Temple Nurses Win Again: Hospital Must Pay Unemployment Costs

by James Parks, Jun 14, 2010

After 28 days on strike, Temple nurses ratified a new contract in April.

Not only did Temple University Hospital nurses win a new contract after a 28-day strike in May, the workers now will receive $1.5 million in unemployment compensation—and Temple will have to foot the bill.

The Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Board recently ruled that Temple University Hospital locked out workers by unilaterally changing employee working conditions prior to the strike. This decision makes the nurses and other professionals who went on strike eligible for unemployment benefits, which total about $550 per week, per worker. Because Temple, like many large employers, is self-insured for unemployment compensation, the hospital is responsible.

Bill Cruice, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP), an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), says:

We are thrilled that our legal position has been vindicated by this decision. It is not surprising that the Unemployment Compensation Board has declared that the four-week strike was actually a lockout by Temple; it is consistent with our message that Temple executives were reckless and irresponsible in their approach to our negotiations from day one.

The union estimates that Temple spent some $15 million during the strike on replacement workers’ wages, luxury hotel rooms and airfare on temporary replacement employees from 42 states across the country.

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