Local 5106 - Health Professionals & Allied Employees

Welcome to Local 5106

Local 5106 represents Registered Nurses, Professionals, and Technical Staff at Temple Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia, PA.

As employees of Episcopal Hospital, we voted overwhelmingly to become part of HPAE in December of 1996. When Temple Health system “acquired” Episcopal and denied recognition of our union, we re-organized und signed our second “first” contract in February 2000.

We remind our long time members and inform our new ones of our struggle to be union and to never take for granted the progress we have made together.

News

Local 5106 General Membership Meeting Minutes, August 30, 2023
Sep 05 2023

Management agreed to early negotiations Bargaining starts early October **** Officially announced that Temple University Health System Episcopal Campus administration has agreed to start negotiations for new contract early to the membership. Bargaining for new contracts start October 4th and

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Personal Panic Alarm Pendants (PPA’s)
Apr 05 2023

During our latest Violence Prevention /Safety meeting with management it was brought to the Union’s attention that our members who were assigned Personal Panic Alarm Pendants (PPA's) were not wearing them.

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Local 5106 General Membership Meeting, April 26
Apr 03 2023

HPAE LOCAL 5106 General Membership Meeting Fox Conference Room 1st Floor Main Lobby April 26th 2023 6:30am—3:30pm On going all Day Please arrange your schedule so that you can attend one of those scheduled times

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Contract Extension Reached
Aug 31 2022

We are happy to announce that because of the solidarity we have shown through petitions and other actions, we’ve been able to come to an agreement with the Hospital on a one year contract extension.

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Local 5106 Member Update, February 18, 2022
Feb 18 2022

On behalf of myself and Local Executive Board of Local 5106 would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff on C5 here at Episcopal Campus for their quick thinking and Heroic response to administer life-saving efforts to resuscitate

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Local 5106 Member Alert: Vaccine Policy
Sep 10 2021

The City of Philadelphia has stipulated that all health care workers must be vaccinated unless they have received an exemption for religious or medical reasons, in which case they will have to be subject to testing.

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Unit Reps and Officers Celebrate the Holidays
Jan 08 2020

The annual Christmas Party for our unit reps and officers was held at Gallo’s Seafood House on December 4th.   There was great food and lots of fun and laughter as  Jamie Barge,  Chris Lewis, Venus Weaver, Gary Peoples, Charles Bowen

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PASNAP Locals, TUHNA and TAP, Rally at Temple
Oct 09 2019

On October 1, 2019, PASNAP locals representing about 2,000  nurses, techs and professionals at Temple University Hospital rallied their members with supporters from the community and other labor organizations.

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Local 5106 Nomination and Election
Aug 09 2019

The Local 5106 Nomination and Election Committee has completed Local 5106 Officer Elections. We commend all of you who participated and who took the time to have a voice in your union. Congratulations to all the winners President – Elizabeth

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Local 5106 Safety Issues Survey
Jun 20 2019

Violent incidents are on the rise on our campus.  Everyone’s safety is at risk, but mostly those who are on the front lines of providing care.  Any information that you provide will help us to formulate a plan for a

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Christmas at Episcopal
Jan 02 2019

Christmas is normally celebrated on December 25th, but this year Christmas at Episcopal was December 18th. On this wonderful day, the Episcopal family reached out to one of our own with love and generosity.

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Union busting continues!
Aug 10 2018

The big corporations, politicians and wealthy interests that have rigged our economy and our politics against working people for decades haven’t stopped.

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Local 5106 Labor-Management/Safety Meeting, June 26, 2018
Jul 05 2018

Labor-Management/Safety Meeting June 26, 2018 Episcopal Campus, Room 213 In attendance:  Betsy Nulty, Gary Peoples, Sue Clements, Richelle Kozak, Yasser El-Khatib and Jeanine Penn Northeastern Campus Building is now managed by Common Wealth Health There is on campus a 126

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Local 5106 Labor-Management/Safety Meeting Minutes, February 27, 2018
Mar 15 2018

In attendance:  Betsy Nulty,  Richelle Kozak, Sue Clements,  Barbara Gennello, Luann Kline, Yasser El-Khatib, Clara Galati, Joan Schiavo Next Meeting:  March 27, 2018 Magnet:  Letter not accepted yet   Restraint Documentation New documentation for restraints; education to be provided starting

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Local 5106 Rep Council Meeting Held
Dec 11 2017

A meeting of the Local 5106 Rep Council was held November 20th. In attendance were Betsy Nulty, Kathy Boardman, Pat Haynes, Venus Weaver, Mike Wilson, Richelle Kozak and Sue Clements. 

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Hundreds Rally in Philly to Save Our Healthcare
Feb 27 2017

Hundreds of concerned citizens came to a rally in Philadelphia on Saturday to defend the gains we've made in providing healthcare benefits to millions of previously uninsured Americans through the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

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Christmas Gifts for Kids in Need
Dec 27 2016

Local 5106 and AFSCME District 1199c union members at Temple Episcopal Hospital came together to make it a happy holiday for the clients served by Stenton Family Manor.

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Local 5106 VP Speaks at Philly Forum on the Fight for $15
Sep 12 2016

HPAE Local 5106 Vice President and Temple-Episcopal social worker Charles Bowen spoke at the "#15 Now" Forum at Temple University in Philadelphia in support of SEIU 32BJ members who are fighting in their current contract negotiations for a $15/hr wage

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New Reps Recognized for Their Commitment and Activity
Apr 27 2016

At our general membership meeting last week, the local officers gave HPAE union pins to new Reps to recognize their commitment to our local and their contribution to making our local strong and effective. Photos below: Top to Bottom –

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Christmas Spirit Shines at Episcopal
Dec 27 2015

  Here at Episcopal, our local likes to give to those who are in need, especially during the holiday season. This year our local participated in two Christmas adventures. Our first quest was to give to one of our own,

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Thats all, folks - no more news!

About Local 5106

In the winter of 1996 Episcopal nurses, frustrated by a lack of respect from management, inconsistent awarding of merit raises and no recognition for seniority, began to consider unionizing.  Our first attempt was half-hearted and management waged an aggression anti-union campaign.  Votes challenged during the election resulted in the ballots being impounded for several months.   During that time management was prohibited from making any changes in our wages or benefits.  We were lulled into a false sense of security and we actually forgot about the election.  Management, however, did not.

In August, 1996 the result of the election was announced.  We lost.

Within days, letters went out to all of the nurses detailing cutbacks.  Our weekend program and 36 for 40 hour program were abolished.  Our sick time was cut from 12 to 6 days a year; our personal days were cut from five to two days a year.  Anyone working less than forty hours a week was reduced to part-time status and benefits.  With the decrease in hours and wages some nurses saw a 20% salary decrease.   Meanwhile unionized workers at Episcopal lost nothing.

The shock propelled us into action.  We realized that without the strength of a union and a legally binding contract we would never regain what we had lost.  We formed an organizing committee and went shopping for the right union.  After meeting with representative from three unions, we chose HPAE.  Within two weeks of our first meeting, 70% of the RNs at Episcopal had signed cards calling for a union election.  The hospital challenged our right to unionize based on the premise that we were all supervisors.  The National Labor Relation Board ruled in our favor.  We prepared for an anti-union campaign that never came.

On December 23, 1996 the nurses won an overwhelming victory: 210-31.  The technicians followed soon after with their own union election victory.

In October 1997 the nurses and technicians of Local 5106, Health Professional and Allied Employees, signed their first contracts with Episcopal Hospital.

Fourteen months later Temple University Health Care System “acquired” Episcopal.  On December 7, 1998 Temple imposed their “Terms and Conditions of Employment.” Temple officials not only refused to honor our contract they used a legal loophole to deny our union recognition.  Temple reduced shift differential, deprived us of sick time and ignored our scheduled pay raises.  Seniority and a real grievance procedure no longer existed.

Many Episcopal employees resigned almost immediately.  Our existing staffing problems became critical.  We feared that Temple’s true intention was to drive away staff and downsize Episcopal until it no longer existed.

Our response was immediate.  We reorganized and applied to the Pennsylvania Labor Board for an election.  Temple tried to postpone the election as long as possible with legal maneuvering over who should be included in the bargaining unit.  Our threat to picket the Apollo (now known as the Liacouras Center) resulted in a speedy compromise and on March 23, 1999 our RN and Tech units won overwhelming victories for the second time.

We were ready to start bargaining immediately.  Temple, however, wasted months of our time by coming to negotiations without proposals and without the authority to make a decision.  When they finally did start to bargain their proposals were insults to the loyal employees who had remained at Episcopal.  Realizing that Temple had no intention of bargaining seriously, our members approved a two-day strike for July 11 and 12, 1999.

In response to the strike Temple closed over half of the hospital and laid off a majority of our members.   Now we were convinced that their plan was to keep enough of Episcopal open to channel patients to Temple.

We reached out to our political officials and community leaders to pressure Temple to reopen Episcopal fully or to share with us their plans for our future.  We believed that our first step toward stabilizing Episcopal was a contract.  Our bargaining committee went week after week to negotiate even though Temple’s representatives rarely showed their faces.  Temple hoped that if they ignored us long enough we would go away.  It only strengthened our resolve to get a contract.

We took to the street again on Sunday, November 21, 1999 with a rally in front of the Apollo.   (Now known as the Liacouras Center).   We were joined by other union members and activists who spoke out on our behalf.

Temple finally realized we were not going away.  By February 2000 a new contract was signed and ratified. More importantly, in the course of our struggle, Temple made a public commitment to keep Episcopal open, which may not have happened without our persistence and hard work.

In the following years Episcopal became a whole new institution.  In January 2001 our OB department was relocated to Temple.  In March 2001 the operating room, short procedure unit, preadmission testing and endoscopy department were closed.

In May 2002 Behavioral Health started moving into Episcopal from Neumann and Temple.  In 2003 we became known as Temple University Hospital, Episcopal Campus.

Local 5106 more than doubled in size, representing nurses in the ER, CRC, two extended acute psychiatric units, three acute care psychiatric units and one medical/telemetry unit, as well as  the technicians in radiology, lab, heart station, respiratory and the Crisis Response Center.

In June of 2009, Northeastern Hospital closed and the Northeastern Ambulatory Care Center became part of Episcopal Campus adding new bargaining unit members in the following departments:  out-patient chemotherapy, endoscopy, cardiology, radiology and the lab.

In February of 2010 a group of professionals made up of social workers and behavioral health therapists at Episcopal Hospital frustrated by unreasonable case loads and not having any say in the conditions of their employment decided they needed to be part of a union. When local 5106 leaders became aware of the professionals desire to organize our Local officers were happy to meet with them and share their organizing story and offer support for the fight ahead. HPAE assigned an organizer, Adam Clark,  and before long the campaign was up and running.  With an overwhelming majority of signed cards we met with Temple and asked for recognition on 8/26/10. They, of course, said no. The process would take longer than hoped for, but the Professionals were not deterred.  A few months later 12/22/10 the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board ruled that the social workers and behavioral therapists would become part of the RN bargaining unit pending on election.   On January 27, 2011, despite a major snowstorm, the Social Workers and Behavioral Therapists came out and voted delivering an overwhelming15 to 2 decision to become part of our Union.

For those of us who have been part of the struggle from the beginning and for those who have joined us along the way, it is clear that the decision to unionize was the right one.  Being union has given us the voice that we need to protect our patients and ourselves.