About 1,500 nurses and other health professionals from Philadelphia's Temple University Hospital are currently in their second week of a strike, after failed negotiations regarding pay raises and benefits.
And the way that Temple is dealing with it doesn't make much sense to me.
Temple has flown in over 800 temporary nurses and other staff to fill in for the striking workers.
Temple is paying these temps up to $10,000 per week, and is paying for their $175/night hotel rooms and meals, as well as travel expenses. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, this is adding up to $4-$5 million per week to replace the striking workers.
I've been told that the $9 million that Temple is spending on temp workers for just the first two weeks of the strike is roughly equal to all of the additional costs of the entire four-year contract proposed by the nurses and allied professionals. Therefore, Temple's behavior will surely be regarded by many as a blatant union-busting move.
Temple needs to stop risking the well-being of its hospital patients by squandering all that money on a skeleton staff of outsiders. Management needs to show some respect for its long-time employees and the quality of care they provide. Otherwise, they're going to lose patients over the long term, and that will affect the bottom line if not their conscience.
Perhaps it was summed up best on a sign seen at a recent rally by the striking health care workers at Philadelphia City Hall:
"Wounds Won't Heal Until The Scabs Go Away"
Amen.
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