Blood drive workers go on strike in N.J. and Pa.

Striking Red Cross blood drive workers picketed in Pennsauken and at five other locations Tuesday in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to protest stalled labor talks.

Union leaders said the issues include health care, scheduling, staffing and training.

The strike began Tuesday morning after the union filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the Red Cross. Monday's complaint followed a breakdown in negotiations, which began three months ago. The union's contract expired Sunday.

The Health Professionals and Allied Employees union represents 250 nurses and phlebotomists who are trained to collect blood both at permanent donor sites and at mobile blood drive locations, said union spokeswoman Jeanne Otersen.

The employees work for the American Red Cross Penn-Jersey Blood Services Region, which includes all of South Jersey as well as Mercer County.

Ten to 20 workers picketed Tuesday outside the Red Cross office on Route 70 in Pennsauken. Dozens of workers regularly staff daily blood drive sites around South Jersey and the Philadelphia area.

Anthony Tornetta, spokesman for the Penn-Jersey Region, said the strike does not affect the blood supply and that donors of blood are always encouraged to make an appointment.

"We do not envision any shortage," he added.

"We have certified, well-trained staff (non-union) that can collect blood and we can import blood from other regions if necessary to make sure hospital needs for patients are being met."

Otersen said the Red Cross wants health care eliminated as a negotiation issue so it can unilaterally decide what type of plan to offer its employees.

"They have demanded we give up the right to bargaining for health care," she said, "and have refused to let that issue go to binding arbitration."

Otersen said the employees work long hours and that mobile sites are often understaffed.

"The demand by the national Red Cross that we waive our rights has blocked dealing with the real issues of staffing, scheduling and training," she added.

Tornetta responded by saying the Red Cross is still "doing research" on the union request for binding arbitration and that it has put forth a "good faith offer" overall in an effort to reach a contract. He declined to discuss details of that offer.

"The union benefit package we offer is the same package that we have asked non-union employees to accept," he insisted.

Blood drives generate approximately two-thirds of Red Cross revenue, according to Otersen.

"The Red Cross is a humanitarian mission, but it not living up to that mission in the way it is treating its own employees."