Westmoreland County workers reject contract offer, intend to strike

After months of failed contract negotiations, members of a union representing more than 500 Westmoreland County employees plan to notify the county Monday of their intent to go on strike in 10 days.

Union members rejected the county’s latest proposal on Thursday, according to a news release from Service Employees International Union Local 668 and Healthcare Pennsylvania. The strike is set to begin Feb. 2, said business agent Al Smith.

“Our folks want an offer that’s fair for them,” he said.

The union represents nurses and other staff at Westmoreland Manor in addition to 911 emergency center dispatchers, Area Agency on Aging caseworkers, juvenile detention and probation officers, and some courthouse workers. They have been picketing for several months as part of their efforts to secure increased pay and measures to address understaffing.

Union workers in row offices at the courthouse will not be permitted to strike during their work day, Smith said.

Also not permitted to strike are employees in the union who work in in the Department of Public Safety and Coroner’s office, according to a statement released by Westmoreland County Friday afternoon. That is a result of a prior agreement between the parties.

“The county plans to continue to provide essential services during any strike,” the statement said.

It was unclear if there would be any more negotiation sessions before Feb. 2.

“The county remains committed to bargaining in good faith and to reaching an amicable resolution at the bargaining table,” the statement said.

Quatrini Law Group employment and labor law attorney Ernest B. Orsatti said the county could file for a court injunction in an effort to stop the strike. The county would have to prove to a judge that a strike presents a clear and present danger to health, safety and welfare, he said. Orsatti is not involved with the situation and spoke generally about the process.

The union’s four-year contract with Westmoreland County expired on Dec. 31 at midnight. Both parties had met since March to try to work out a new agreement. Union members picketed several times in the last few months of 2023, and then again on Tuesday.

“They called us in the spring to come back to the table and it was for nothing and that really angered folks,” Smith said.

In addition to wages, Smith said one of the sticking points in the latest offer was the length of workday. Some employees make $19 to $20 per hour and work a 6.5 hour day.

“We have a lot of single mothers who work in the courthouse,” he said. “We have folks who qualify for welfare even at the current pay rate.”

Union officials have argued for higher wages, pointing to the 17% cost-of-living increases since the start of 2022 for the elected county commissioners and row officers. Those annual raises are based on the Consumer Price Index as mandated by a county ordinance.

Salaries for union employees had been limited by the terms of the now-expired agreement that called for 2% average annual raises.

“Members are understandably frustrated and getting angrier,” union business agent Michelle Jenkins said in a statement.

There has been progress made during negotiations, but not enough, said Tammy Steban, a licensed practical nurse at Westmoreland Manor and union vice president there.

“We’re hoping that services won’t have to be interrupted, but our county’s had a staffing crisis for too long and we are demanding a real solution,” she said in a statement. “That means making these jobs and wages competitive enough.”