A tentative settlement has been reached in the contract dispute with the University of Rochester and its medical center.
Late Thursday night, a statement from the union representing caregivers at Strong Memorial Hospital and campus service workers at the University of Rochester River Campus said that they are postponing a strike vote that was scheduled for Friday after reaching the tentative pact.
The two union locals held a one day strike last week.
The statement from the union locals, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East and 200United SEIU said that details of the agreement will made public after a ratification vote by union members. That vote is scheduled for next Wed., December 27.
University officials said that the proposed contract is a three-year agreement.
“We worked very hard as a committee to settle a fair contract for all workers,” said Robin White, Patient Care Technician at URMC’s Strong Memorial Hospital. “I truly believe that this tentative agreement will help to recruit more workers to help us with staffing at the hospital. I’m happy to take the deal back to our members for ratification,” said White.
“After 33 sessions of our hard work and dedication, we think we finally reached a very respectable agreement that we are proud to take back to our members for a vote,” said Angel Hagan-Sprinkle, who works at the River Campus.
“Workers at URMC were able to stand up and demand dignity and respect by negotiating a fair contract and that gives them a real voice on the job,” said Tracey Harrison, 1199SEIU Vice President. “We hope to see more workers at URMC doing the same as Rochester becomes much more of a union town,” said Harrison.
A statement issued Friday morning by the University of Rochester said that, "The University is grateful that through months of good faith bargaining, the two groups were able to achieve a fair and equitable resolution. We deeply appreciate the work of these staff members and they are valued members of our University community."
The union said that the tentative deal came after four months of intense negotiations. Contract talks began in August of 2022.
