Recently unionized physician assistants at Northwell’s Long Island Jewish Hospital held an informational picket on Tuesday to protest the “slow” speed of negotiations to obtain their first contract, a process they’ve been engaged in for over a year.
“Bargaining has been a very slow process. We feel that Northwell is sort of dragging their feet,” said PA and negotiating committee member Erica Rose. “The PAs just want our value to be shown on our contract. We want fair pay.”
She emphasized that the approximately 130 PAs who joined the 1199 SEIU union, which represents thousands of Northwell employees, in April 2024 were not on strike. They were holding the picket to raise awareness about their negotiation effort and push Northwell to meet their demands for increased pay at the bargaining table.
“Fair pay is important to me. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of members of my immediate team because they went to nearby hospitals to make much more money,” said Rose, who’s worked at LIJ for 19 years. “For me, it’s really important for us to keep our well-trained, amazing PAs within LIJ and stop losing them to competitors.”
Northwell spokesperson Jason Molinet said the healthcare system respected the union’s right to conduct informational picketing and was committed to engaging in constructive negotiations.
“We are committed to engaging in constructive, good-faith negotiations with 1199 to reach a fair contract that supports the unique and important role our dedicated physician assistants provide in delivering the high-quality care our patients deserve,” Molinet said. He emphasized this was not a strike and there would be no interruption to care.
Josh Silver, vice president of the union’s Northwell division, said the PAs were seeking higher pay, improvements to benefits like healthcare and childcare access and increases to their pensions. He said their overall goal was to obtain a compensation package in line with that of other unionized Northwell PAs.
Silver said Northwell had signalled to the union they’d meet its demands related to benefits and pensions after the PAs staged a walk-in protest during which they hand-delivered a demand letter to hospital administration, but negotiations had again stalled over pay raises.
“Northwell signaled to us that [improved] pension and benefits are something that they’re willing to do,” Silver said. “But, we’re still apart when it comes to salary. Actions like this are a way for us to remind the employer that this group is united, and they’re unified in what they’re asking for.”
He said the union considered the movement on benefits and pensions “substantial” and was “hopeful that this action helps the parties get closer together on wages.”
Physician assistant and negotiating committee member Scott Valane said there is a “broad” range of issues related to pay, including a lack of night shift and on-call pay, not getting a raise since 2023 and a lack of breaks.
“We don’t take a lunch break. There are shifts when I can’t go to the bathroom,” said Valane, who has worked at LIJ for eight years. “It’s 12-hour shifts sometimes without a bathroom break. To really not treat us fairly in this process is frustrating. There are patients who depend on us every day.”
Valane said he previously worked nights and received a 15% night shift differential, or higher pay than day shift workers, but switched to working days to better support his pregnant wife. However, he said he’s still asked to work night shifts because Northwell hasn’t hired someone to replace him on the night team and he no longer receives additional night pay.
He said he believed if the healthcare system had the money to invest $1 billion in newly acquired Nuvance Health hospitals, they should have the money to meet their pay demands.
Union members said they hoped for a similar outcome from their informational picket to what a group of over 850 Northwell lab technicians who held one of their own in July experienced when negotiations for their first union contract stalled.
Jesse McDade, a member of the bargaining committee in the lab workers’ unit, said after over six months of negotiating, Northwell’s “tune changed” after their informational picket.
“After we had the picket, and the tune that they had at bargaining was completely different,” McDade said. “Normally, when we would go to bargaining, there would be a kind of run around; they would never want to speak to the main issues.”
He said the parties signed their contract a few days after the picket, and the lab workers achieved their goals of higher pay and improved benefits.
Valane and Rose emphasized the need for respect and material support for physician assistants as reasons why they felt strongly about being out on the informational picket line.
“We are always told many lovely things,” Valane said. I worked all through the pandemic here, and we’ve always had great speeches that said how important we are and how lovely we are…We’re not looking for applause…We’re looking for higher pay, more respect and a more fair bargaining process.”
He said that if the next bargaining session does not become more productive, the union will “continue drawing public attention ” and will be “willing” to strike, though he said the PAs did not want to stop work.
“I believe the PAs at LIJ have been taken for granted for many years,” Rose added. “Giving us a fair contract, giving us what we deserve in terms of pay and benefits is what needs to happen.”
The union said its next bargaining session with Northwell is set for Friday, Sept. 19.
