BREAKING: URMC Workers Reach Tentative Agreement on Union Contract Following Historic 17-Hour Strike Last Week
December 21, 2023
Contact: April Ezzell, (716) 449-1620
1199SEIU Communications
Strike authorization vote set for today postponed, Union members will vote on agreement next week
New York – Union Hospital caregivers and campus service workers at University of Rochester Medical Center and University of Rochester River Campus are postponing their strike vote set for today after reaching a Tentative Agreement with management late last night. Details of the agreement will be made public upon ratification by union members. Ratification will take place next week, date TBD.
“We worked very hard as a committee to settle a fair contract for all workers,” said Robin White, Patient Care Technician at URMC’s Strong Memorial Hospital. “I truly believe that this tentative agreement will help to recruit more workers to help us with staffing at the hospital. I’m happy to take the deal back to our members for ratification,” said White.
“After 33 sessions of our hard work and dedication, we think we finally reached a very respectable agreement that we are proud to take back to our members for a vote,” said Angel Hagan-Sprinkle, Cook I, University of Rochester’s River Campus.
“Workers at URMC were able to stand up and demand dignity and respect by negotiating a fair contract and that gives them a real voice on the job,” said Tracey Harrison, 1199SEIU Vice President. “We hope to see more workers at URMC doing the same as Rochester becomes much more of a union town,” said Harrison.
The new tentative labor agreement comes after 4 months of intense negotiations, including 33 day-long bargaining sessions between 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, 200United SEIU and the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). Contract talks between the two unions and management began late August (8/22).
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1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America. We represent over 400,000 nurses and caregivers throughout Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Florida. Our mission is to achieve quality care and good jobs for all.
https://www.1199seiu.org
SEIU Local 200United, a union of thousands of members who are working people striving for fair and just workplaces and communities. We represent two million members in New York, Vermont, and Pennsylvania in the public and private sector.
https://www.seiu200united.org