The Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) is a health care
labor union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
and
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
that represents registered nurses and other health care workers in hospitals, nursing homes, blood banks and clinics in the public and private sector. It is an affiliate of the
American Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teacher's labor union in America (the largest being the National Education Association). The union was founded in Chicago. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders.
About 60 perc ...
(AFT) and the
AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
.
Formation and early history
HPAE's precursor union, the Englewood Hospital Nurses Association, was formed in 1974 when Ann Twomey, a registered nurse, organized an independent nurses union at Englewood Hospital in
Englewood, New Jersey
Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...
. Shift rotation, floating, low wages and a general lack of respect from management drove Twomey and the other Englewood nurses to organize at a time when federal labor law had only just begun to recognize the union rights of registered nurses.
Englewood's management repeatedly tried to break the union. In July 1976, the hospital suspend Twomey for refusing to wear a nurse's cap. Twomey pointed out that men were not required to wear one. On October 12, 1976, the Englewood nurses successfully struck for six days over staffing, training, rotating shifts and non-nursing duties assigned to nurses.
In 1977, nurses at Pascack Valley Hospital in
Westwood, New Jersey
Westwood (known as "The Hub of the Pascack Valley") is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 10,908,North Bergen, New Jersey
North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 63,361. The township was founded in 1843. It was much diminished in territory by a ...
, formed a union and joined HPAE.
But on September 25, 1979, the union struck Pascack Valley Hospital over wages and floating of nurses to units where they had no experience or training. The successful strike lasted 70 days.
The union organized its second nursing home, Llanfair House, in 1980.
On September 1, 1980—Labor Day—HPAE struck Englewood Hospital. Once more, the issues revolved around wages and floating. The strike lasted 98 days, and for more than two decades remained the longest strike in New Jersey history.
Affiliation and maturity
The turmoil of the union's first five years led the leaders of the union to conclude that they needed the support and backing of a much larger parent union with the resources and political ability to support the union.
Rejecting the
American Nurses Association
The American Nurses Association (ANA) is a 501(c)(6) professional organization to advance and protect the profession of nursing. It started in 1896 as the Nurses Associated Alumnae and was renamed the American Nurses Association in 1911. It is ba ...
as too management-dominated and the
National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is the largest trade union of public employees in the United States. It represents 1.3 million public sector employees and retirees, including health care workers, correcti ...
/
RWDSU
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) is a labor union in the United States. Founded in 1937, the RWDSU represents about 60,000 workers in a wide range of industries, including but not limited to retail, grocery stores, poultry pro ...
as too militant, the union voted in 1980 to affiliate with the AFT and its health care division, the
Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...
(FNHP; now known as
AFT Healthcare
"Aft", in nautical terminology, is an adjective or adverb meaning towards the stern (rear) of the ship, aircraft or spacecraft, when the frame of reference is within the ship, headed at the fore. For example, "Able Seaman Smith; lie aft!" or ...
).
HPAE continued to grow, but organizing came much more slowly. The union held 20 elections between 1981 and 1993, and grew from 1,000 members in 1980 to nearly 4,000 in 1993.
In 1985, the union changed its name to the Health Professionals and Allied Employees to represent its shift away from purely hospital organizing.
1993 proved to be a pivotal year for HPAE. On December 4, 1993, 680 union members struck Jersey Shore Medical Center in
Neptune City, New Jersey
Neptune City is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,869,Camden-
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
market in 1996. In 2016, HPAE represents 13,000 nurses and healthcare workers in a variety of healthcare settings.
The union's political and legislative program proved equally as effective. In 1997, HPAE won amendments to NJ's whistleblower law, providing specific protections for healthcare professionals who report unsafe patient care conditions. A safe needle law followed in 2000, and a ban on mandatory
overtime
Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways:
*by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...
in 2002. And in 2005, the union won passage of a law requiring public disclosure of nurse-to-patient staffing levels in hospitals and nursing homes.
HPAE's transformation did not go unnoticed. Twomey's image appeared on the cover of the first issue of the AFL-CIO's new ''America@Work'' publication in November 1996. Twomey was elected to the AFT executive council in 2000, becoming only the second health care leader to sit on that body.
Current projects
In 2004, HPAE aligned the majority of its contracts in order to set standards for care and for workplace rights. In 2006, the union began coordinated bargaining with all 20 employers. One contract expired on March 31, and the remainder expired on May 31, 2006.
HPAE also led efforts to require transparency and accountability in NJ hospitals, particularly in the for-profit takeovers.
In 2014, HPAE began a strategic planning process to help address the many challenges of hospital mergers and the intrusion of for profit hospitals into NJ. HPAE is currently implementing its second strategic plan, in response to changes in the healthcare industry. HPAE leaders and members are focusing on addressing the challenges from hospital system mergers and re-focusing their efforts to win safe staffing legislation. HPAE was and continues to be a leader in ' CPRSS', the Coalition for Patient Rights and Safe Staffing.
HPAE has continued to grow -from 4000 members in 1994 to 13,000 members in 2016, with the newest local of social workers and addiction counselors at American Addiction Centers in NJ.