the union, which represents 1,500 nurses and other workers at the north philadelphia hospital, is threatening to hold a three-day strike starting oct. 2 if a new contract is not reached by the time the current agreement expires sept. 30
we have worked many hours at the bargaining table, but the hospital seems intent on ignoring the needs of patients and the dedicated staff here at temple," said maureen may, president of the nurses' union. "nobody wants a strike, but we are concerned about the future of patient care and the retention of professional staff."
union officials said the health system wants to increase employee health-care costs and forgo its promise to cover dependents' tuition at temple university. pasnap officials said staffing levels also remain a "serious concern."...
...temple said its nurses are paid "among the highest rates" in the delaware valley, making an average hourly rate of $39.80."
it proposal for the next three years is for no increase in the first year, followed by 2 percent increases in each of the following two years. for allied health professionals, the offer is no increase this year, following by 2 percent increases in the second and third years and 2.5 percent in the fourth....
Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
what's in temple workers' new contract?
members of pasnap, which includes 1,500 nurses and technical healthcare workers, are returning to work tomorrow.
"gag clause": eliminated.
temple's proposal to eliminate "union shop": eliminated.
employees' dependent union benefit: reinstated "for up to six credits per semester during the life of the contract" (templewatch says "this benefit will actually be extended to all temple health system employees, not just pasnap-represented employees, which is a major victory for all employees in the system.")
healthcare: employees are now eligible for three different plans. employees pay either 10, 20 or 25 percent of their premium depending on their choice of plan.
temple's proposal to cut weekend and shift differentials: withdrawn (weekend differential is at $5/hour and the shift differential is at 13 percent of the employees' base rate.)
employer contributions toward the employees' pension: 8.5 percent of salary (same as it was.)
raises: 9 percent over the next three-and-a-half years
philadelphia - nurses and health professionals...benefit. the employees of temple university hospital ratified...pennsylvania association of staff nurses and allied professionals...facility or its managers. nurses had said the "gag clause...
in a strange twist, temple university hospital may wind up paying its striking nurses and allied health professionals for their time on the picket line
especially if it turns out that the state rules temple does have to pay those benefits, temple management is going to end up truly looking like idiots, having succeeded in:
1. achieving virtually none of their bargaining goals
2. greatly damaging their standing and reputation in the community.
3. spending many millions on scab nurses
4. unifying and strengthening their union
and maybe...
5. having to pay unemployment benefits to the strikers.
what school of management did these folks go to anyway?
Good work and kudos to all the PASNAP members for standing firm and winning.
Nurses everywhere should thank them for their courage and their financial sacirfices they made to win this. Standards matter - every hospital that has a high standard for compensation, working conditions, patient care and patient advocacy works to pull up the standards for everyone. And conversely, every time nurses accept substandard wages or unacceptable working conditions, it pulls down the standard for everyone. The industry as a whole clearly has a plan to try to use bad job market, bad economy and the temporary easing of the nurse shortage to try to drive down standards for nurses everywhere. If they had succeeded at Temple it would have spread out from there. By turning back the takeaways there, those nurses (and the other workers with them in their union) helped to protect us all.
Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
Temple Unions Ratify New Contracts and Declare Victory after Strike (Vote 1045 to 30 in favor
..."Temple provoked this strike in an effort to weaken our unions and eliminate our right to speak out for our patients. What they got instead was an emboldened, stronger union membership that will continue to work under a contract with some of the best working conditions and benefits in Philadelphia," said Jackie Silver, MSW. "We are proud that we reached a resolution and that we will be able to continue to fight for our patients, our rights, and our professions."
Most of the elements of the hospital's "best and final" offer were withdrawn in the final agreement. The notorious "gag clause" was taken away, preserving the employees' right to engage in public advocacy...
..."They knew we would not take their 'best and final' offer, but they underestimated the strength of our membership. Their plan to weaken us did not work. Instead, we became more united in this strike, and we will return to work with a great amount of pride in what we achieved," said Maureen May, RN, president of the nurses' union. "I am very proud of our contract and of our negotiating team."
Congrats to Temple and Thank You! I work in MN and we vote on our contract next week. I have some questions to ask that for some reason or other aren't being answered by my union (or at least they say they will answer them on voting day, which is too late for me) Did anyone here have to use the strike fund and what is the process in doing so? Any help is much appreciated. Any tips actually would be nice, this would be my first potential strike.
Congrats to Temple and Thank You! I work in MN and we vote on our contract next week. I have some questions to ask that for some reason or other aren't being answered by my union (or at least they say they will answer them on voting day, which is too late for me) Did anyone here have to use the strike fund and what is the process in doing so? Any help is much appreciated. Any tips actually would be nice, this would be my first potential strike.
this was answered in another thread so please disregaurd. not sure how to delete
members of pasnap, which includes 1,500 nurses and technical healthcare workers, are returning to work tomorrow.
“gag clause”: eliminated.
temple’s proposal to eliminate “union shop”: eliminated.
employees’ dependent union benefit: reinstated “for up to six credits per semester during the life of the contract” (templewatch says “this benefit will actually be extended to all temple health system employees, not just pasnap-represented employees, which is a major victory for all employees in the system.”)
healthcare: employees are now eligible for three different plans. employees pay either 10, 20 or 25 percent of their premium depending on their choice of plan.
temple's proposal to cut weekend and shift differentials: withdrawn (weekend differential is at $5/hour and the shift differential is at 13 percent of the employees' base rate.)
employer contributions toward the employees' pension: 8.5 percent of salary (same as it was.)
raises: 9 percent over the next three-and-a-half years
so, the union's demands were more about compensation and less about patient safety. i don't see anything new in the contract regarding better patient care or working conditions. nothing wrong with that if that is what you want, just be honest with yourselves and when you're speaking out to the public.
in summary, they put the patients' health and the health of the organization they work for in jeopardy to get for themselves a tuition perk and guranteed raises (the raises were offered before the strike). two things hardly anyone in any industry gets in today's times. very selfish and greedy!
So, the union's demands were more about compensation and less about patient safety. I don't see anything new in the contract regarding better patient care or working conditions. Nothing wrong with that, just be honest with yourselves and when you're speaking out to the public.
It was my understanding that the big sticking point was the tuition perk (weren't all those other things offered before the strike or early into it?) The union is celebrating the retention of that. However, they seem to gloss over the fact that it is for 6 credit hours a semester as opposed to $6000 a year (or free if it was at Temple U. - please let me know if my facts are wrong). Predictably, they have made the members believe they have won, and now they will go back to paying those union dues.
For anyone with even the dimmest understanding of the nurse's patient advocacy role and its history, the elimination the management's demand for a gag clause was a huge victory for patient care. Throughout our history as a profession, beginning right with Florence Nightengale, the public exposure of unacceptable patient conditions has been one of our strongest weapons to improve them. Management's demand would have punished any nurse who dared to speak out publicly about such conditions. And yes, there was some compromise on the tuition benefit, but considering that management's "last, best and final" offer included the total elimination that benefit and a bunch of other cuts that the union beat back, this remains a major victory. So of the two issues that got the most attention, the union members compromised a bit on the compensation issue and held on for a total win on the patient care issue - which sort of seems to contradict your basic thesis a bit.
For anyone with even the dimmest understanding of the nurse's patient advocacy role and its history, the elimination the management's demand for a gag clause was a huge victory for patient care. Throughout our history as a profession, beginning right with Florence Nightengale, the public exposure of unacceptable patient conditions has been one of our strongest weapons to improve them. Management's demand would have punished any nurse who dared to speak out publicly about such conditions. And yes, there was some compromise on the tuition benefit, but considering that management's "last, best and final" offer included the total elimination that benefit and a bunch of other cuts that the union beat back, this remains a major victory. So of the two issues that got the most attention, the union members compromised a bit on the compensation issue and held on for a total win on the patient care issue - which sort of seems to contradict your basic thesis a bit.
Being able to publicly disbarrage the hospital, administrators, and staff = better patient care?
There are still many other avenues that someone could take if patient conditions were subpar. And they all are more productive then complaining to the press about it.
Do you have any recent evidence of hospital staff anywhere publicly complaining about patient conditions that lead to improvements?
What happens if a staff member makes inaccurate comments publicly about patient conditions? Can they be reprimanded or fired then? Or is this a one-sided condition?
Anyway, the so-called "gag-clause" was meaningless whether it's in or out. Has anyone really had the need to publicly disbarrge Temple Hospital because of poor patient conditions? Did they try other means first (Joint Commision, Penn DHS, Penn Atty General Health Care Unit, Medical Board, etc.)?
If they did speak out against the hospital, using facts, have they been punished for it?
The union leaders, as unions do, managed to convince the members that meaningless issues are worth fighting for, and then led them out on a strike that put patient lives and the organization that employs the staff (which in turn hurts the very staff out on strike) in jeopardy.
Being able to publicly disbarrage the hospital, administrators, and staff = better patient care?
There are still many other avenues that someone could take if patient conditions were subpar. And they all are more productive then complaining to the press about it.
Do you have any recent evidence of hospital staff anywhere publicly complaining about patient conditions that lead to improvements?
What happens if a staff member makes inaccurate comments publicly about patient conditions? Can they be reprimanded or fired then? Or is this a one-sided condition?
Anyway, the so-called "gag-clause" was meaningless whether it's in or out. Has anyone really had the need to publicly disbarrge Temple Hospital because of poor patient conditions? Did they try other means first (Joint Commision, Penn DHS, Penn Atty General Health Care Unit, Medical Board, etc.)?
If they did speak out against the hospital, using facts, have they been punished for it?
The union leaders, as unions do, managed to convince the members that meaningless issues are worth fighting for, and then led them out on a strike that put patient lives and the organization that employs the staff (which in turn hurts the very staff out on strike) in jeopardy.
Does being able to publicly disclose unsafe conditions and actions by administration that put patients at risk lead to better patient care? You bet it does.
Do I have an example?
I sure do. About a month ago, our hospital was dead set on implementing a new, totally unworkable computer charting system in the ICU. Nurses had met with management numerous times to explain why it would not work, (17 different screens to display the same info that can now be seen at a glance on a paper flowsheet, just for starters) but management continued marching down the road to implement it regardless of the nurses' concerns. So our chief steward let them know very politely that if they continued with this system as it stood we would be forced to communicate with the public about the fact that it would make their care less safe since their nurse would be spending so much time on the computer s/he would have less time for patient care. System put on hold and reconsidering, likely to result in a better system.
At Temple, the nurses were not demanding any major gains, it was management that came in with a bunch of demands to cut compensation and gag the nurses. The nurses were playing defense, not offense. The end result was that management cost the hospital a fortune, degraded their public image, and lost on nearly all the issues. If anyone put the institution at risk it was the people being paid big bucks to run it. The nurses would have been pretty much content with the status quo, it was management that came to the table determined to take things away.
As for "the union" convincing nurses to strike, the nurses ARE the union, and I have a lot of trust in their ability to decide for themselves what issues matter to them. The members had the info and they voted overwhelmingly to reject management's offer and authorize a strike.
herring_RN, ASN, BSN
3,651 Posts
what's in temple workers' new contract?
members of pasnap, which includes 1,500 nurses and technical healthcare workers, are returning to work tomorrow.
"gag clause": eliminated.
temple's proposal to eliminate "union shop": eliminated.
employees' dependent union benefit: reinstated "for up to six credits per semester during the life of the contract" (templewatch says "this benefit will actually be extended to all temple health system employees, not just pasnap-represented employees, which is a major victory for all employees in the system.")
healthcare: employees are now eligible for three different plans. employees pay either 10, 20 or 25 percent of their premium depending on their choice of plan.
temple's proposal to cut weekend and shift differentials: withdrawn (weekend differential is at $5/hour and the shift differential is at 13 percent of the employees' base rate.)
employer contributions toward the employees' pension: 8.5 percent of salary (same as it was.)
raises: 9 percent over the next three-and-a-half years
http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/phillynow/whats-in-temple-workers-new-contract-92423029.html