Crozer-Chester nurses vote to strike

allnurses Guide · May 25, 2008

I hope the threat of a strike motivates administration to brgain in good faith.

RNDreamer · May 26, 2008

Please do not take these question the wrong way. I do admire nurses who take a stand for patient safety. I have seen a few posts here about nurses going on strike. Has there ever been a situation where the strike DID lead to better ratios, etc? What happens after a strike? Do the nurses, unions, administration, etc get together to talk about the issues or does everyone go back to work as normal? TIA!

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jun 1, 2008

crozer nurses rally in show of strength in the pouring rain too!

upland-about 400 crozer nurses and their supporters rallied saturday outside of the crozer-chester medical center as the june 5 strike deadline looms and the sides have yet to reach a settlement.

allnurses Guide · Jun 1, 2008

...Bill Cruice, executive director of PASNAP and chief negotiator, said nurses are asking for the nurse-to-patient staffing ratios required of hospitals in California.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey do not have such rules, he said.

Requiring minimum staffing levels would be safer for patients and provide better working conditions for nurses, he said.

Crozer already meets those standards on many units, he said, but might have to hire more nurses to work on late shifts in some departments. ...

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/breaking/20080527_Crozer_Chester_nurses_authorize_strike.html

http://www.pennanurses.org/

I hope they get safe staffing without having to strike.

HM2VikingRN, RN · Jun 1, 2008

Please do not take these question the wrong way. I do admire nurses who take a stand for patient safety. I have seen a few posts here about nurses going on strike. Has there ever been a situation where the strike DID lead to better ratios, etc? What happens after a strike? Do the nurses, unions, administration, etc get together to talk about the issues or does everyone go back to work as normal? TIA!

MNA struck hospitals in MPls/St Paul a few years ago. They did win safe staffing language. Now MNA is working through the state legislature to get a statewide safe staffing law.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jun 3, 2008

[color=#404040]talks ongoing for crozer-chester, nurses

,,,we have refrained from increasing our employee contributions and co-pays for many years, while other health-care and non-health-care employers around us have made increasing adjustments to employee contributions, co-pays and to their plan designs.”
the statement says crozer keystone is seeking “reasonable” premium hikes that would put it “in the middle range of employers who offer similar benefits.”
ccmc has refused to agree to the union’s proposal for nurse-patient ratios similar to those in california.
a letter dated may 27 from a ccmc official that was sent to nurses indicated that if a proposed strike of three-days’ duration begins at 6:45 a.m. thursday if an agreement hasn’t been reached, “striking nurses will not be permitted to return to work after three days and will be locked out until such time as the union presents a ratified contract to crozer.”
in a copy of the letter signed by william kreider, assistant vice president of human resources, and obtained by the daily times, he said, “the medical center will continue to negotiate as often and as long as it takes to reach an agreement or reach an impasse in negotiations. we are willing to negotiate every day, if necessary.”
kreider added that in the event the union calls a strike or work stoppage, health insurance and dental insurance will be terminated, along with long-term disability and life-insurance coverage, among other contractual benefits.
health insurance premiums generally range between $462 to $1,294 per month depending on the level of coverage.
kreider also pointed out in the letter that unemployment compensation eligibility is determined by the state, but is generally not available for economic strikers.
mcclay said, “we expected that response from crozer. when everyone read this letter their immediate response was anger. the tone of the letter speaks for itself.”
during a saturday rally attended by 400 crozer nurses and supporters, pasnap executive director bill cruice said the union doesn’t favor the doubling of health insurance or the elimination of sick time and double-backing.
retirees are paid for sick time they have not used and the administration wants to abolish that.
double backing is the practice in which nurses receive time and a half when they work a shift eight hours or less from their previous one.
management’s move from a 1 percent wage increase to a 1.5 percent wage increase was unacceptable, cruice said.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jun 4, 2008

crozer nurses reach tentative agreement

upland – a strike set for thursday was temporarily averted today as negotiators for nurses and aides at crozer-chester medical center and management reached a tentative agreement early today.

[color=#320e00]crozer-chester nurses' labor dispute settled

(ap) 06/03/2008

upland, pa. - the labor dispute at crozer-chester medical center is settled. registered nurses had been threatening to strike on thursday, but union leaders say nurses voted 501-63 to ratify an agreement.

will post details when available.

Chico David, BSN, RN · Jun 7, 2008

It's just worth pointing out for those who have not been around this sort of thing, that the chain of events we see detailed above is not an uncommon one. There are a lot more strike votes taken than actual strikes and many contracts settle after the strike notice is given but before the actual strike happens.

My belief is that contract negotiations go best when both sides have an accurate idea of their relative strength and weakness. And failed negotiatons are often casused when one side underestimates the other or overestimates themselves.

Many times an employer fails to negotiate seriously until a strong strike vote like this demonstrates a high level of nurse support for the union and a willingness to take action. Once the the strike vote brings the employer to reality, the negotiations become more realistic.

Conversely, sometimes unions overreach and call strikes they have not adequately prepared for or make demands when they haven't done their homework to build support among their members. It's why assessment and education of the members is so important in the process.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jun 7, 2008

Crozer, nurses ink three-year contract.

The contract was approved 501-63 by members of the Crozer-Chester Nurses Association, which had threatened to carry out a three-day strike in the absence of an agreement. ..
The new deal requires nurses to cover 12 percent of their health-care premiums by the end of the contract — up from 9 percent — and introduces co-pays of $5 for employees, $10 for dependents and $25 for emergency room visits....
In addition to getting employees to cover more of their health-care costs, Crozer-Keystone also scaled back a benefit that gave nurses a cash payment at retirement for up to 90 sick days.
Under the new agreement, employees may cash out no more than 30 days.
While the union did not get the nurse-to-patient ratios they were seeking — California is the only state that requires them by law — Crozer-Keystone agreed to staff 35 new positions throughout the hospital. ...
Two new steps were added to the CCNA pay scale, in years 17 and 24, and the starting wage for new nursing graduates will be hiked to $29.56 per hour. Top-of-scale pay for nurses with 28 years was also bumped to $50.62 per hour.