Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals
Encyclopedia
The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) is a labor union
in Pennsylvania
that represents about 6,000 nurses
and allied health professionals. About a third of PASNAP's members work for the Temple University Health System
.
In January 2008, PASNAP affiliated with the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee.
) or associate members outside formal collective bargaining
units.
Unionized members of PNA became increasingly dissatisfied with the poor representation and low militancy of the nurses association. In 1994, the Pennsylvania State Education Association
(PSEA) raided PNA's private-sector and Temple University Health System bargaining units. SEIU District 1199P
raided PNA in 1997, taking over a large unit of state-employed nurses and health professionals. Never eager to engage in collective bargaining, PNA voluntarily shed its remaining collective bargaining unit (composed of nurses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
) by holding an election in which the nurses agreed to affiliate with the Office and Professional Employees International Union
.
The bargaining units which affiliated with PSEA became known as PSEA HealthCare. But the nurses proved restive under PSEA's leadership as well. Seeking to retain their affiliation, PSEA HealthCare sought dual affiliation with a union better able to provide collective bargaining representation as well as expertise in professional issues. PSEA and PSEA HealthCare leaders agreed to dually affiliate the nursing division with the Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (FNHP), the health care division of the American Federation of Teachers
(AFT).
However, a number of local union leaders within PSEA HealthCare felt the nurses should disaffiliate from PSEA and form an independent union. At a national meeting of unionized nurses sponsored by the California Nurses Association (CNA) in March 2000, CNA staff approached PSEA HealthCare leaders and suggested forming an independent nurses association associated (but not affiliated) with CNA. Many of the PSEA nurse leaders were receptive to the idea. Although the executive board of PSEA HealthCare approved the dual affiliation with the AFT, 12 local unions (primarily located in southeastern Pennsylvania) held their own meeting on May 24, 2000, and disaffiliated from PSEA. PSEA brought the issue before the National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB). In October 2000, in what was described as a Solomonic decision because it "split the difference," the Pittsburgh
region of the NLRB ruled that each local union was free to do as it wished. Seven bargaining units with about 1,000 members became dual affiliates of AFT and PSEA. This organization became known as HealthCare PSEA. The 12 other bargaining units, with a membership of about 3,500, formed PASNAP. The PASNAP nurses hired Bill Cruice, a lawyer and former organizer with the Health Professionals and Allied Employees
(an AFT affiliate), as the organization's executive director.
PASNAP formed its alliance with the CNA, and modeled its organizational structure on that of CNA as well.
PASNAP is also recognized for its aggressive collective bargaining, which has won union members significantly higher wages and improved working conditions. The union's more notable collective bargaining achievements include:
s (LPNs), and two units of other workers (47 business office workers and 140 technical and professional workers), at Wyoming Valley Hospital. SEIU attempted to organize the service and maintenance employees. Management asked The Burke Group, a notorious anti-union consultant, to advise the hospital on strategy and tactics. The LPNs rejected the union by a mere six votes, leading PASNAP leaders to decry what they saw as "widespread illegal behavior on the part of the employer." PASNAP entered into contract negotiations with the hospital. But three years later, the technical and professional workers decertified the union when no contract was signed.
PASNAP did not attempt to organize another collective bargaining unit until 2005. The union's next foray into organizing was a small one. In July 2005, the union organized 17 nurses, nurse practitioners and physician assistants at the Delaware County, Pennsylvania
, George W. Hill Correctional Facility. In March 2006, the union organized a small unit of 40 registered nurses and technicians at Wills Eye Surgical Center in Philadelphia.
The union quickly expanded its organizing program. In May 2007, 275 registered nurses at Jeanes Hospital (a member of the Temple University Health System) voted to join PASNAP. On July 19, 2007, 400 nurses at Community Medical Center in Scranton
voted overwhelmingly to join PASNAP. The election was the largest nurses' organizing victory in Pennsylvania since over 700 registered nurses at Altoona Regional Health System joined SEIU two months earlier. In June of 2009 nurses and other healthcare professionals at Fair Acres Geriatric Center voted 125 to 70 in favor of joining PASNAP.
in 2001, and drafted a bill which was introduced in the Pennsylvania General Assembly
banning the practice in acute-care hospitals in 2002. The union has been able to get the measure reintroduced in each successive legislative session.
As part of its campaign to end mandatory overtime, the union has repeatedly polled Pennsylvania nurses about their hours, the acuity (level of illness) of their patients, and patient load. In 2001, the union's independently-conducted poll of 6,000 registered nurses in the state found that 56 percent of nurses would enter the profession today due to mandatory overtime and poor nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. At the time, the poll was the largest survey of RNs ever conducted in Pennsylvania. In 2004, a second poll of more than 2,500 registered nurses in the southeastern Pennsylvania region found that nearly one in three nurses planned to quit nursing within the next five years due to long working hours.
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
that represents about 6,000 nurses
Registered nurse
A registered nurse is a nurse who has graduated from a nursing program at a university or college and has passed a national licensing exam. A registered nurse helps individuals, families, and groups to achieve health and prevent disease...
and allied health professionals. About a third of PASNAP's members work for the Temple University Health System
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
.
In January 2008, PASNAP affiliated with the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee.
History
The bargaining units which comprise PASNAP were originally organized in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s by the Pennsylvania Nurses Association (PNA). However, the majority of PNA's members remained managers (and unable to form a labor union under the National Labor Relations ActNational Labor Relations Act
The National Labor Relations Act or Wagner Act , is a 1935 United States federal law that limits the means with which employers may react to workers in the private sector who create labor unions , engage in collective bargaining, and take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in...
) or associate members outside formal collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
units.
Unionized members of PNA became increasingly dissatisfied with the poor representation and low militancy of the nurses association. In 1994, the Pennsylvania State Education Association
Pennsylvania State Education Association
The Pennsylvania State Education Association represents more than 193,000 teachers, educational support professionals, counselors, curriculum specialists, librarians, health care workers, school nurses, school dental hygienists, school nurses, school psychologists, school social workers,...
(PSEA) raided PNA's private-sector and Temple University Health System bargaining units. SEIU District 1199P
SEIU District 1199P
SEIU District 1199P is the former name of a health care workers local union of the Service Employees International Union in Pennsylvania. It is now called SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. It has a membership of 20,000....
raided PNA in 1997, taking over a large unit of state-employed nurses and health professionals. Never eager to engage in collective bargaining, PNA voluntarily shed its remaining collective bargaining unit (composed of nurses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a large public university system in the United States. It is the tenth-largest university system in the United States and 43rd largest in the world...
) by holding an election in which the nurses agreed to affiliate with the Office and Professional Employees International Union
Office and Professional Employees International Union
The Office and Professional Employees International Union is a trade union in the United States representing 110,416 white-collar workers in the public and private sector....
.
The bargaining units which affiliated with PSEA became known as PSEA HealthCare. But the nurses proved restive under PSEA's leadership as well. Seeking to retain their affiliation, PSEA HealthCare sought dual affiliation with a union better able to provide collective bargaining representation as well as expertise in professional issues. PSEA and PSEA HealthCare leaders agreed to dually affiliate the nursing division with the Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (FNHP), the health care division of the American Federation of Teachers
American Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers is an American labor union founded in 1916 that represents teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff, and nurses and other healthcare professionals...
(AFT).
However, a number of local union leaders within PSEA HealthCare felt the nurses should disaffiliate from PSEA and form an independent union. At a national meeting of unionized nurses sponsored by the California Nurses Association (CNA) in March 2000, CNA staff approached PSEA HealthCare leaders and suggested forming an independent nurses association associated (but not affiliated) with CNA. Many of the PSEA nurse leaders were receptive to the idea. Although the executive board of PSEA HealthCare approved the dual affiliation with the AFT, 12 local unions (primarily located in southeastern Pennsylvania) held their own meeting on May 24, 2000, and disaffiliated from PSEA. PSEA brought the issue before the National Labor Relations Board
National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent agency of the United States government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of...
(NLRB). In October 2000, in what was described as a Solomonic decision because it "split the difference," the Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
region of the NLRB ruled that each local union was free to do as it wished. Seven bargaining units with about 1,000 members became dual affiliates of AFT and PSEA. This organization became known as HealthCare PSEA. The 12 other bargaining units, with a membership of about 3,500, formed PASNAP. The PASNAP nurses hired Bill Cruice, a lawyer and former organizer with the Health Professionals and Allied Employees
Health Professionals and Allied Employees
The Health Professionals and Allied Employees is a health care labor union in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that represents registered nurses and other health care workers in hospitals, nursing homes, blood banks and clinics in the public and private sector...
(an AFT affiliate), as the organization's executive director.
PASNAP formed its alliance with the CNA, and modeled its organizational structure on that of CNA as well.
Collective bargaining
PASNAP has proven to be one of the most militant nurses unions in Pennsylvania, striking or threatening to strike numerous times in its short history as an independent union. The union led a 23-day nurses' strike in the winter of 2003, one of Pennsylvania's longest health care walkouts. In April of 2010 the union led a month long strike at Temple University Hospital defeating many hospital demands, including one banning nurses from making public critiques of hospital policies related to patient care. The union led a 24 hour strike against the Tennessee based Community Health Systems in December of 2010 in Wilkes Barre while the threat of a second strike on May Day 2010 later backed the for profit company off of major healthcare concessions and anti union demands.PASNAP is also recognized for its aggressive collective bargaining, which has won union members significantly higher wages and improved working conditions. The union's more notable collective bargaining achievements include:
- A three-year contract signed in October 2006 covering 1,000 RNs at Temple University Hospital in which the employer agreed to improve staffing levels after a three-year battle with the union. Experienced nurses at Temple will earn $43.0
Organizing
PASNAP's initial organizing efforts were not successful. The union formed a loose association with SEIU 1199P to organize workers wall-to-wall at hospitals near existing collective bargaining units or which provided enhanced collective bargaining power to existing locals. The union's first organizing campaign was among a unit of 252 licensed practical nurseLicensed Practical Nurse
Licensed practical nurse is the term used in much of the United States and most Canadian provinces to refer to a nurse who cares for "people who are sick, injured, convalescent, or disabled under the direction of registered nurses and physicians. The term licensed vocational nurses is used in...
s (LPNs), and two units of other workers (47 business office workers and 140 technical and professional workers), at Wyoming Valley Hospital. SEIU attempted to organize the service and maintenance employees. Management asked The Burke Group, a notorious anti-union consultant, to advise the hospital on strategy and tactics. The LPNs rejected the union by a mere six votes, leading PASNAP leaders to decry what they saw as "widespread illegal behavior on the part of the employer." PASNAP entered into contract negotiations with the hospital. But three years later, the technical and professional workers decertified the union when no contract was signed.
PASNAP did not attempt to organize another collective bargaining unit until 2005. The union's next foray into organizing was a small one. In July 2005, the union organized 17 nurses, nurse practitioners and physician assistants at the Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 558,979, making it Pennsylvania's fifth most populous county, behind Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, and Bucks counties....
, George W. Hill Correctional Facility. In March 2006, the union organized a small unit of 40 registered nurses and technicians at Wills Eye Surgical Center in Philadelphia.
The union quickly expanded its organizing program. In May 2007, 275 registered nurses at Jeanes Hospital (a member of the Temple University Health System) voted to join PASNAP. On July 19, 2007, 400 nurses at Community Medical Center in Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
voted overwhelmingly to join PASNAP. The election was the largest nurses' organizing victory in Pennsylvania since over 700 registered nurses at Altoona Regional Health System joined SEIU two months earlier. In June of 2009 nurses and other healthcare professionals at Fair Acres Geriatric Center voted 125 to 70 in favor of joining PASNAP.
Legislative activity
PASNAP has been very active politically since its inception. It began pressing for an end to mandatory overtimeOvertime
Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. Normal hours may be determined in several ways:*by custom ,*by practices of a given trade or profession,*by legislation,...
in 2001, and drafted a bill which was introduced in the Pennsylvania General Assembly
Pennsylvania General Assembly
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times , the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. Since the Constitution of 1776, written by...
banning the practice in acute-care hospitals in 2002. The union has been able to get the measure reintroduced in each successive legislative session.
As part of its campaign to end mandatory overtime, the union has repeatedly polled Pennsylvania nurses about their hours, the acuity (level of illness) of their patients, and patient load. In 2001, the union's independently-conducted poll of 6,000 registered nurses in the state found that 56 percent of nurses would enter the profession today due to mandatory overtime and poor nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. At the time, the poll was the largest survey of RNs ever conducted in Pennsylvania. In 2004, a second poll of more than 2,500 registered nurses in the southeastern Pennsylvania region found that nearly one in three nurses planned to quit nursing within the next five years due to long working hours.