Catherwood LibraryILR School

Members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, which represents about 1,500 employees of the Temple University Hospital are continuing the strike that started last Wednesday. Their contract expired on September 30, and negotiations have stalled around wages, benefits, tuition reimbursement, and a rule prohibiting them from making disparaging comments about the hospital. While other employees who belong to different unions continue to work, the head of District 1199C of AFSCME's National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees says that their members are free to talk to whomever they please, contradicting a memo sent by the executive director of the hospital, which told employees not to support strikers. Hospital management asked Representative Bob Brady to meet with the hospital management. He agreed, but only after talking with union leaders on Monday, and union leaders say that they informed him of the situation. A rally is planned outside the hospital for noon today.