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Pensions secured, wages increased, health insurance costs limited
The United Steelworkers (USW) announced late Saturday night that it reached a tentative contract with Appalachian Regional Healthcare, the hospital system in Kentucky and West Virginia against which 2,700 employees began a strike April 1.
Roger McGinnis, president of the USW local at the ARH hospital in Harlan, Ky., said after the officers voted to recommend the tentative contract to their members, “This was a hard-fought struggle with ARH, and we didn’t get everything we wanted. But we preserved our pension, contained our health insurance costs and improved our wages.”
The Harlan local, with 400 members, is the second largest of the nine locals, which represent certified nurse aides, licensed practical nurses, housekeepers, maintenance and clerical workers at facilities founded a half a century ago by the United Mine Workers to care for miners and their families.
The tentative agreement with ARH, which operates nine hospitals, 11 clinics and other facilities in the two states, would also improve working conditions, but details will not be released until after ratification votes, most of which are scheduled for Wednesday.
Dwayne H. Herald, president of the USW local at the ARH hospital in Hazard, Ky, the largest with 760 members, said after the officers’ vote, “We look forward to returning to work and doing what our members do best, giving the best quality health care in the mountains. We also look forward to serving all those in the community and their relatives and friends who were so supportive of us throughout this difficult time.”
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HEALTH CARE WORKERS COUNCIL
