Nurses at 2 Pennsylvania hospitals announce union strikes this month

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About 200 employees at two community hospitals serving the Philadelphia suburbs say they will go on strike this month.

Unionized nurses at Suburban Community Hospital in Norristown and Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol delivered strike notices Monday night to Prime Healthcare, the California-based owner of both facilities.

Workers plan to step off the job Dec. 22 and strike for five days. Unions at both facilities are currently in labor negotiations with management. Their previous contracts expired in early October.

“The idea behind that is to get them moving and say, ‘Hey, we are not messing around. We are serious about this, we will strike if we have to, to get the contract we deserve,’” said registered nurse and union secretary Octavia Rumer, who works in the emergency department at Suburban Community Hospital.

Union members said they’re most concerned about staffing levels, which Rumer called “abysmal,” especially after layoffs in September.

“All the research shows that when there’s better staffing, there’s better patient outcomes,” she said. “Ultimately, this all comes down to the patient and making sure that the patient and the community is taken care of.”

Higher wages and expanded benefits are also among the unions’ demands in the negotiations.