Labor unions filed an antitrust violation on Thursday Complaint The Justice Department has accused UPMC, a giant Pittsburgh-based hospital employer, of using its enormous influence to cut wages and harm workers.
The group, which includes SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, alleges in its complaint that UPMC workers are subject to “wage penalties” because of the healthcare system’s dominance in the local market. The complaint explains that nurses have a heavier workload than nurses at other hospitals, raising concerns about patient safety, and lists what the coalition considers to be violations of labor laws. and show the powerlessness of employees to improve working conditions.
“We have seen UPMC grow and amass power,” said SEIU Group Chairman Matthew Yarnell. The SEIU Group has long sought to organize workers in the largely ununified health system. Through a series of acquisitions, the company has become Pennsylvania’s largest private employer, with more than 40 hospitals, 800 clinics and clinics, and health insurance. It generated $26 billion in operating revenue last year and employs about 95,000 people.
Antitrust litigation frequently deals with how powerful organizations can operate as monopolies and unfairly inflate prices, but it is often the case that companies have unfair influence over their suppliers, including their employees. You may also be accused of operating as a monopoly that exercises
Medical and legal experts say this is a new legal approach to considering the impact of widespread consolidation in the health care industry on workers.
In the complaint, the unions argued that the UPMC’s monopoly powers meant that workers could be forced to “get out of working conditions and work, through stringent movement restriction regimes and widespread violations of labor laws that perpetuate poor wages and working conditions.” “improving conditions” is also being hindered.
A UPMC spokesperson reached out for comment but did not directly address the union’s allegations of antitrust violations, but defended its treatment of its employees. UPMC’s chief communications officer, Paul Wood, said in an email that the system is “one of the best places to work in all the regions we serve.” He said the average wage for the system was more than $78,000 a year.
“There is no other employer of the size and scope to offer high-paying jobs at all levels and such average wages in the areas UPMC serves,” he added.
He also said the health system allocates nurses based on patient needs, and that there is no policy to prevent employees who leave one facility from being rehired at another.
But federal regulators have signaled a growing willingness to look at the effects of employer market power on workers, and concerns about how consolidation will affect the labor market are waning. “There’s been a lot of momentum and attention,” said Jamie King, a law professor at the university. Auckland-based antitrust professional.
“The problem is much bigger than a single merger in a single market,” said Malka Peterson, legal director of the Strategic Organizing Center, a trade union formerly known as the Change to Win Federation.
The Justice Department may decide whether to conduct its own investigation and whether charges are warranted.
The Biden administration emphasized concerns about the impact of concentration on the labor market. Executive Order of 2021and the Federal Trade Commission recently issued a proposed rule banning the use of non-compete agreements.
Workforce turnover has also received some attention due to increased consolidation in the healthcare industry. Several studies of hospital consolidation show that nurse wages are declining. “Healthcare is strikingly focused on both sides,” said Kate Byrne, an economist and director of research at the Urban Institute.
And many healthcare workers who suffered severe burnout during the pandemic are in short supply across the industry. The heavy workload has led to numerous strikes by nurses, including the recent strike at a New York City hospital.
UPMC has often been criticized for what it describes as anti-competitive behavior. report Statements released earlier this year reflected some of the issues raised in the complaint.
However, it remains to be seen whether the Justice Department will take action against the health care system. Federal regulators may appear sympathetic to the theory underlying the union’s complaints, but these lawsuits are fraught with difficulties. “Monoptony lawsuits are nothing new, but they are very difficult to prove,” said Matthew L. Cantor, an antitrust attorney and partner at Constantine Cannon.
This is the first case that relies primarily on allegations that powerful healthcare employers are using their influence in ways that harm workers, and the prosecution has strong enough evidence to take action. It is necessary to determine whether there is “They don’t want to fight a lawsuit they don’t think they can win,” says Elena Prager, an economist at the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester and former Justice Department visiting fellow.
