What the Temple Nurses Strike Means for Philly's Labor Movement

PASNAP members fight for patients, themselves and you, cause you get sick too!

The strike by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) at Temple University Hospital marks an important moment in Philadelphia’s long history of labor struggle. Unlike previous strikes at Temple Hospital, such as the ones led by nurses in the 1970s, PASNAP members are up against a powerful anti-worker establishment. Temple is a profit-driven university that has “labor consultants” from the multi-million dollar union-busting industry at its disposal, not to mention a prevailing “privatize everything” ideology that justifies the for-profit status quo in the healthcare industry and has led to the corporatization of hospitals. Temple is also a major power player with hands in two of Philadelphia’s remaining growth sectors, medicine and education.[i] Despite increased profits, Temple refuses to yield to PASNAP member's demands for safe nurse-to-patient ratios, fair wage increases, fair healthcare costs, and tuition reimbursement for their children.

In a moment marked by economic downturn, wide-spread questioning of capitalism, and ecological crisis, the working and poor people of Philadelphia, who are the majority of the city, seem to be in three interconnected camps; (1) Those who are in unions with benefits and job security, but are constantly forced to fight corporate interests that are trying to take these things away, (2) Those who are unorganized and subject to the whim of corporate greed with minimal to no benefits, and (3) those who have been completely pushed out, the under- and unemployed and the homeless, who are deemed the ones responsible for their situation as opposed to victims of the current system. PASNAP's struggle at Temple University is uniquely at the intersection of these three camps. PASNAP is an aggressive, fighting union that's pushing for power in the workplace. PASNAP's struggle also has the potential to establish higher industry standards that could impact non-union workplaces, where employers may increase benefits or wages for fear their workers will see the benefits of unionization. Lastly, PASNAP is a union that fights for quality, affordable healthcare for all, including the under- and unemployed.

On Wednesday April 21st, despite the falling rain, over 1000 people gathered to support striking healthcare workers, including PASNAP members and their families, Temple students, other union workers from various local unions, and community members. Local unions committed thousands of dollars to support the PASNAP strike fund so that healthcare workers could last “one day longer” than the scabs and “walk back inside with dignity and a contract.” This week marks the first week of no pay for the striking workers, but union officials say 95% of workers have remained out on strike.

Carolyn Humphries is a PASNAP member and GI Technician at Temple Hospital. For her, the strike means fighting to “win [a] battle..to have the power and right to advocate for our patients. We need to be able to speak out about serious issues that have a tremendous effect on our patients. We all came to Temple because we care about
people, the people we serve everyday…[the strike] is for our patients”

This strike is also happening amidst a recently passed Healthcare Reform Bill, that while falling short of providing universal healthcare coverage, has been heralded by many as a first step to better quality healthcare in the U.S. PASNAP has been active in the national and local fight for healthcare reform, staunchly advocating a Single-Payer system, similar to those in other countries, that has also been called “Medicare for All.” National debate has not been open to this option, but in Pennsylvania, PASNAP and other keyhealthcare advocates have been able to rally for legislation that could provide a state-wide Single-Payer system that would give every Pennsylvanian access to healthcare coverage, regardless of employment status.[ii]

In addition, why else should we, as Philadelphians, be invested in PASNAP’s strike? In its contract negotiations, and more broadly through its legislation efforts, PASNAP has consistently pushed for safe patient ratios. This is a key fight among healthcare workers. The California Nurses Association, which PASNAP is affiliated to, has been successful in establishing legislation setting ratios that allow nurses to give the kind of attention that we would want if we were a patient in a hospital, especially in critical care units. Statistics put out by the US Department of Health and Human Services have shown repeatedly that as patient to nurse ratios go up, injuries, infections and even death rates sharply increase.[iii]

At the rally, PASNAP President Patty Eakin spoke to the crowd, pulling out a Philadelphia Inquirer article entitled More Nurses, Less Death, affirming, “I don’t know why you need a study to know that when you have unsafe ratios people die, it’s pretty much common sense, we’ve been saying it for a long time!” As indicated by PASNAP’s push for patient ratio reform legislation, a strong healthcare worker union plays a role that's much larger than the hospitals where its members work everyday. Unions like PASNAP are part of a larger vision for providing everyone with quality healthcare.              

Along with demands for freedom of speech, safe patient ratios and fair wage increases, the right for children of Temple employees to attend Temple University free of charge is also an issue. One member told the rallying crowd that this benefit was the only thing that made it possible for her to provide both her children with a college education and that her family was devastated when she was told one day through a memo that the benefit had been taken away. Without any prior notification, Temple had illegally removed this contractually recognized benefit a few months ago. But this past week PASNAP won, for the second time, a ruling by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board mandating Temple University to reimburse members for their children’s tuition.              

One of the most remarkable aspects of the strike is the way that Temple can ignore the significance of a striking workforce by bringing in 850 scabs, or as Temple University refers to them, “replacement staff.” This is a product of the multi-million dollar union-busting business, also known as “Labor Relations” or “Labor Consultants.” These businesses not only supply companies with replacement workforces at substantial prices, but they also provide them with industrial psychologists who use psychological techniques to weaken existing workforces and screen potential new hires for union sympathies. In the large-scale general strikes of the 1930s and 40s in the US, employers would partner with the police or the US National Guard to intimidate and break striking workers, the strike breakers of today have more sophisticated non-physically violent ways to attack working people. At the rally on Wednesday April 20th, chants and speakers consistently remarked on Temple’s union-busting tactics. The rain-soaked crowd was advised to recognize that “our strength comes from our determination to stay together and support each other…what’s disgusting? UNION BUSTING!”             

Whereas this strike is centered round the healthcare professionals at Temple Hospital and their patients, its success or failure will impact all workers, other labor unions, and particularly other health care workers in this city. If PASNAP wins, this will be a huge victory for healthcare workers across this city, and it will demonstrate the power and potential of a fighting union in the ever-expanding healthcare industry. Humphries had this message of strength to share with the unorganized healthcare workers in the city, “[Having a union makes] a huge difference in the way you will be treated... We need to take back the control that has been taken away by big corporations. Healthcare, unfortunately is a business… what we can do is organize and stand up and tell these companies, we are here for patients.  [Your employer] may be here to make money, but we are not. By getting a union, you take back that power!”  

[i] Philadelphia Inquirer, Business Section U.S. service-sector index up in March, Tuesday, April 6, 2010.

[ii] http://healthcare4allpa.org/

[iii] http://www.ahrq.gov/research/nursestaffing/nursestaff.htm Hospital Nurse Staffing and Quality of Care

Photos thanks to: Mica Root, M. Azim Siddiqui, and Paul Scott

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