The Union Chapter 955 of the Laborers International Union of North America is attempting to get MU Health Care to make a pay bump given for workers during Covid, a permanent part of their base pay.

With wage negotiations planned for later this month, the opening round of discussions have centered around making the $2.50 pay increase, which was tied to critical staffing during the COVID-19 pandemic, a pe

Currently, every couple of months hospital personnel get a reminder email saying that the pay bump expires on a certain day, and it may or may not be renewed.

Those staff members include people who clean the hospital, sterilize surgical equipment and take out the garbage, who currently have a base pay of $16 an hour. The LIUNA would actually like to see an across the board pay raise with the minimum base pay raised to $19 an hour.

About three dozen workers gathered outside of University Hospital on Wednesday afternoon, with the hopes of making MU Health Care hear their concerns.