A vote last night was held at the West Kittanning Fire Hall to determine if the offer from ACMH Hospital would be accepted by the collective bargaining unit representing its Techs and LPNs.
by KP intern Kyle Predmore
There was a vote last night at the West Kittanning Fire Hall where 122 techs and licensed practical nurses will vote to accept or decline the latest offer by the ACMH Hospital.
During contract negotiations between the ACMH Hospital and the union representing the Techs and LPNs, ACMH made an offer that some of the Techs and LPNs view as not good enough to attract and retain workers in the area. The vote last night was to determine whether or not the Techs and LPNs are willing to accept that offer.
Pat Ray, co-president of the Techs and LPNs at ACMH said in an interview that she and the staff want to make sure they can give the patients the care they deserve.
“We want to make sure we are not understaffed,” Ray said. “When we are understaffed, you’re not able to care for the patients to the standards that we know we can uphold for them. I want to know that I’m able to do my job to the best of my ability.”
Cris Scott, co-president of the Techs and LPNs at ACMH, said she felt there were items left on the bargaining table that was never addressed by ACMH Hospital.
“There are things we did not get to bargain on and the hospital didn’t want to work with us such as the staffing issues,” Scott said. “We would have liked to discuss the issue with the hospital, as an improvement would enable us to keep the quality and standards of care that we feel we are able to uphold but the hospital did not even address any of our staffing issues.”
“The part of our 401k that they match is less than everybody else. Their contribution to our pension is less than the other two bargaining units that are there,” Ray added.
The current offer is being considered something that doesn’t move the workers forward, which sparked the cause for the vote. There has not been threat of a strike, but the group is prepared for a work stoppage if necessary.
“We thought we were making progress. This last best final offer came out of the blue; we were not expecting it. We would really like to get back to the table and talk to them and would like to make it a great place to work - for the hospital, for the patients and for the whole community. We really hope they come back to the table and come back with us,” Ray said.
ACMH officials could not be reached last night for comment.