Nurses at the Armstrong County Memorial Hospital in Kittanning went on the picket lines for the first of five strikes on Sunday.
Reports say that the strike ran from 7 AM to 7 PM on Sunday. Representatives with the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals say that contract negotiations have been going on since last July. They claim 40 nurses left the hospital last year after “burn out from short-staffing” and being “underappreciated and undervalued,” and accuse the hospital of not investing in effective nurse retention efforts. PASNAP members reportedly rejected a contract offer last week, and efforts to restart negotiations have not bene successful.
ACMH said in a statement that the union has made some misstatements about the negotiations and the hospital. The statement says the union did not propose any changes to the staffing guidelines, and that the hospital has proposed an aggressive wage proposal to the union.
No meetings are currently scheduled between the two sides. The strike is scheduled to continue from 7 AM to 7 PM through Thursday.
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