CONTENTS:
Call to Action! Wednesday, March 31
Come support the 1,500 striking Temple nurses
and
professionals
University Hospital voted overwhelmingly to
reject the
hospital's unacceptable 'best and final offer'. A strike is set to
commence
March 31.
Join us WEDNESDAY, March 31 at NOON to help
1,500 workers
speak out against:
Union-busting tactics and attempts to eliminate
the union
shop
Rally at NOON
Temple University Hospital
Broad & Ontario Streets, Philadelphia
Let us know you're coming!
Confirm today that your union or
organization
will be present tomorrow to support the nurses at Temple by
calling Emily
Randle at 215-360-1056, and make sure you check in with PASNAP
staff
tomorrow. We will be sure to acknowledge your solidarity!
We are expecting an enormous turnout, so please
try to
take public transportation or carpool whenever possible, as parking
will be
extremely limited. For the Broad Street line, get off either at
Allegheny (and
walk north) or Erie (and walk south).
See you tomorrow at noon! We're counting on you!
----------------------------------------------
Philadelphia Hospital Workers Prepare to Strike
By Marty
Harrison | March 30, 2010
Health care workers at Temple University
Hospital in
Philadelphia are readying to strike Wednesday, holding out against
demands to
give up free-speech rights, explode health care costs, and hobble the
union's
power.
A FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL
Temple’s last offer would double health care
premiums for
nurses, triple them for the technical/professional staff, freeze wages
for the
first year of the contract, and reduce hard-won wage differentials for
undesirable shifts and 24-hour on-call rates.
The hospital unilaterally and illegally
eliminated the
long-standing dependent tuition benefit last year and intends to keep
it out of
any future agreement. The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board ruled in
the
union’s favor on this issue in January, but Temple has appealed, now
fighting
not only its employees but also the Labor Board. Clearly, the hospital
administration prefers to spend Pennsylvanians’ tax dollars on lawyers
rather
than on caregivers at the bedside.
The hospital also is attempting to constrain
union power.
Temple is demanding an end to fair share or agency fee payments,
effectively
destroying the closed shop. Management offered the nurses a three-year
agreement and the technical/professional staff a four-year agreement,
to strip
the common expiration date from the two locals.
Further, its final offer gives hospital
administration
the right to change or eliminate health plans at any time and to hike
premiums
annually. This language takes health coverage outside the bounds of
contract
negotiations and into the realm of management policy, over which it has
sole
discretion.
The administration has repeatedly cited the
economic
downturn to rationalize the concessions it’s demanding. Though the
Health
System ended the fiscal year with a small deficit, largely due to costs
associated with closing its Northeastern hospital, the flagship Temple
University Hospital came out $16.5 million ahead. Of the $178 million
allotted
to the university by the state last year, the hospital’s share totaled
about
$30 million.
Back in September, the membership rejected
Temple’s final
offer by a vote of 1051 to 7. Individual members have spent the last
six months
preparing financially for a strike—saving tax refund checks, taking
second
jobs, paying utility bills ahead, stocking up the freezer, transferring
families to spouses’ health insurance plans, and deferring
non-essential
spending.
Marty Harrison is a Temple staff nurse and
executive
board member at the hospital's PASNAP local.
http://www.labornotes.org/2010/03/philadelphia-hospital-workers-prepare-strike
________________________________________________________________________________________
Show on PBS Wednesday Evening- March 31
Dear Friends,
Please try to watch PBS at 9 PM tomorrow
evening.
Tavis Smiley has produced a show that will be
aired at
that time.
It has to do with MLK JR' famous speech at
Riverside
Church in NYC
against the war in Vietnam and linking that
speech to the
war's today in Iraq
and Afghanistan. I understand it is
a very powerful
program.
Thank You.
Solidarity,
Tom
---
Tom Paine Cronin
tompainecronin@comcast.net
__________________________
"A Seder of Justice, Human Rights and Health
Care:
The Reality in the West Bank and Gaza."
Alice Rothchild, author of "Broken Promises,
Broken
Dreams"is a prominent Boston-based physician, active with American Jews
for a Just Peace, will be speaking at a Passover seder on Friday night
at
Mishkan Shalom, 4101 Freeland Avenue in Roxborough at 7:00 PM.
Alice has participated in medical delegations
to Israel
and the Occupied Territories as part of AJJP's Health and Human Rights
Project.
Join us for learning and conversation. Enjoy Passover ritual and
dessert.
____________________
PUBLIC FORUM:
For the State Representative Candidates
Wednesday April 7, 2010 – 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
6148 Ridge Avenue, Roxborough Development
Corporation -
(across from Roma’s Pizza) FREE EVENT
I am writing to invite you to the first public
forum/debate of the candidates for State Representative. The
event is FREE and
open to everyone, so please bring family and friends. This is a
great
opportunity to learn more about where the candidates stand on issues of
particular concern to you.
If you are tired of corporations controlling
politics,
schools falling apart, and nonexistent jobs then please come and
support me. I
am running against a political machine that will do everything in its
power to
silence an independent candidate like myself and I need your backing. I
am
running so that your voice will be heard and we can make real changes
that
directly affect your life.
If you have any questions, please
contact us- go to
www.HughGiordano.com.
________________________________________________________________________________
Through the Decades: Celebrating 8 Decades of
Planned
Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania
Save the Date! 4.17.2010 | 8pm-Midnight
Center City, Philadelphia
(location disclosed to ticketholders only!)
Start scouring the thrift stores and create a
glamorous
get-up
for this year's decade-themed event! Dress in
the attire
from
your favorite decade and join PPSP as we
celebrate our
long-standing committment to reproductive
rights and
healthcare
in our community!
*Tickets: $25 advance, $35 at the door. Groups
of 10+ are
$20
per ticket advance, $30 per ticket at the door.
For more information or to purchase tickets:
Visit our online ticket booth at www.ppsp.org .
Call 215-351-5571
email externalaffairs@ppsp.org
*Each ticket includes 2 complimentary drink
tickets.
After
complimentary drink tickets, additional drink
tickets may
be
purchased for $3 for beer and $4 for wine*
Please note this is a 21+ event.
================================
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL ACTION:
National Conference to Bring the Troops Home Now
> AN INVITATION FROM: After Downing Street,
Arab American
Union Members
> Council, Black Agenda Report, Campaign for
Peace and
Democracy, Campus
> Antiwar Network, Code Pink, Iraq Veterans
Against
the War, National Assembly
> to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and
Occupations, Peace of the Action,
> Progressive Democrats of America, U.S.
Labor Against
the War, The Fellowship
> of Reconciliation, Veterans for Peace,
Voices for
Creative Nonviolence, and
> Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom
[list in formation]
> July 23-25, 2010, Crowne Plaza Hotel,
Albany, New
York
The purpose of this conference is to bring
together
antiwar and social
> justice activists from across the country
to discuss
and decide what we can
> do together to end the wars, occupations,
bombing
attacks, threats and
> interventions that are taking place in the
Middle
East and beyond, which the
> U.S. government is conducting and
promoting. Attend
and voice your opinion
> on where the antiwar movement is today and
where we
go from here.
>
> In these deeply troubled times,
Washington's two
wars and occupations rage
> on, resulting in an ever increasing number
of dead
and wounded; more and
> more civilians killed in drone bombing
attacks;
misery, deprivation,
> dislocation and shattered lives for
millions; and a
suicide rate for U.S.
> service members soaring to unprecedented
heights. At
the same time,
> trillions are spent on these seemingly
endless
Pentagon conflicts waged in
> pursuit of profits and global domination
while
trillions more are lost by
> working people in the value of their
homes, in the
loss of their jobs,
> pensions and health care, and in cuts for
public
services and vitally needed social programs.
For more information,
http://www.nationalpeaceconference.org
> Please help us inform you of activities in
your town
by logging in at
> http://afterdowningstreet.org
> Then click on "My account", on
"Edit", and on "Personal Information," and
> type in your state and zip code.
>
FORWARD this message to everyone you know who
doesn't
think we should
> have one set of laws for us and another
for those we
put in powerful positions.
>
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