Nurses at Crozer-Chester Medical Center were out on the
pickets lines Monday for the second day of a planned two-day walkout to protest
their lack of a new contract with the Delaware County hospital.
The 565 Crozer-Chester registered nurses, represented by
the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, have
spent more than three months working under the terms of their previous
contract, which expired June 8.
Earlier this month, the nurses voted to hold a two-day
strike— beginning Sept. 21 — to protest what they say are unfair labor
practices and ongoing bad-faith bargaining.
PASNAP said the nursing want better staffing levels at
the Upland, Pa., medical center, and are opposed to pension changes proposed by
the hospital.
Crozer-Keystone Health System, the hospital’s parent
company, said the dispute is about wages. The health system maintains the
nurses at Crozer-Chester, whose pay last year averaged $103,000 a year, are
among the highest paid in the region.
“Our health system continues to face significant
financial challenges caused by declining reimbursements and inpatient volumes,”
the health system said in a statement prior to the strike. We were hoping that
the union would help us work toward a compromise that would provide both
competitive rates of pay for our nurses and cost savings so that we can
continue to provide the high quality care that our communities have become
accustomed to.”
Crozer-Chester laid off about 250 workers because of
mounting financial losses.
Bill Cruice, PASNAP’s executive director, said they
calculated the average pay at $84,000 when part-time nurses, which many of the
nurses at the hospital are, are factored in.
Crozer-Keystone hired fill-in nurses, under five-day
contracts, to keep the hospital open during the strike.
“The nurses at Crozer are among the most skilled and
experienced in the entire Philadelphia area and every day they apply that skill
to keep patients safe and to help save lives,” Cruice said in a statement.
“Crozer should honor and respect the nurses, not ignore their pleas for better
staffing.”
The two sides are scheduled to return to the bargaining
table on Tuesday.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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