Dive Brief:
- University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) announced it will raise its entry level job wage to $15 an hour by 2021 and service workers' hourly wages will be raised to that amount between 2017 and 2019.
- Although the current starting wage is unknown as well as the last time it was raised, the healthcare company said its average annual salary is $64,400 a year.
- UPMC is the largest nongovernment employer is Pennsylvania and the move to a higher minimum wage was met with support from Pittsburgh's Mayor Bill Peduto.
Dive Insight:
"I commend UPMC for taking this step on behalf of low-income employees, many of whom are Pittsburgh residents, and for showing how good wages mean good business for employers," Peduto said in a statement.
A statement released by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) said, "We will continue standing together until UPMC ends its anti-union campaign, provides affordable access to care to all patients and treats all Pittsburgh residents with the respect we deserve."
Governor Tom Wolf criticized the health system last August for paying employees low wages, remarking on the big contrast between salaries of the highest paid compared to the average employee's salary. However, UPMC responded by accusing the governor of backing the SEIU, which it claims gave Wolf close to a million dollars during his election.