The full Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board has affirmed a decision that found Temple University engaged in bad faith bargaining by discontinuing a tuition benefit for the dependents of Temple University Hospital nurses and other professional staff.

Temple said Monday it plans to appeal the ruling, which followed an earlier ruling by a PLRB panel.

The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, which represents 1,500 registered nurses and professional staff at the hospital in North Philadelphia, filed a complaint last year saying Temple eliminated the “decades-old” reimbursement policy, even though collective bargaining agreements guaranteed the benefits were still in effect.

The ruling requires that the university compensate all affected employees for the amounts they would have been reimbursed if the policy had not been changed in March 2009. PASNAP said about 150 employees are due between $7,000 and $15,000 each.

Temple said, “Our decision to eliminate tuition-assistance for the children of all Health System employees was based on several factors: it is not a competitive benefit within the marketplace, it's discriminatory in that it applies to only a small number of employees, and it’s inconsistent with the economic realities of the region,” Temple said.

The university added Temple University Hospital “will continue to negotiate in good faith with PASNAP.”

Bill Cruice, executive director of PASNAP and chief negotiator, said the ruling “affirms what we have been witnessing for too many months — bad faith bargaining and corporate decisions that directly contradict Temple’s public mission and community responsibilities.”