by Gordon Pavy, Apr 24, 2007

Some 2,700 members of the United Steelworkers (USW) on strike for three weeks at nine Appalachian Regional Healthcare hospital facilities will vote on a tentative agreement this week. Details of the settlement reached on Saturday will be released after the ratification vote, but Roger McGinnis, president of the Harlan, Ky., local, said:

We preserved our pension, contained our health insurance costs and improved our wages.

Nine USW locals represent certified nurse aides, licensed practical nurses, housekeepers, maintenance and clerical workers at facilities founded a half a century ago by the Mine Workers (UMWA) to care for miners and their families. The USW represents 36,000 members in health care and 850,000 overall in the United States and Canada.

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