Hospital workers union reaches deal with Jefferson, averting strike

BY Julie Shaw --- Daily News Staff Writer --- Philadelphia Daily News --- A STRIKE was averted Sunday morning when the union representing hundreds of employees — from nurses to housekeepers to clerical workers — reached a tentative settlement with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. If an accord had not been reached, hundreds of union members were expected to go on strike in front of the Center City hospital at 6 a.m. "We did not get everything, but everything major was achieved," Henry Nicholas, the president of District 1199C of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees, said in a statement. The tentative settlement was reached at about 1 a.m. Sunday — an hour after the contract officially expired. The union said it achieved six-year contracts that included wage increases each year at Jefferson, Temple University Health System, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Hahnemann University Hospital. The contracts also kept intact benefit and pension packages at Jefferson, Temple and Hahnemann. Over the past week, the union also negotiated contracts with 10 nursing homes in the region; those contracts have already been ratified. On Sunday, the contracts with Jefferson, CHOP and Hahnemann were ratified by union members, said District 1199C Acting Executive Vice President Chris Woods. He said he expected the contract with Temple to be ratified by around 7 p.m. Sunday. "I'm just happy that both sides did the right thing and got an agreement," said Woods.