NUHHCE, AFSCME reach tentative contract agreement with Temple

Representatives of District 1199C of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (NUHHCE), AFSCME today reached a tentative contract agreement with representatives of Temple University Health Systems. A ratification vote is expected on Sunday.

Philadelphia Health Commissioner Donald Schwarz stopped by negotiations earlier today at the Sheraton Hotel and encouraged the bargaining teams from the union and Temple to reach a settlement.

Tentative Contract Agreements also were reached today with Golden Living Center -- Stenton and Golden Living Center -- Lansdale.  Members are to hear contract details and vote on ratification at Lansdale on Thursday and at Stenton on Friday. A tentative agreement between the union and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was reached Tuesday; a vote on that contract is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at the hospital.

The union still is engaged in contract negotiations with nine other area employers including two major hospitals: Hahnemann University Hospital and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Contracts at all nine facilities are set to expire Sunday, July 1 and if agreements aren't reached by 11:30 p.m. June 30 (Saturday night), picketing is to begin at 6 a.m. Sunday.

Union members distributed flyers outside Thomas Jefferson University Hospital this afternoon to inform workers and passersby about management's efforts to create a hostile environment through anti-union mailings sent directly to members.  The letters to employees' homes, sent as contract negotiations are in progress, seek to undermine members' relationship with the union, according to 1199C President Henry Nicholas. 

Besides Jefferson and Hahnemann, contracts talks are currently underway between District 1199C  and the following employers: Sodexho at Hahnemann University Hospital, Crothall at Hahnemann University Hospital, Chestnut Hill Lodge Health and Rehabilitation Center, St. Monica Manor (Licensed Practical Nurses); and in New Jersey: Genesis HealthCare - Cooper River, Genesis HealthCare Burlington Woods, Genesis HealthCare - Kresson View.