AGH and Nurses Reach Tentative Deal

After nearly 60 hours of contract negotiations this week Allegheny General Hospital and its nurses have come to terms on a new three-year contract. The current deal expired Tuesday. Terms of the contract are not being released. Union members will be presented with the contract and take a ratification vote Friday. Union negotiator Cathy Stoddard says a lot of progress was made after the union took a strike vote this week. She says the vote was a tool that the union used at it got down to the tough details of the contract. She says she thinks the members will “take the recommendation of the committee seriously” and approve the deal. Stoddard says the terms of the deal will allow AGH to attract the best nurses in the region. The Service Employees International Union represents about 1,300 nurses at AGH.