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....
I will take my leave of this thread as we are simply going around in circles , as I said earlier in this thread ; I guess we will have to agree to disagree on the issue of strike breakers .Professional responsibility in this context ,to me is not simply ensuring you have a nurse available at all times to care for patients , but that you have enough competent / experienced nurses to provide safe care to those patients .
And I bet you NEVER get any more $$$. Or better benefits as a result of striking. Benefits that add up to $$$. Could the cost of all those benefits be part of the cause of Cali's misfortune on the economic front.
Unions have driven manufacturing from the country and if you don't think they won't do it to nursing you should rethink that. Medical vacations are the up and coming thing. People are leaving this country for nursing care and institutions are importing nurses. Nurses who want to take care of patients.
Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
Originally Posted by herring_RN
At the strikes I've attended to support colleagues a letter has been sent by mail and now e-mail too to all nurse managers. It explains that the nurses scheduled to work would be outside in uniform. Other nurses willing to go in also picket in uniform.
If patient care is at risk the management can call the cell of the "picket captain" and request one or more nurses.
This is CNA/NNOC
Strikers strike breaking? Are they working for free or are they getting $$$$.
Management never called.
But the RNs were present and available in the event management did not adequately plan for patient care.
Family members came out to support the nurses. This was several years ago.
And I bet you NEVER get any more $$$. Or better benefits as a result of striking. Benefits that add up to $$$. Could the cost of all those benefits be part of the cause of Cali's misfortune on the economic front.
Back just to burst this bubble . YES everything is involved when a contract is negotiated ,strangely enough , from your perspective managements are more ready to settle on the $$$ aspect ofthis than the patient care aspect where they usually put up major resistance.So yes pay and benefits are usually improved , but it is less likely management will give the staffing ratio changes without the threat of a strike . So what would you have the unionized nurses do at this point ? Accept the pay and benefit improvements ( which I'm sure you would be willing to accept ) , or carry on putting pressure on the employer to gain better patient care ?.
Back just to burst this bubble . YES everything is involved when a contract is negotiated ,strangely enough , from your perspective managements are more ready to settle on the $$$ aspect ofthis than the patient care aspect where they usually put up major resistance.So yes pay and benefits are usually improved , but it is less likely management will give the staffing ratio changes without the threat of a strike . So what would you have the unionized nurses do at this point ? Accept the pay and benefit improvements ( which I'm sure you would be willing to accept ) , or carry on putting pressure on the employer to gain better patient care ?.
So you've never NOT accepted the pay raise or better bennies and then you have the audacity? to tell us that strike breakers are in it for the $$$$. What 2-10 weeks of their lives dirupted for some money, when you'll get that money every year for the rest of your employment with the hospital and more on top of it? And you still have the audacity to say strikers are in it for the money. They may very well be but while they are getting that money they are taking care of patients.
Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
family members brought food and hugs to support the nurses who had been attempting to carry out unsafe and illegal assignments to the best of their abilitiy.
Who advocated for their loved ones in spite of management putting 100% of the responsibility for patient care on the nurse assigned to each patient but not respecting the fact that no norse can be in two places at once, that even nurses need to eat and go to the bathroom. That sometimes comforting a patient must take priority over "real time documenting.
Parents of sick children who were kept informed by nurses when physicians did not explain to the family, who were aware enough to see that the nurses had more patients than they could safely care for. Parents who saw their childs nurse stay after shift to document in order to give the time to the sick child and family until the next shift arrived.
They were not told that the hospital was violating the law but they love their childs nurses.
All too often management tries to bribe nurses with a raise or bonus. But patients must come first. But when chronic unsafe staffing is placing patients at risk money cannot buy nurses acceptance of a final offer.
That is why nurses elect a picket captain whose cell number is provided to management so picketing nurses can go care for patients if patient care is at risk.
I had been offered a scab job at this hospital for the potential strike at the end of March 2010. I was offered $60/hr plus the 4star hotel room, etc as an allied health worker. I declined the job, even though I could use the money in this poor economy; but I'm glad I did after reading these discussions on this posting from last time there was a potential strike. I don't see the views of either the striker or the strike-breaker as being very "moral" and for me this whole strike thing makes me very uncomfortable. I'm not a fan of unions or management and $60/hr is a good deal of money, but there seems to be an undercurrent of evil and greed to both sides of the striking arguement that I would like to avoid!
Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
pipe down
dear temple nurses, please don't tell anyone about any of our problems. thanks, management.
...the hospital brass maintains that the nurses should keep their grievances in-house. "the union is confusing the intent of the [clause's] language," says sandy gomberg, tuh's interim chief executive officer.
"what it is, is a statement to the union itself, that the union or people representing the union can't say defamatory things about the hospital, or the people who work here, because that creates a defamation for the hospital. what it's not, it's not in any directed at any of our employees, it in no way stops any employee from speaking to whomever they want, whenever they want, about whatever they want."
what's more, gomberg continues, patient advocacy isn't the nurses' job: "it's the hospital's responsibility, working with its employees, to make sure that we are providing the best patient care possible, and with that, together we advocate for the patients....
The hospital where I work does not have a union. I wish we did. I believe there are some things worth striking for. I don't hold striking nurses in contempt. I support them. Anyone who has ever been in a strike, had a family member in a strike, or been in a town with a company on strike, knows what I mean. It's a painful, scary, depressing situation. Nobody with a choice would do it.
Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.
from the rehtoric i'm hearing, this is going to be a watershed moment for nursing unions in pa. radio ads heating up for both sides as temple university hospital faces a wednesday strike deadline set by pasnap... temple union is 1/3 of pasnap membership. since affiliation with cna and now nnu, expect national attention to this strike:
the sabers are rattling on north broad street as [color=#320e00]temple university hospital and 1,500 of its employees prepare for a strike that could start wednesday morning.
both sides are running radio ads touting their positions, and the hospital has hired 850 temporary workers from around the country.
the workers are arriving for orientation, said sandy gomberg, the hospital's chief executive officer.
the union says many of its members have second jobs that will carry them through a strike. it offers a letter from 19 state house members urging temple to "bargain in good faith" and highlighting the cost of operating during a strike. the [color=#320e00]pennsylvania association of staff nurses and allied professionals (pasnap), which represents 1,000 registered nurses and 500 staffers such as respiratory therapists and social workers, has set 7 a.m. wednesday as its strike deadline. the last bargaining session was held march 15, and the talks are in mediation....
,,,the primary contract issues are pay increases, health benefits, tuition benefits for employees' children, and random drug testing for union members, gomberg said.
cruice said the nurses wanted required staffing ratios in the contract and wanted a "gag clause" preventing them from publicly criticizing the hospital removed. the administration's proposal would double or triple health-insurance contributions for members, he said. the union would accept drug testing as long as it also applied to doctors
...as things stand now, it looks as if 1,500 nurses and health care professionals at temple hospital will go on strike at the end of the month (see related stories). that's according to bill cruice, executive director of the pennsylvania association of staff nurses and allied professionals:
"we're very concerned that temple's goal is actually to provoke a strike based on their demeanor in negotiations, based on the proposals that they've made."
cruice says they've been working without a contract for almost six months and setting the march 31st deadline has failed to move the process forward
Onekidneynurse
475 Posts
And I bet you NEVER get any more $$$. Or better benefits as a result of striking. Benefits that add up to $$$. Could the cost of all those benefits be part of the cause of Cali's misfortune on the economic front.
Unions have driven manufacturing from the country and if you don't think they won't do it to nursing you should rethink that. Medical vacations are the up and coming thing. People are leaving this country for nursing care and institutions are importing nurses. Nurses who want to take care of patients.