BARGAINING UPDATES Temple North CRNAs Unanimously Ratify Their First Contract!

On January 9th, 35 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs), who practice under the sprawling Temple Health System umbrella at Jeanes Hospital and Fox Chase Cancer Center, voted unanimously to ratify a first contract in which there wasn’t a single concession from the terms of their employment prior to the contract—everything either stayed the same and is enshrined in the contract or the CRNAs made gains. Their new four-year contract includes:

• A wage scale that values experience, reflecting years of experience as a CRNA. The new pay scale, which includes premium pay, salary, and per diem rate increases, will help Temple North recruit and retain CRNAs.

• Improvements to leaves of absence—like their colleagues at the main hospital, the Temple North CRNAs now have one week of fully paid parental leave.

• Current scheduling practices are now enshrined in the contract and therefore protected.

“When anesthesia care for Fox Chase and Jeanes Hospital fully merged, TUH administration was less than transparent,” said Bernadette Golarz, DNP, CRNA, a leader in the effort to organize. “People felt disrespected and were very unhappy. Administration said, “Like it or leave it,” and many CRNAs did leave. But we chose a different path—we chose to stay