Nurses at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital will be the first at UPMC to receive a minimum hourly rate above $40 under a new three-year contract, union officials say.

A tentative agreement between UPMC and SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania was reached Thursday, said Marah McDonald, a nurse and member of the negotiating committee. When they voted Saturday, 85 percent of 115 nurses at Pittsburgh’s Oakland Neighborhood Hospital approved it, she said.

The contract is retroactive to October 1.

Union members voted unanimously on October 7 to authorize a strike, but no strike start date had been set.

UPMC has about 21,000 nurses across its system, the majority of whom are non-union.

UPMC Western Psychiatric nurses are members of the Jersey Nurses Economic Security Organization. SEIU negotiates on behalf of JNESO members at the hospital.

“I hope this puts pressure on UPMC to raise standards for all nurses in its system,” McDonald said. “We will continue to put pressure on this employer because he does not distribute gifts.”

A UPMC spokesperson confirmed the new contract was agreed upon and ratified over the weekend.

“Patient occupancy at Western Psych has increased by 14% since the beginning of August,” the spokesperson said. “Our hospital, crisis services, and outpatient and community services continue to respond to the mental health needs that deserve and require our full attention.

Nurses plan to celebrate the contract with mental health advocates, elected officials and nurses from other union hospitals in front of UPMC headquarters at the U.S. Steel Tower starting at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. The union says it will call on executives to raise employment standards for all nurses in the UPMC system.

“Together, we have proven that when UPMC nurses come together, we can achieve historic improvements for our patients, our families, our community and our profession,” said Chris Hunter, a nurse at Western Psych for eight years . “Even though we are a smaller hospital and UPMC has neglected us for years, we have been able to hold leaders accountable and create groundbreaking progress.

“Western Psych nurses have been able to make these gains even though we represent less than 1 percent of UPMC’s total nurses,” Hunter said. “Imagine what we will accomplish when all nurses at UPMC and across Western Pennsylvania come together as a union and stand up together.”

The union calls these wage increases “revolutionary” and “unprecedented in the UPMC system.”

According to the union, the minimum hourly wage rate for nurses with a bachelor’s degree in nursing will increase over the three-year contract term, from $31.65 to $40.25, an increase of 31 %. There is an immediate increase to $33 starting October 1, followed by annual increases on January 1 to $34.75 in 2025, to $37.25 in 2026 and finally to $40.25 in 2027.

When combined with other incentives, including those related to longevity and participation in a skills development program, there is an average increase opportunity of 35%, with the highest increases totaling 44% at the end of the contract.

Although the contract also prevents UPMC from replacing registered nurses with licensed practical nurses, improving wages was the union’s main goal, McDonald said.

“UPMC was so behind on the compensation front, which is ridiculous,” she said. “They have so many resources in terms of money.”

The union says the pay increases are a major step toward improving staffing at Western Psychiatric so that previously closed beds can reopen, expanding patient access to treatment.

Western Psychiatric treats children and seniors with mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s, eating disorders, substance abuse and autism. Up to a third of the hospital’s 200 beds have been closed due to staffing problems, with 123 nurses leaving in the past three years, according to the union.

UPMC was slow to provide the union with information on what the hospital’s full workforce would look like, McDonald said. Even with the new contract and more attractive pay rates, she said, there is no guarantee UPMC will hire more nurses or reopen beds.

McDonald, a psychiatric nurse for five years, said she took a $6 an hour pay cut for the same job when she moved from Columbus to Pittsburgh a year ago.

“I was frankly offended by the rate I was offered. I accepted this position because I am passionate about this area of ​​nursing,” she said. “I’m really happy to see that they have agreed to improve the remuneration.”