For Immediate Release
October 13, 2025
Contacts: Neil Bhaerman, nbhaerman@oft-aft.org
With Substandard Wage Offer, Equitas Health Seeks to Punish Union Employees
COLUMBUS — Despite providing a 3% pay increase to non-union staff, Equitas Health is only offering a 1% raise to union employees. The 1% offer, which management has stuck to over multiple bargaining sessions, was made during wage negotiations last week between the healthcare system and Equitas Health Workers United (EHWU), the union for nearly 200 frontline employees. Equitas Health management explicitly connected their lowball offer with an unfair labor practice charge from 2023 that is set to receive a hearing in December.
“By giving non-union staff — including executives who already make multiple times more than frontline staff — a 3% raise while begrudgingly offering the union staff just 1% is petty, spiteful behavior. It’s pure vindictiveness, all because we had the temerity to organize and advocate for ourselves,” said Wade Thompson, a Housing Case Manager in Equitas Health’s Portsmouth office. “The subtext here, of course, is a warning: ‘This is what happens when you stand up for yourselves.’ However, this simply proves our point. This is why organizing was so important, and why we will continue to collectively push for our own dignity and worth.”
An unfair labor practice charge from 2023, stating that Equitas Health did not pay union employees correctly during negotiations for their first union contract, was found to have merit by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). That charge is scheduled for an NLRB hearing in December. In a negotiations session on October 8, the company’s attorney told union employees that they couldn’t offer a raise higher than 1% because of potential costs from a resolution of that unfair labor practice charge.
“I am genuinely offended at the 1% wage offer given to us. Doing this, while very publicly giving non-union staff and administration 3%, screams clear as day that this is a union-busting tactic and a way to create resentment within our union,” said Miranda Hall, a Case Manager in Equitas Health’s Columbus office. “Considering that almost everyone in the union is in direct frontline worker positions, the company has made its opinion on our work perfectly clear. It sees us as disposable, unworthy, and undeserving of equal treatment to that of our peers. However, we are the organization and the continuous disrespect that frontline staff receive will continue to tarnish Equitas Health’s reputation.”
The current negotiations, known as a wage re-opener, are mid-contract negotiations where a one-year wage increase is the only matter the parties are bargaining over. This wage re-opener was included in EHWU’s first union contract because management wanted to negotiate wages with updated information on their budget. The contract’s “no strike” clause, which typically prevents the union from striking during the life of the contract, may be suspended under certain conditions during wage negotiations.
“I have worked at Equitas for eight years and it is a spit in the face to receive such a low offer,” said Mandalyn Yinger, a therapist in Equitas Health’s Dayton office. “It tells me that our leaders do not care that many of the vulnerable populations we serve are also represented within our union. Their actions have shown no empathy or compassion for us or our clients.”
Equitas Health’s website pledges the company “will continue to be pioneers and leaders in the pursuit of health, wellness, equality, and equity.”
“If Management can't lead in accordance with the agency's stated values, they should look for another job," said Jeff Dubin, a therapist in Equitas Health’s Columbus office.
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Community supporters can take action in support of Equitas health workers here.
Equitas Health Workers United, OFT-AFT Local 6609, was formed in 2022 and represents nearly 200 frontline client-facing employees at fifteen Equitas Health locations across Ohio.