Roughly 1,200 service and technical workers at Pittsburgh-based Allegheny General Hospital have voted to join SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, the state's largest healthcare union, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times.
The workers include respiratory therapists, as well as radiology and lab technicians, nursing assistants, environmental and food service workers and secretaries.
Here are four things to know about the vote.
1. Service workers voted with 83 percent support and technical workers voted with 72 percent support.
2. With the vote, the service and technical workers join 1,200 registered nurses at AGH, as well as registered nurses and service workers at Canonsburg (Pa.) Hospital and Allegheny Valley Hospital in Natrona Heights, Pa., who are also part of the union.
3. Donald Copper, an advanced life support tech who has worked at AGH for nine years, spoke positively of the vote. "We are at the frontlines of the biggest industry in Pittsburgh, and we are excited to work with each other and management to create a stronger, brighter future for our hospital," he said in a news release.
4. AGH said the hospital strongly believes effective labor-management relations can be achieved without the influence of a third party, but respects the vote, according to WTAE. The hospital added that it is committed to "a productive, collaborative relationship" with all employees.