FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2026
CONTACT: Megan Othersen Gorman / [email protected] / (215) 817-5781
Ashley Berry Johnson / [email protected] / (267) 990-5505
FACING UNSAFE STAFFING CONDITIONS AND THE DEEP CUTS TO BENEFITS JEFFERSON MANAGEMENT IS PROPOSING, EINSTEIN RNS INSIST: WE ARE READY TO FIGHT FOR OUR PATIENTS AND OUR FUTURE
ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE EINSTEIN RNS
“Our Patients Deserve Better Than Jefferson Is Willing to Deliver On Its Own. So Do the Nurses Who Care for Them Every Day. This is Our Hospital, This is Our Community: That’s Why I Voted YES—to Stand Up for Safe Patient Care, Those Who Provide It, and the Community Jefferson Claims to Serve.”
PHILADELPHIA – On the heels of an informational picket on May 21st that drew hundreds of Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital RNs outside the hospital in the midst of sheeting rain and wind, Einstein Nurses United, a PASNAP local, brought their own storm today, voting by an overwhelming majority to authorize their bargaining committee to call an unfair labor practice strike if the issues they have raised in negotiations—including unsafe staffing and better resources for caregivers and their patient community—remain unaddressed.
96% of Einstein nurses, now 46 days beyond the expiration of their current contract, voted to authorize a strike, if necessary. Voting closed today at 8:30 PM.
“Our patients deserve better than Jefferson is willing to deliver on its own. So do the nurses who care for them,” says longtime Einstein NeuroScience Nurse Stephanie Stucka, RN, Co-President of Einstein Nurses United. “This is our hospital, this is our community: That’s why I voted YES—to stand up for safe patient care, those who provide it, and the community Jefferson claims to serve.”
Among the 15 largest nonprofit health systems in the U.S., Jefferson Health has taken away all decision-making power from the nursing leadership at the hospital. Executives in Center City are dictating decisions, appearing far more focused on expansion and branding than patient care in North Philadelphia. At Einstein:
- There’s a lack of investment in safe staffing levels
- There’s a lack of investment in resources
- Capital improvements are frozen
- Legacy Einstein pediatric clinics are closed or sold, leaving low-income families in the lurch
“We have a healing mission,” said PASNAP President Maureen May. “We want to heal our patients. We want to heal our community. And we want to be a part of healing a system that doesn’t always have our backs. That’s why we are prepared to take action—not because we want conflict, but because our patients and caregivers deserve better.”
Strike issues for Einstein nurses include:
- Jefferson’s absolute unwillingness to improve nurse staffing, a key quality of care indicator. In bargaining, the nurses have proposed changes to the staffing grids to make improvements on most units. Additionally, the union has proposed language to prevent Jefferson from making staffing worse in the future and to protect good staffing standards and best practices. Jefferson has completely rejected the Union’s proposals. Jefferson actually threatened to file an Unfair Labor Practice against the nurses the first time the nurses proposed improved ancillary staffing, since ancillary staff are not members of the union.
- Jefferson will not commit to maintaining security levels the nurses have fought years to achieve: After years pushing Jefferson to make the hospital a safer environment with increased security and weapons screenings, these goals have been achieved. However, Jefferson will not commit to the nurses or the community to keep the standards as they are or improve them.
- Deep cuts to benefits could be on the horizon: Jefferson is proposing they have unlimited ability to make deep cuts to benefits that will effectively take its caregivers backward, driving some to seek employment elsewhere. Jefferson has rejected all proposals to protect the nurses PTO, sick time and pension.
- In a sick twist of irony, Jefferson will not commit to limiting the amount the nurses at Einstein pay for healthcare: Despite being on the frontline of providing healthcare to the community 24/7, the caregivers themselves are being told by Jefferson they could be facing unlimited increases to their healthcare costs. The only cap promised by Jefferson is a yearly 15% max increase to premiums. Jefferson wants no limits on any other increases.
- Jefferson won’t commit to the community and the nurses that they will not cut services and close departments: In the wake of Jefferson layoffs and pediatric clinic closures, the nurses are asking that the community does not lose any more services to Jefferson’s cuts.
“All we want is a safe work environment with safe staffing; resources to provide excellent patient care; and wages and benefits that will help retain experienced staff in the hospital,” says longtime Psych Nurse Danielle Wright, RN . “By ignoring the concerns of its nurses, Jefferson is risking the lives of patients who come to our hospital. We are not going backward—and we will not allow care for our patient community to go backward, either.”
“The nurses of Einstein have dedicated their careers to caring for our communities, often under extraordinarily difficult circumstances,” says State Senator Sharif Street, who represents Senate District 3, which includes Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital. “They deserve a contract that recognizes their expertise, respects their contributions, and provides the staffing, workplace protections, and resources necessary to deliver safe, high-quality patient care.”
“When healthcare workers stand together to advocate for their patients and their profession,” he continues, “they deserve to be heard. I stand with the Einstein nurses in their fight for a fair contract and urge Jefferson Health to negotiate in good faith so that we can continue building a healthcare system that puts patients and caregivers first.”
“Nurses play an invaluable role in our healthcare system,” says state Representative Darisha Parker, who represents House District 198, which includes Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital. “We saw it during the COVID-19 pandemic—they work tirelessly to give the highest level of care to their patients, and they, too, deserve the highest level of care while performing their roles. I stand with the nurses of Einstein Nurses United as they fight for safer working conditions and fair wages!”
“I’m voting to authorize a strike because someone has to advocate for this community,” says Einstein Nurses United Co-President Jyll Kurczewski, RN. “Jefferson says they are operating at a loss, but part of that is because they misappropriate their funds. Someone has to make them accountable for their financial choices! Furthermore, we are trying to make Jefferson Einstein a more desirable place to work by enhancing our benefits. There are many healthcare networks in the area where RNs can choose to work, and we want them to want to be at Einstein. We are not going to be intimidated by a health system more concerned with increasing their footprint than taking care of their frontline staff.”
Summary of issues attached.
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Einstein Nurses United is an affiliate of PASNAP, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, which represents more than 11,000 frontline healthcare workers across the commonwealth. PASNAP was founded 25 years ago on the belief that patients do better when frontline caregivers have a voice to advocate for their patients and themselves.
