health care costs, were seeking a minimum wage of $15 per hour.
They met Feb. 2 and voted to allow the union to issue a 10-day strike notice. The employees had planned a two-day strike Feb. 16 and 17 if a deal wasn’t forged.