Nurses at UPMC Magee-Women’s Hospital in Pittsburgh have voted to unionize, joining the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in a significant move aimed at improving working conditions and patient care. This development, announced in March 2024, marks a response to longstanding concerns about staffing levels and administrative support in health care settings.
For years, the nursing community has voiced serious concerns about overwork and inadequate staffing. Research has consistently shown that when nurses are stretched too thin, patient safety is compromised. The decision by 860 registered nurses and advanced practice nurses at Magee-Women’s Hospital reflects a growing trend among health care professionals nationwide who are advocating for their rights and working conditions.
The nurses’ primary complaint echoed sentiments expressed across the United States: they felt unable to provide the necessary care for their patients, and that their voices were not being heard by hospital administration. Magee-Women’s Hospital, renowned for its labor and delivery services, is the first hospital within the UPMC system to form a union.
Unionization as a Beacon of Hope
Union membership in health care has seen a slight increase, despite a national decline in union participation across most sectors over the last two decades. From 2000 to 2024, union membership in education and health care grew by 0.2%, indicating a shift towards collective bargaining as a means of advocating for better working conditions. In 2023, approximately 400 physicians at the Allina Health Care System also voted to unionize, demonstrating that the push for union representation extends beyond nursing.
The unionization efforts at Magee-Women’s Hospital are not just about better pay; they also aim to address systemic issues that directly affect patient care. According to nurses involved in the organizing effort, the intensity of their workloads intensified significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jean Stone, a member of the obstetric resource team, described the environment as “apocalyptic,” highlighting the extreme stress that nurses have faced.
Lucy Rose Ruccio, a neonatal nurse practitioner, shared alarming anecdotes about the consequences of inadequate staffing. In one instance, a critically ill baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) went without a necessary medication due to a failure in the hospital’s electronic medical records system. Though the baby ultimately recovered, such oversights pose serious risks to patient safety.
The Impact of Corporate Priorities on Health Care
The financial landscape of health care has increasingly favored executive compensation over frontline staff support. In the fiscal year ending in 2024, 25 executives at UPMC earned over $1 million annually, while the former CEO, Jeffrey Romoff, received $29.9 million during his final two years, despite no longer being with the company. Such disparities illustrate the growing corporatization of health care, where profit often takes precedence over patient care and staff well-being.
Alix Levy, an emergency department nurse at Magee, expressed a collective sense of disillusionment among nurses, saying, “American health care is in a race to the bottom.” Yet, the recent union vote offers a glimmer of hope. Levy noted, “We did this one good thing, and that can’t be taken away,” emphasizing the potential for collective action to effect change.
The importance of nurse staffing levels is gaining acknowledgment at the national level. In a significant policy shift, the Joint Commission has included nurse staffing as part of its National Performance Goals for hospital accreditation, recognizing its critical link to quality care.
The Magee nurses are optimistic about forging a new path through their union contract negotiations. Ruccio highlighted their collective realization that “we could no longer effect meaningful change on our own.”
If corporate greed represents a significant challenge within the U.S. health care system, then the rise of unions could be a pivotal response. The hope is that through collective bargaining, nurses can secure the necessary support to provide high-quality care to their patients while also ensuring their own well-being.
