CAMPAIGN STOP
Gillibrand voices support for UPMC workers’ union organizing drive
The presidential campaign stop in Pittsburgh by U. S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D- N. Y., on Thursday was billed as a discussion about the pharmaceutical industry and rising drug costs.
But the eight- year efforts by SEIU HealthCare Pennsylvania to unionize UPMC workers quickly took center stage during the 40- minute event in Oakland, as Ms. Gillibrand heard from an administrative assistant, a food service worker, a former nursing assistant and others about their struggle to pay their own medical bills.
“It sounds like it’s deeply unfair,” Ms. Gillibrand said after Nila Payton, an administrative assistant at UPMC Presbyterian for 13 years, related how she owes UPMC $ 4,000 for prenatal care and services provided for other family members.
“I don’t expect it to be free,” Ms. Payton said later, “but they know how much I’m making and how much I can afford.
“I don’t think you should be in debt to your employer.”
The union organizing campaign has gone many rounds, with the National Labor Relations Board citing UPMC for unfair labor practices in the past but siding with the health giant last month in removing non- employee SEIU representatives from its hospital cafeterias.
“For eight years, the SEIU has been attempting to organize employees at various UPMC locations, with no success,” UPMC spokeswoman Gloria Kreps said Thursday.
“We continue to believe that our employees have better experiences when they work directly with their management teams. Employees should not have to pay the SEIU in union dues to get the fair treatment they deserve.”
UPMC has committed to instituting a $ 15- an- hour minimum wage in 2021 — as well as offering education and retirement benefits — but that has not quieted the debate about what constitutes a living wage.
Moderating Thursday’s roundtable was Jeffrey Shook, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work, who has been researching that issue. He and his colleagues specifically looked at two groups — workers making $ 12.50 to $ 15.50 an hour and those earning $ 15.50 to $ 18 an hour — to see how they fared at affording their basic needs.
“The higher group was struggling as much as the lower group,” he said. Then, referring to the day’s testimony from UPMC workers, he added, “Our work corroborates what these people said.”
Despite occasional NLRB rulings, it’s unclear where the organizing campaign stands — SEIU Healthcare shows no signs of going away but there’s also no indication it plans to call for a vote soon.
“We’re getting bigger and stronger, so it’s definitely progressing,” said Alexandria Cutler, a UPMC food service attendant.
But Savanna Melton, a former nursing assistant at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, said it’s not always easy — after workers become known as union supporters, they tend to be passed over for promotions then get discouraged and leave.
That’s what happened with her, she said. Last year, she took a similar position at Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side. “But now there’s not someone at Western Psych advocating for the union,” she said.