As I opened last night's 'Live From the Newsroom' live-stream broadcast, I was hoping for some glimmer of good news in the dour mood that hangs over one of the icons of Delco industry.
No such luck.
Nurses at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, upset with a lack of progress in talks for a new contract that have been ongoing since April, are planning to walk off their jobs 7 a.m. Sunday. They are vowing to stay out for two days. But the hospital is bringing in nurses to staff the facility, and say they have to enter into a deal for five days. That means Crozer's nurses are likely going to be off the job for an additional three days.
Last night I was joined by Andrew Gaffney, a staff representative for the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, the union that represents the 600 nurses at Crozer.
We also were joined by two longtime RNs from Crozer, Mary Trzeicak and Katie Eppehimer.
I was hoping to also have a representative from Crozer on the show, but the hospital declined, saying they preferred to do their talking at the bargaining table, not in the media.
That made for a somewhat one-side show. If you missed it, you can see the replay here.
I started the show by asking Gaffney for a quick update. I knew there had been several sessions with a federal mediator in the past couple of days, and that Crozer had offered the union a 'last, best offer.'
The union was not impressed. Gaffney said little progress was made and that no further talks are set. Nurses will hit the bricks Sunday morning.
There's been a lot of talk about the proper staffing in these talks. The nurses insist the hospital is dangerously under-staffed, pushing staff to the limit. But the hospital insists that's not the case, that Crozer is staffed at or above national levels. They also noted that for all the talk about staffing, most of the negotiations have centered on economic issues.
They are quick to point out that the average Crozer nurse makes $103,000 a year, and that the top earner last year checked in at a fairly healthy $167,803.
But Trzeicak said that number in itself is a sign of under-staffing at the hospital, noting the nurse who earned it "lived at the hospital." Both Trzeicak and Eppehimer said many nurses work a lot of overtime, again because of staffing issues.
That's where the two sides stand.
Sunday morning Crozer's nurses will be outside carrying pickets signs, while replacement nurses will be inside doing their jobs.
So much for cooler heads prevailing.
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