Union Activity On The Rise At Area Hospitals
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Unions appear to be making a comeback in Philadelphia's health care community. Four hundred sixty registered nurses at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children voted unanimously Thursday to join the Pa. Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals.
The move at St. Christopher's Hospital comes less than a month after nurses at Hahnemann and Delaware County Memorial in Lansdale also voted to unionize. PASNAP Executive Director Bill Cruice says this is what happens after years of cost cutting and deteriorating working conditions.
"Staffing, supplies, equity in the way that even basic things like house scheduling happens. Fairness in the way that nurses and others are treated day to day on the job. These are the kinds of issues that drove the campaigns here," said Cruice.
Those work-related issues, along with salary disagreements, will be on the table when contract talks begin at all three hospitals next month.