Einstein nurses’ union votes to authorize a strike

Nurses at Einstein Medical Center authorized a strike in a Thursday vote amid escalating contract negotiations with the Jefferson Health-owned hospital on North Broad Street.

Almost all of the 483 nurses who voted approved their bargaining committee to be ready to hand Einstein a 10-day strike notice, the union said.

The next contract negotiation session is set for June 19. The union is prepared to give their strike notice to Einstein if that session doesn’t result in an agreement, said Patrick Kelly, president of Einstein Nurses United.

“Come Monday we either get this done, or the nurses are ready to strike over it,” said Kelly, an intensive-care nurse.

» READ MORE: Punched, kicked, threatened with rape: Einstein nurses raise alarm about dangerous work environment

Roughly 900 nurses at Einstein are members of Einstein Nurses United, a local of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals. They have been without a contract since the end of April. Last month, several dozen picketed outside the hospital to call for better staffing and higher pay.

“Staffing is our biggest priority,” Kelly said. “You don’t fix the staffing levels, everything else just falls apart.”

The nurses union at Einstein has authorized a strike in previous contract negotiations, according to Kelly, but no strike has ever ultimately taken place.

Damien Woods, Jefferson Health’s associate vice president for news and media, called PASNAP’s threatened strike disappointing. If the nurses do strike, the hospital will remain open, he said. Einstein has a contingency plan to minimize any disruption in patient care.

“We remain committed to bargaining in good faith with PASNAP for a new contract that continues to provide nurses with fair, competitive wages and benefits and allows our hospital to provide the highest quality patient care,” Woods said in an e-mailed statement.

» READ MORE: Pennsylvania takes step to become the second state to require nurse staffing minimums in hospitals

Einstein has been grappling with violent and abusive incidents that threaten staff safety, The Inquirer reported last month. The attacks by patients have gotten worse since the pandemic, nurses said. They cite staff shortages, inadequate security, and lax protocols for emergencies as factor that make their environment dangerous.

Earlier this month the state House Health Committee advanced the Patient Safety Act, which would make Pennsylvania the second state in the nation to require nurse staffing minimums in hospitals. PASNAP and other nursing unions advocated heavily for the bill, saying that it will improve patient care and bring back to the bedside nurses who left hospital jobs.