A strike by unionized health-care workers at Kaleida Health has been averted after the two sides reached a tentative contract agreement early Thursday morning. The proposed three year contract includes three unions representing more than 7,300 workers.
Kaleida President and CEO James Kaskie would not reveal specific details, saying workers still need to ratify the contract.
"We've improved wages, we've improved benefits," Kaskie said.
Workers voted last week to authorize a strike pending the outcome of negotiations. The parties met for sixteen hours Wednesday and early Thursday morning before announcing the tentative deal.
"There was hard work by the negotiating team...to come to the come to this agreement," Kaskie said.
The unions are in the process of scheduling ratification votes. The workers affected are members of Local 1168, Communications Workers of America; Local 17, International Union of Operating Engineers; and Local 1199 SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East.