Public Letter from Seven Mountains AFL-CIO President Regarding Mount Nittany Negotiations
Article Photocredit: Laura Shadle
Public Letter from Seven Mountains AFL-CIO President Connor Lewis (TNG-CWA Local 32035)
Sisters, brothers, and siblings,
I am writing on behalf of Seven Mountains AFL-CIO to unions and working families in our community regarding the potential labor dispute between Mount Nittany Health and approximately 950 healthcare workers organized with SEIU Healthcare PA.
Late last week, union workers delivered a strike notice to Mount Nittany Health for July 27, 2026, should they fail to reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. The strike’s set duration is five days. Per federal law, healthcare workers are required to provide a minimum of 10 days notice prior to taking strike action.
Unions affiliated to our local federation have been advised of the potential labor dispute. More information on the right to observe a picket line can be found here provided by the University of Maine Labor Extension Program.
As the local labor federation for Centre County and as part of the nation’s largest labor federation, we fully support Mount Nittany Health workers in their effort to negotiate a fair agreement with Mount Nittany Health. We stand ready to provide any and all assistance to Mount Nittany healthcare workers requested through their union. Our solidarity with our union sisters, brothers, and siblings is unbreakable, and every day that they are forced to strike, we will be there with them.
Mount Nittany Health will tell you this is a “planned” strike. It is not. It is simply reality that if workers are not dealt with fairly at the bargaining table, they are forced to turn to collective action. Mount Nittany executives have all the power to avoid a work stoppage by coming to a fair agreement, and any strike will be solely due to their refusal to do so.
We urge union members and working families to respect their picket line should Mount Nittany healthcare workers strike. We also ask union members and working families to consider ways to support striking workers beyond observing their picket line.
Walking the picket line in solidarity with workers, delivering bottled water and food, and other acts of care and solidarity are deeply appreciated by striking workers. Further, workers rely on strike funds to sustain their fight for a fair contract. Individuals, organizations, and labor unions can donate to their strike fund here. A comprehensive guide to honoring union picket lines can be found here, courtesy of the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee.
I want to make a final appeal directly to the executives at Mount Nittany Health.
As a community healthcare provider and one of Centre County’s largest employers, you have an opportunity to model not just a better path for healthcare, but a better path for area employers. You also have an obligation to prioritize patients over profits. There is no more important way to prioritize patient care than to invest in the workers responsible for Mount Nittany Health’s excellence.
In the past two years, thousands of workers have organized in Centre County. This is not the Centre County of ten years ago, or of twenty years ago. This is the Centre County of 2026: the Centre County with one of Pennsylvania’s highest per capita rates of union membership.
This is a union county, and State College is a union town. We will stand united for the healthcare workers that keep us and our families healthy and safe.
When we fight, we win.
In solidarity,
Connor Lewis
Member, TNG-CWA Local 32035
President, Seven Mountains AFL-CIO
CC: Kathleen Rhine, Chief Executive Officer, Mount Nittany Health