A majority of eligible Squirrel Hill Health Center workers voted Thursday to join the United Steelworkers union, the latest victory for the Pittsburgh-based labor organization that has been expanding membership in recent years to university faculty, librarians and professional football players.

The center employs 111 people and of those, 81 were eligible to vote. Of the eligible employees, 44 voted for union representation, according to the National Labor Relations Board; one employee was opposed.

The newly unionized workers serve as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, medical and dental assistants, therapists, front desk staff and others who work at the center’s four Pittsburgh area clinics.

Workers began organizing in May and ballots were mailed to workers Oct. 17 and counted Thursday.

“My coworkers and I organized because being able to care for ourselves helps us provide our patients with the exceptional care they deserve,” patient advocate Tiahna Flannigan said in a prepared statement.

Some 6,300 University of Pittsburgh staff members voted in September to join the USW, and in January, 2022, some 300 Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh employees, represented by the union, ratified their first contact. That same year, about 350 professional players with the United States Football League, represented by the USW, inked their first contract with management.

The USW was founded in 1942 and represents some 850,000 workers in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals and other industries. In recent years, the union has been moving into traditionally white collar jobs for membership, including two dozen mental health therapists at the Persad Center in Lawrenceville, who joined the union in 2019.

Updated 3:07 p.m. Nov. 18 to reflect the voting breakdown.

First Published: November 1, 2024, 2:27 p.m.
Updated: November 1, 2024, 6:52 p.m.