Temple nurses, staff extend looming strike deadline amid negotiations

One week after members of the union authorized a strike, nurses and staff at Temple University Hospital have extended their deadline.

A vast majority, 98%, of the members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) voted on Sept. 19 to call for a joint strike.

Their contracts with Temple University Health are set to expire on Sept. 30, which was when their strike was set to happen, but the union announced that they are extended that deadline.

PASNAP announced that Temple took major healthcare cost increases off the table which is giving the union and the health company more time to negotiate and reach an agreement.

“As expected, they authorized a strike. This is a part of the normal process—all unions do this as a common pressure tactic to add leverage to their bargaining position,” a spokesperson with Temple Health wrote in a statement to NBC10 on Friday, Sept. 19. “We feel we’re having productive discussions on all the issues that the union has raised, and those discussions are ongoing as part of our regular labor relations process. This is the standard course of business in a contract negotiation. Just like we’ve done in multiple other labor agreements this year, we’re confident this process will lead to a contract that does right by our employees and Temple Health and allows us to continue doing what we’re all here to do:  provide our patients with the high-quality care they deserve.”