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Patient caregivers and service workers at the University of Rochester began negotiating a new contract on Aug. 6. Now, union representatives say the negotiations are extending past the scheduled Sept. 5 expiration of their previous contract.
The current three-year labor agreement, which covers over 2,000 workers represented by 1199SEIU and SEIU Local 200 United, has been extended to Sept. 26, pending further negotiations between union reps and URochester.
1199SEIU represents workers in the university’s medical network, including patient care technicians; nursing, dental, and materials processing assistants; cooks; and medical transportation workers. Local 200 United represents campus workers, including those in building and dining services, cooks, porters, library attendants, and bus and truck drivers.
Union representatives announced the extension last week, which was agreed upon by both parties, as SEIU pushes for “one agreement that will maintain quality health insurance and improve wages to help retain and recruit more staff to provide bedside care and services throughout the university’s system.”
Negotiations for the new contract began with an Aug. 6 meeting, the first of nine planned contract negotiation sessions before Sept. 5, with four more dates added following the extension.
“(The unions) have engaged in active negotiations with University of Rochester for more than a month, with progress on some issues and differences on others,” says Tracey Harrison, vice president of 1199SEIU. “Our member-led bargaining committee remains consistent because these are issues they experience every day. While bargaining tactics may evolve as negotiations continue, our core goal is to reach a fair contract that helps staff retention and recruitment but also allows our members to feel respected in the workplace and offers competitive wages and affordable benefits.”
“As is always the intention, the university remains committed to working in good faith with 1199SEIU and 200United SEIU to achieve a fair and equitable contract for our employees,” says URochester spokesperson Sara Miller.
The negotiations follow several years of heightened labor activity among URochester workers. In October 2025, hospital workers represented by 1199SEIU won a lawsuit over missing bonuses for a scheduling incentive program. A year earlier, graduate students began working to form a union to seek higher wages.
“While affordable benefits and competitive wages remain key concerns, our members have also raised issues related to recruitment, retention, workload, burnout, and culture in the workplace,” says Harrison. “The ongoing challenges facing workers have reinforced the need for real solutions that support quality patient care, a positive learning environment for students, and a sustainable health care workforce.”
In December 2023, 1,800 UR hospital and campus workers held a one-day walkout after negotiations stalled. The extension of the contract negotiations this time around, however, doesn’t necessarily indicate stalled discussions with URochester or another protest on the horizon.
“Our members are engaged, informed, and focused on achieving a fair contract. There is real commitment to securing improvements that support our hospital, campus and our community,” Harrison said in a statement before the extension was announced. “The atmosphere in the room is one of determination and solidarity, with our members advocating for improvements that strengthen their workplace, improve health care delivery, enhance patient care, and help recruit and retain the workers needed to improve staffing across the system.”
1199SEIU represents over 400,000 health care workers across the Northeast, making it the largest health care worker union in the country.
The expansive reach of both the university, as the area’s largest employer, and the unions representing its employees directly affects broader negotiations and labor organizing within the URochester system, Harrison says.
“The outcome of these negotiations must influence standards for staffing, benefits, and wages that help recruitment and retention throughout the university’s hospitals and campus,” he says. “Good union contracts support our workers, protect quality care, strengthen educational opportunities for students, and contribute to healthier communities.”
David Wazana is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and a member of the Oasis Project’s second cohort.
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