Contract negotiations were fruitless between Corning (N.Y.) Hospital management and its 450-worker union, ending without an agreement last Friday and adding to the likelihood the union will picket, according to a report by The Leader.
Employees are currently working on a three-year contract, which was extended to June 9 from its expiration date April 30. A spokesman for Sayre, Pa.-based Guthrie Health, which owns Corning Hospital, said contract discussions will resume in early June, though no date has been set.
A representative from the Service Employees International Union, which represents Corning workers, said the main items of contention in negotiations with management are related to higher insurance plan costs and their demands for a 3.5 percent annual wage increase and a boost in pension benefits. Management had originally proposed no 2013 wage increase, citing economic factors, according to the report.
The union will not strike but is planning an information picket, which requires 10-day notification to management. The hospital's last such picket in 2003 lasted six weeks until a mutually satisfying contract was signed.
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Employees are currently working on a three-year contract, which was extended to June 9 from its expiration date April 30. A spokesman for Sayre, Pa.-based Guthrie Health, which owns Corning Hospital, said contract discussions will resume in early June, though no date has been set.
A representative from the Service Employees International Union, which represents Corning workers, said the main items of contention in negotiations with management are related to higher insurance plan costs and their demands for a 3.5 percent annual wage increase and a boost in pension benefits. Management had originally proposed no 2013 wage increase, citing economic factors, according to the report.
The union will not strike but is planning an information picket, which requires 10-day notification to management. The hospital's last such picket in 2003 lasted six weeks until a mutually satisfying contract was signed.
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