Members of Teamsters Local 30 at Allegheny Health Network's (AHN) New Kensington Express and Primacy Care facility rallied alongside local elected officials, members of the community, and Teamsters from across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including Local 776 Vice President Garry Teter, Jr., Trustee Dee Patel, and our truck, to demand AHN keep the clinic open.

The staff at United Physicians voted to join Teamsters Local 30 on August 27th. The election was certified on September 5th. AHN then decided to close the facility on September 8th.

"Our community relies on the care provided by Teamsters and needs this facility to stay open," said Gino Bessetti, President of Local 30. "It would be shameful to close this thriving facility. AHN is attempting to break our members' hard-won Union."

"Every worker should have the freedom to form and join a union without fear of retaliation," said Congressman Chris Deluzio (D-PA-17^th District). "My message is simple: our country should always respect that freedom, and we need more health care options in our region, not fewer."

In closing this facility, AHN would force New Kensington residents—a majority of whom are elderly—to cross the Allegheny River and travel to a neighboring town to receive in-network medical care. Local 30 has filed an unfair labor practice charge against AHN for its blatant union-busting efforts that threaten to close the clinic.

"Without access to care provided by this office, many of our patients would likely end up in the hospital," said Mari Kerr, a nurse practitioner at AHN in New Kensington. "We don't want to see this happen, and we are calling on AHN to stop trying to break our union with its threats to close down the New Kensington facility."

Commented Local 776 President Ed Thompson: "I'm proud to have our Local supporting the Local 30 Members. An injustice to one member is an injustice to all members. Employers will stop at nothing in their drive to destroy Unions. These hard-working members exercised their legal right to organize and bargain collectively with their employer. What does the employer do with their most valuable resource? Toss them aside like yesterday's trash!"

With the Local's truck as a backdrop, Members of Teamsters Local 30 rallied alongside local elected officials, community members, and Teamsters from across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.