Workers at Pittsburgh-based UPMC plan to walk off the job Nov. 18, the Post-Gazette reported.
The workers are demanding a $20 per hour minimum wage, affordable high-quality healthcare, elimination of all medical debt and respect for union rights, according to a news release from organizers.
Their walkout notice came after UPMC announced Nov. 2 that the health system is giving 92,000 staff members a bonus of $500 to thank them for their work during the pandemic. UPMC will issue the bonuses on Nov. 26. The health system also announced improvements to employee compensation and benefit programs, including raising entry-level raises to $15.75 in January, according to the Post-Gazette.
"There was no 'thank you pay' until we started organizing to [walk out]," Juilia Centofanti, pharmacy tech at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, said in a news release.
Ms. Centofanti added that employees are "owed this [$20 per hour wage] and so much more," and said she "will continue organizing with my co-workers for the pay, safer staffing and union rights we deserve."
In announcing the bonuses, Leslie Davis, president and CEO of UPMC, told workers, "Over the past 20 months, you have risen in truly exceptional ways to meet challenges we could have never anticipated. With your critical support, UPMC continues to care for so many."
A UPMC spokesperson declined to comment to Becker's on Nov. 5.
UPMC is a $23 billion healthcare provider and insurer. SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania has been trying to organize about 3,500 hourly workers at UPMC Presbyterian and Shadyside hospitals for nearly a decade, but has not yet held a unionization vote, according to the Post-Gazette.
Read the full report here.