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

Nurses at Temple University Hospital-Jeanes Campus on Thursday authorized a strike as months of negotiations for a new contract between their union and the health system have not produced an agreement.

The hospital’s nurses overwhelmingly approved the union’s bargaining committee to be ready to hand Temple a 10-day strike notice. Nearly 80% of the 370 nurses eligible participated in the election, the union said, and 90% of those who voted were ready to authorize a strike.

» READ MORE: Medical techs at Temple’s Jeanes Campus vote to unionize

The nurses want improvements to their workload, enhanced safety on the job, and compensation for the rising cost of living, said Angie Cleghorn, a critical-care nurse at Jeanes.

In addition to an increase in pay, the union is asking for limits on the number of patients under each nurse’s care. They are also demanding new security measures at the hospital in Northeast Philadelphia.

“These are not small sticking points,” she said. “These are major issues that our nurses feel strongly about.”

The nurses’ contract expired in November.

This is the first time the nurses at Jeanes have voted to authorize a strike since their union formed in 2007, Cleghorn said. They are represented by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, or PASNAP.

The union has not yet delivered the strike notice to hospital leadership.

In November 2022, the nurses and other health professionals at Temple’s main campus on North Broad Street similarly threatened to strike but ultimately averted a strike and signed a contract that increased wages and offered protections against workplace violence.

That contract has been an inspiration for some workers in the Temple system.

The contract that Temple offered Jeanes nurses isn’t quiet as lucrative, but it is still a strong package compared to other unionized workers in the health system, said Jeremy Walter, a spokesperson for the health system, in a statement.

“We remain committed to signing labor agreements that do right by our employees and preserve our ability to keep providing our patients and community with the high-quality care they deserve,” Walter said.

The concerns the Jeanes nurses raise are similarly driving union organizing efforts at other hospitals, and beyond just nursing. Medical technicians at Jeanes voted to unionize last month, citing similar grievances.

At the Temple-owned Fox Chase Cancer Center, which is adjacent to Jeanes near Burholme Park, nurses, techs, and research staff all have unionized since last summer.

Cleghorn believes that Temple is playing hardball in these negotiations, given how many other contracts are coming up for negotiations.

“I really think they are going to use us as an example and set the bar,” she said.

» READ MORE: Pa. hospitals are offering higher pay, flexible hours, and even child care to retain workers, survey finds

Kim O’Connell, who also works in the intensive care unit at Jeanes, said that veteran nurses have left the hospital in recent years. She wants a contract that can improve working conditions and hopes that will help attract and retain high-caliber nurses.

“If patients expect a certain level of care,” she said, “you need a certain level of nurse.”