Nurses and techs at Fox Chase authorize a strike as negotiations for their first union contracts drag on

The nurses and techs at Temple Health’s Fox Chase Cancer Center authorized on Thursday a potential strike, as six months of negotiations with the health system has not produced agreements for their first contracts as unionized groups.

The roughly 135 techs and nearly 400 nurses at the specialty cancer center in Northeast Philadelphia gave their unions’ bargaining committees approval to hand Temple a 10-day strike notice, if they do not make progress in the ongoing negotiations. The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, or PASNAP, which represents the workers, did not share the vote tallies.

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Temple has been negotiating separately since the fall with the two sets of unionized employees — the nurses and the techs, including X-ray techs, surgical techs, and respiratory therapists. PASNAP filed an unfair labor practices complaint with the National Labor Relations Board on March 6 alleging “bad faith bargaining” by Temple.

It can take a long time to reach a good contract, said Temple spokesperson Jeremy Moore in a statement. For example, Temple negotiated with the roughly 35 Fox Chase and Jeanes Hospital’s certified registered nurse anesthetists for 13 months to reach their first contract, which both parties signed on January 2023.

“It comes as no surprise that PASNAP held a strike authorization vote,” Moore said. “All unions do this as a common pressure tactic to add leverage to their bargaining position.”

The nurses and techs at Fox Chase have each held roughly 20 bargaining sessions with Temple’s management since September.

Their differences began in deciding on a format for the negotiations, said Nancy McIntyre, an X-ray tech at Fox Chase.

The nurses and techs wanted to negotiate together, but Temple has been negotiating with each group separately, McIntyre said. The nurses and techs also proposed to hold bargaining sessions on Temple’s Cottman Avenue campus to make it easier for employees to participate, but Temple refused and negotiations have been taking place off campus.

“They have been calling the shots, and we’ve been giving in,” she said.

There has been little progress in the negotiations with the techs, McIntyre said.

» READ MORE: Nurses at Temple Health’s Jeanes hospital authorize strike but stop short of declaring one

The nurses and management have agreed on some issues, such as bereavement time, but have made no progress on more contentious issues such as the number of patients each nurse has under their care or benefit packages, said Ed Hall, a critical-care nurse at Fox Chase.

“It’s been really difficult, really slow, very frustrating,” Hall said.

The roughly 370 nurses at Jeanes Hospital, which is adjacent to Fox Chase, authorized a strike on Feb. 29. The Jeanes nurses’ contract expired in November, and negotiations are ongoing.