Temple Nurses to Receive Jobless Benefits

Board rules Temple must foot the bill in unemployment compensation

A Pennsylvania board has ruled that nurses and other health professionals are eligible for unemployment compensation during their month long strike of Temple University Hospital.

The Pennsylvania Bureau of Unemployment Compensation said in a decision late Friday that the union's 28-day work stoppage in April constituted a lockout, not a strike.

Temple will pay the bill because, like many large employers, it is self-insured for unemployment compensation.

"Officials are thrilled that their position had been upheld," said Bill Cruice, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals.

Temple will have to pay about $1.5 million in unemployment compensation to 800 or 900 of the 1,500 workers it represents, according to a union representative.

Temple University Hospital's president and chief executive Sandy Gomberg said in a brief statement that the hospital will appeal.

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Copyright AP - Associated Press
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