Nurses at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital will be calling for a union election this afternoon.
The union for nurses and healthcare workers in the state says the substantial majority of the more than 1,000 nurses at Magee say they support forming a union in what's being called the largest organizing effort by nurses in recent history in Pennsylvania.
Those forming the union would include registered nurses and advanced practice professionals including midwives, nurse practitioners, and others, who say the insurance executives' priorities are getting in the way of the needs of medical providers.
The organizing efforts come as Pennsylvania faces the worst nursing crisis in the country and the union says there are nearly 20,000 empty healthcare worker positions, which was made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The union says Magee nurses are lacking the staff and resources to deliver the care they want to provide to their patients and that nurses are leaving their jobs after years of unsustainable working conditions along with a lack of benefits and investments in their industry and say that UPMC, the largest healthcare provider and private employer in the state "has a moral responsibility and the resources to lead in finally solving this crisis."
Magee has the largest Level IV neonatal intensive care unit in Pennsylvania and delivers half of all babies born in Allegheny County.
The nurses officially filed their request for the election with the National Labor Relations Board earlier this week and are expected to formally call for a union election Thursday afternoon.