Striking nurses picket Temple University president’s home

On April 3, day four of their continued effort to win a fair contract, striking nurses from Temple University Hospital brought their case to the doorstep of a luxury condominium in Rittenhouse Square — the home of Temple University President Ann Weaver Hart. If Hart didn’t get the message, her neighbors and visitors in the park clearly heard it.

Temple University Hospital nurses picket. Photos: Kelly Valdez

Hundreds of strikers gathered in the park for a rally and then marched around Rittenhouse Square. They were supported by friends, family, former patients and a motorcycle club; there was also a vigorous show of support from people honking their car horns as they drove past. Using her walker, an elderly woman from the neighborhood came to the rally to applaud the strike and acknowledge the excellent home care she receives from a Temple nurse.

In a show of solidarity, the 85,000-member California Nurses Association sent a delegation including Donna Smith, a nurse featured in Michael Moore’s 2007 documentary “Sicko.” Smith and her spouse were forced to move into their daughter’s basement when they lost everything after major illnesses and surgeries because their insurance company refused to pay for their care.

On March 31, the 1,500 members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals walked off their jobs after six months of negotiations failed to produce a contract.

According to Hart and the hospital administration, the unions are the problem. To them everything would be peachy if PASNAP members would simply accept the proposed gag clause, the hike in the cost of their health insurance, and the illegal repeal of the Tuition Remission/Reimbursement Program for dependents, among other contract givebacks proposed by management.

But the strikers have their feet planted firmly on the ground; they know very well that they are the solution and not the problem at Temple University Hospital. They understand that their own rights are anatomically connected to the quality of patient care. They refuse to be silenced.

Nurses’ appeal to the public

An open letter appealing for public support, written by two Medical Respiratory Intensive Care Unit nurses, stated, “In caring for some of the most acutely ill patients in the tri-state area, we operate daily with the burden of short staffing, lack of ancillary help, profound supply shortages and lack of protective equipment to guard our health.”

In her blog covering the PASNAP strike, Smith noted that according to a report in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Temple’s CEO Ann Weaver Hart, the key architect of the plan to bust the nurses’ union and avoid giving them well deserved benefits, earns more than $602,000 annually. She also gets a car, a house and $75,000 in deferred compensation.

Union leaders have also pointed out that the hospital administration has been willing to invest millions of dollars to hire scab RNs and technicians in their effort to break the union. Using healthsourceglobal.com the hospital administration advertised salaries of up to $10,388 per week plus transportation and accommodations for strikebreakers.

The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board agrees with the PASNAP that Temple University Hospital violated the contract and the law in 2009 when it abruptly cut the Tuition Remission/Reimbursement Program for workers’ dependents.

This was an outright theft of a perk that has been taxed as income. This illegal act betrayed a promise that attracted experienced, professional staff from across the country for the past 25 years and continues to be enjoyed by Temple University professors and secretaries. It left many parents scrambling for loans to cover tuition costs in the middle of a school year. And at a time when college tuitions are rocketing, it pulled the rug out from under many people who have worked at Temple University Hospital for years banking on the program for their children’s future.

When it comes to the price tag for health coverage, most of the marchers at Rittenhouse Square Park made it clear that they expected a rate increase since everybody’s rate is rising. They are willing to pay more at the rate of inflation, they say, but the proposed doubling or tripling of the cost proposed by the Temple Administration is pure greed.

The marchers know very well that a strong voice and a strong contract are necessary to retain the experienced staff the patients and their families deserve. As one of the rank-and-file strikers, Lisa Bryant, said, “People understand that when we advocate for ourselves, we are advocating for them.”