You Have The Right—To ORGANIZE A Union!

“It is unlawful for an employer to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees seeking to organize a union.”

What the employer cannot do:

1. They cannot tell employees that management will fire or punish employees if they engage in union activity.
2. They cannot lay-off or discharge any employee for union activity.
3. They cannot bar employees from signing union petitions during non-working hours.
4. They cannot bar employees from discussing the union during working hours (in non-patient areas) provided it does not interfere with patient care.
5. They cannot ask employees about confidential union matters, meetings, etc.
6. They cannot ask employees about the union representatives.
7. They cannot ask employees how they intend to vote.
8. They cannot ask employees whether or not they belong to a union or have signed a petition for a union.
9. They cannot, by the nature of the work assignment, create conditions intended to get rid of an employee because of his/her union activity.
10. They cannot threaten employees or coerce them in any way in an attempt to influence their vote.
11. They cannot tell employees that existing benefits will be discontinued if the facility is unionized.
12. They cannot say unionization will force management to lay-off staff.
13. They cannot say unionization will take away benefits and privileges presently in effect.
14. They cannotpromise employees promotions, raises or other benefits if they get out of the union or refrain from joining it.
    

Any of the above acts constitutes a violation of the National Labor Relations Act. You can protect your right to organize.

 

Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals

1 Fayette St., 475, Conshohocken, PA 19428

(610) 567-2907, ext. 108 or 1-800-500-7850 x108

 

 

Organizing with PASNAP: How it Works

Step 1: Building an Organizing Committee
The first step for winning a voice on the job is educate yourself and your co-workers about PASNAP, and develop a committee of RNs from every department and shift who are interested in organizing. Working with PASNAP staff, informational meetings will be scheduled for nurses to attend and have their questions answered.

Step 2: Sign a Card
Once RNs from all units have met and expressed support for organizing the union, PASNAP authorization cards or a petition will be circulated for RNs to sign.

Step 3: Election
When a strong majority of nurses have signed authorization cards or a petition, PASNAP will petition the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to conduct a secret ballot election. Union elections are conducted at the facility and take place during working hours. Your employer does not see your ballot or your authorization card, and they will not be present during the election process.

Step 4: Bargaining Your First Contract
After you win an election, you have a voice on the job! Your employer cannot change existing practices without bargaining with you and your co-workers first. Nurses will elect a bargaining committee and local officers who will work with PASNAP staff to  bargain your first contract. After a contract is voted on and ratified by all PASNAP RNs at the hospital, PASNAP staff will continue to work with local officers and leadership to build the union at your hospital. Members of PASNAP do not pay dues until a first contract is negotiated and ratified by the affected members. Membership dues are 1% of gross wages with a cap of $23.54 per pay period.

The Top FIVE REASONS Why Pennsylvania Nurses are Joining PASNAP

1. A Voice

“For too long, Registered Nurses have stood by while decisions that negatively impact patient care and our families’ well-being are made without our input and against our better judgment. Forming a union with PASNAP changes that—winning the union means a permanent voice in the decisions that impact our profession and our jobs.”
— Maureen, RN, NICU

“Registered Nurses are the most trusted and respected professionals in the community; why do we allow Hospital Administrators to routinely disregard our trusted voice? The only way our voice will be heard will be if we organize ourselves and form a nurses’ union with PASNAP.”
— Ed, RN, Cardiac Lab

“Winning the union means the employer must, by law, recognize the nurses’ voice and sit down as equals with the dedicated nursing staff to negotiate, rather than dictate, our staffing, benefits and working conditions.”
— Amy, RN, Maternity

“Everyday we save lives and help people die with dignity. We are highly skilled medical professionals, many of us with lifetimes of experience. Our PASNAP contract rewards this experience and protects our benefits. That’s the kind of respect nurses deserve.”
— Eun Sun, RN, Cardiac Cath Lab

2. A Legally Binding Contract

Without a union contract, employers make decisions about staffing, benefits and working conditions as they see fit. Too often, such decisions reflect a bottom-line approach, prioritizing profit and executive salaries above the needs of patients and the dedicated staff that care for them. The only way to turn this around is to win the legal right to negotiate over staffing, benefits and working conditions through forming a union. More than 20,000 Registered Nurses in every corner of Pennsylvania have won the union and the ability to
negotiate improvements—and guarantee them through a legally binding contract.
What kinds of issues make up a contract? While the details of each contract differ based on the priorities of the nurses at that particular facility, most PASNAP contracts include
provisions on:
• Staffing Levels/Staffing Committees
• Protection Against Unsafe Pulling/Floating
• Ensuring Sufficient Ancillary Staff
• Pay Increases Based on Experience
• Differentials for Rotation to Evening, Nights, Weekends
• Self-Scheduling
• Paid Educational Leave and Tuition Reimbursement
• Health, Retirement and Pension Benefits
• Retiree Health Care
• Per Diem Rights and Fair Per Diem Rates
• Guaranteed Fair Treatment in Evaluations and Discipline

3. Raise RN Standards and Patient Protection

Staffing and Professional Development Committee (SPDC)
PASNAP Nurses negotiate nurse run committees in their contract with REAL power to address unsafe staffing.

• Nurses are elected by their co-workers to serve on the committee, not appointed by administration.
• Objectives for the Committee are clearly stated in a legally binding contract, management cannot manipulate objectives or dissolve the committee.
• Contract language stating that the Chief Nursing Officer must respond to the committee’s recommendations within 30 days gives nurses the power to hold hospital administration accountable

“Safe staffing and providing a safe
environment for our patients and
RNs is top priority for me as a
nurse and as a union member.”
— Kim, RN, Shock Trauma

Safe Staffing through Nurse-to-Patient Ratios
Tens of thousands of preventable patient deaths and injuries occur due to inadequate nurse staffing levels in hospitals. Ensuring enough direct care nurses are by patients’ bedsides would drastically improve patient care. The California Nurses Association (CNA/NNOC) succeeded in winning legislation that sets minimum nurse-to-patient ratios for all of California’s hospitals, creating improvements in the quality of care and in recruiting and retaining nurses. Since California enacted its ratio law in 2002, nearly 100,000 additional RNs have been licensed, a yearly average that is triple the number before the law. Here in Pennsylvania, PASNAP is fighting to win similar legislation for the sake of patients and nurses through a Bill called Minimum Staffing Requirements of the Pennsylvania Hospital Patient Protection Act.

4. Retirement Security

Retiring with dignity is something every nurse deserves. At non-union facilities employees
retirement benefits can change without input from the staff. PASNAP nurses have retirement benefits they can count on. Once nurses organize their union, retirement benefits along with other terms and conditions of employment become mandatory subjects of bargaining, ensuring that healthy employee benefits remain intact
throughout a nurses career.

Temple University Hospital
Pension: Temple contributes 8.5% of employee’s salary annually after seven years of service, (up to $7500 per year). This is in addition to nurses’ contribution.

Crozer Chester Medical Center
Retiree health care at 60: If a nurse wishes to retire early, she can keep health benefits for
herself and spouse and pay only half of the premium until age 65.

Butler Memorial Hospital
Retiree health care at 59½: Nurses at Butler Memorial Hospital have won substantial employer contributions towards retiree health care between the ages of 59½ and 65.

“I am a retired Temple University Hospital nurse and PASNAP
member. All nurses deserve to retire with respect and dignity,
but the only way to secure a healthy retirement is by winning
a voice at your hospital.”
— Mayette, Retired RN, Med-Surg

5. Better Salaries and Benefits
PASNAP nurses have won improvements in wages and benefits that set standards across the state. PASNAP nurses in every facility receive contractual annual salary increases and increases based on years of experience. So-called “merit” increases too often cheat nurses out of the recognition they deserve.

Crozer Chester Medical Center
• Highest RN wages in the state, with experienced RNs earning $52.64 per hour for straight time.
• Nurses receive DOUBLETIME for the first eight hours of overtime in pay period.
• Weekend Program RNs have a base rate of $55.78 for day shift and $60.82 for night shift.

Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital:
• Weekend rates for all RNs (not just weekend employees) working 12 hour shifts on the weekend are $52.79 on days, $59.96 on nights.

Jeanes Hospital:
• Full time employees receive a $2,000 per year bonus for maintaining certification in their specialty, pro rated for part-time employees.

Who we are

Nurses are uniting for a voice at the table where decisions that affect our patients and our profession are made.

Thousands of nurses have successfully organized and used their collective power to improve staffing, address inequities in compensation, and turn their facilities into places where nurses are respected and treated like professionals.

PASNAP is Pennsylvania’s only independent nurses union committed to putting our patients before company profits and educating all Philadelphia nurses about winning respect and recognition at their hospital.