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There is no single organization that is more intertwined with our state’s health and well-being than UPMC. It is the largest health care provider, the biggest landowner, the largest employer and the largest tax-exempt charity in Pennsylvania. UPMC loves talking about its “life-changing” medicine, but it is time to talk about UPMC’s wages.
The essential workers who ensure UPMC hospitals run safely and smoothly have worked day and night to see our community through this pandemic. And yet so many of those on the front lines are not making living wages: housekeeping, food service, transportation, medical techs, assistants and aides. In 2016, after years of union organizing and pressure, UPMC promised to raise wages to $15 an hour by 2021. That was five years ago.