ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) - Nurses at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s hospital in Altoona have ratified a three-year contract reached in talks that were scheduled after the nurses staged a one-day strike last month.
The nurses represented by SEIU Healthcare PA picketed Feb. 11 after rejecting what UPMC had called its “last, best and final” offer. The sides scheduled more talks after the strike, and the nurses voted Friday to approve the tentative deal reached earlier in the week.
Hospital spokesman Dave Cuzzolina says the deal with the 380-bed hospital about 85 miles east of Pittsburgh is “fair to our nurses and financially prudent for the hospital and our community.”
Union local president Paula Stellabotte says the nurses made “fair compromises” on health care, retirement benefits and wages.
The former Altoona Regional Hospital affiliated with UPMC last year.
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