Jerry Lynott, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, July 13, 2010 Wilkes-Barre – Unionized nurses at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital plan to picket this weekend as negotiations for a new contract exceed a year. Members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals scheduled the picketing from noon to 1 PM on Saturday. The two sides have been at odds since a subsidiary of Community Health Systems Inc. purchased the hospital and other assets of the Wyoming Valley Health Care System for $271 million in May 2009. ... General

Chambersburg Public Opinion, Public Opinion Online, July 9, 2010 Harrisburg - Members of Pennsylvania State Nurses Association on June 16 met with state legislators in Washington, DC, as part of "Lobby Day" sponsored by American Nurses Association, which represents the interests (sic) of the nation's 3.1 million registered nurses. More than 1,400 nurses from throughout the US took part in the event to unite in voicing their concerns to lawmakers. One of PSNA's major messages was to ask policymakers to support the new "Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act," which calls for hospitals to follow ANA's Principles for Nurse Staffing, among other provisions. ... Nurses

Jane M. Von Bergen, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 3, 2010 The president and chief executive of Temple University Health System will step down, he said Friday. Edmond F. Notebaert's announcement comes barely two months after Temple settled a long, acrimonious, and expensive labor dispute with 1,500 of its nurses and allied health professionals. While Notebaert, 66, who will also leave his post as senior executive vice president of health sciences at Temple University, counts the dispute as the most disappointing aspect of his tenure, he said that no one was forcing him from the job. ... Temple

Bob Bauder, Beaver County Times, July 2, 2010 Brighton Township - Registered nurses at Heritage Valley Beaver hospital have ratified a three-year contract calling for raises of 3 percent in the first two years and 3.5 percent in the final year. Molly Romigh, chapter president of the SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania union representing about 550 nurses at the hospital, said the new accord will benefit the nurses and Heritage Valley Health System, which owns the hospital. In addition to the raises, the contract permits more nurses to care for fewer patients in acute-care units. ... Heritage

Jane M. Von Bergen, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 12, 2010 Temple University Hospital's nurses and allied health professionals are eligible for unemployment compensation during their nearly month-long work stoppage, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Unemployment Compensation said in a decision released late Friday. And the hospital will have to foot the bill. The workers are eligible for unemployment compensation, the five-page decision said, because their 28-day work stoppage in April is considered a lock out, not a strike. Under the state law governing Temple and its employees, workers are eligible for unemployment compensation when a company locks out is employees, but not when they strike. ... Temple

Associated Press, June 12, 2010 Philadelphia - A Pennsylvania board has ruled that nurses and other health professionals are eligible for unemployment compensation during their monthlong strike of a Philadelphia hospital. The Pennsylvania Bureau of Unemployment Compensation said in a decision late Friday that the union's 28-day work stoppage in April constituted a lockout, not a strike. Temple will pay the bill because, like many large employers, it is self-insured for unemployment compensation. Bill Cruice, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, says officials are "thrilled" that their position had been upheld. ... Pennsylvania

Marty Harrison, Labor Notes, May 21, 2010 After a hard-fought, month-long strike at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, the nurses and technical/professional staff can proudly say, “We won!” Members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) ratified a tentative agreement 1,045 to 30 on April 28. Union members’ determined solidarity and their support from the community, the broader labor movement, and political leaders beat back concessions demanded by the hospital on union rights, wages, and working conditions. ... Philadelphia

Valerie Rubinsky, Temple News, May 4, 2010 The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals went back to work April 30 after spending hours at the negotiating table. After 28 days on strike, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, the union representing the nurses at Temple University Hospital, returned to work April 30. Before they returned, PASNAP members met outside the hospital to symbolically return together. “We are returning to work just as we left – together. We are even more unified now than when the strike began,” Jackie Silver, president of the professional and technical union, said. ... Nurse

Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial, April 29, 2010 Anyone who has spent time in a hospital knows that nurses are on the front lines and can make or break the quality of patient care. That's why it was welcome news that 1,500 nurses and allied health professionals at Temple University Hospital had reached a deal Tuesday to end their 28-day strike. This was not an ordinary labor dispute. The stakes were particularly high, given the public-health concerns. Replacement nurses brought in temporarily by Temple may have been qualified, but there were complaints that the quality of care was not the same. ... Nurses

Mark Abrams, KYW, April 29, 2010 It was labeled a strike, but now the union representing the Temple Hospital nurses - who ended their 28-day walkout this week and approved a new contract - is saying the whole thing may be reclassified a "lockout." Bill Cruice, executive director of the nurses' union, says the state agency which oversees unemployment compensation cases is reviewing the union's claim. Cruice says that because Temple management changed the terms of the previous contract - withdrawing a tuition benefit - before the walkout, that's a change in the status quo. ... Temple

Pat Loeb, KYW, April 28, 2010 Temple nurses have overwhelmingly approved a 4-year contract with the University's health system. The nurses union executive director Bill Cruice says his members will get 9% in raises over the next 3 1/2 years and will retain differential pay for nights and weekends. But Cruice says more important than economics is that Temple withdrew proposals he said would have weakened the union: “We beat back their attempt to silence us with their gag clause, we beat back their attempt to divide our union. Temple got the opposite. Now they have a much stronger organization.” A Temple spokeswoman says there was no attempt to break the union and the health system achieved its priorities in negotiations.

Vote 1045 to 30 in favor. PASNAP, April 28, 2010 After 28 days on strike, the members of PASNAP, the union that represents 1500 nurses, professionals and technical employees at Temple University Hospital, voted overwhelmingly to accept the new contract agreements. After three ratification votes held throughout the day, the total members voting was 1075 with 97% in favor. "Temple provoked this strike in an effort to weaken our unions and eliminate our right to speak out for our patients ...," said Jackie Silver, MSW. Temple

Return to work set Friday. Jane M. Von Bergen, Philadelphia Inquirer, April 28, 2010 After four marathon days of negotiating, Temple University Hospital and its 1,500 nurses and allied health professionals reached an agreement Tuesday to end a 28-day strike that began March 31. The employees plan to return to work at 7 PM. Friday, assuming the proposed contract is approved during three ratification votes that will occur Wednesday, at 10 AM. and 3 and 7 PM. ... Temple

Union members complain that hopes for improvement are going unfulfilled. Andrew M. Seder, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, April 25, 2010 When the sale of the Wyoming Valley Health Care System was finalized May 1, 2009, members of the registered nurses union hoped the sale would not only improve patient care but add additional colleagues to their ranks. Some members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals say those hopes have been dashed in the course of the past year. ... New

Stacey Burling, Philadelphia Inquirer, April 22, 2010 The deputy secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health says her agency has investigated "a lot" of complaints about Temple University Hospital since 1,500 nurses and allied health workers went on strike there March 31. But because of reporting delays she blames on federal regulations, potential patients will not be able to see what those investigations found until at least the middle of next month. ... Pennsylvania