EAST FRANKLIN TWP, Armstrong County — More than 120 workers at ACMH Hospital will walk off the job Tuesday.

The hospital’s LPNs and clinical technicians will strike for one day.

The strike will affect 123 workers, according to Myles Aion, an organizer with the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals.

In a statement this morning, the hospital said, “the strike will not affect the operations of the hospital. Since the federal law requires unions to give a 10-day advance notice of a strike, the hospital has had ample time to establish a contingency plan to effectively continue its services.”

The workers voted to unionize in June, and Aion said that about 25 bargaining sessions have taken place between the union and the hospital since then to work on the first contract.

He said that the union has filed charges of unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board, primarily alleging that the hospital changed its scheduling policy shortly after the union vote.

Although wages and benefits are have been discussed during negotiations, the primary issue that the union is interested in is safe staffing, making sure that there are enough workers staffed, Aion said.

“Safe staffing is the number one issue of the contract,” he said.

The hospital statement said, “One of the union claims is that there is inadequate staffing. There is, and will be, adequate staffing at the hospital to ensure that all patients receive treatments when necessary.

“No patient has ever been or will be put in a health threatening situation because of lack of staffing.

“The union’s claims are false and shamefully intended to scare the public.”

The statement also said, “It’s unfortunate that the union has chosen to strike as a way to force the hospital to agree with its demands while the parties are still engaged in bargaining.”