After more than two months of striking and six hours with a federal mediator, nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital are still without a contract on Friday.
“We want to move forward. We want to go back to work. And we want a contract, today,” said Judy Danella, president of United Steelworkers Local 4-200 which represents the nurses.
The hospital has used replacement nurses over the last two months to cover the 1,700 nurses who are on strike. The union says those replacement nurses are earning as much as four times what union nurses make. “If they would have used the $7,200 a week that they’re spending on these scab nurses and invested it in the nurses that have been here for ten years, 15 years, 20 years, 30 plus years, you will attract so many nurses across the state,” said registered nurse Stephanie Torres.
The nurses took to the streets on Aug. 4, hoping that honking cars could raise awareness for their demands, which include a cap on health care costs, better pay and the biggest issue, higher levels of staffing. “Multiple studies have demonstrated that the mortality rate of patients go up 7% for each additional patient that is added to the average nurse’s workload,” said registered nurse Erica Colindras. “You don’t have enough time to assess the patients and make sure that they are safe.”
In a statement, Robert Wood Johnson said, “The union … seems to forget that it made the decision to go out on strike despite the hospital’s requests that the parties continue to negotiate … Staffing at RWJUH is not just proper but among the highest in New Jersey. In fact, the hospital is staffed by 170 more nurses than is called for in the recently proposed staffing legislation in Trenton that the union claims to support … The strike … has lasted nine weeks because the union wants more than any health care organization would ever agree to.”
During the last negotiation session, RWJ management produced two offers which were rejected by the union. The union said it didn’t expect an agreement to come on Friday and it is more than willing to continue to pound the pavement and strike for its members’ rights.
The union released a statement late afternoon that said talks would resume next week.
“We did not make progress toward a settlement today, but we gave management a proposal that we believe addresses any reasonable concerns they have raised,” the statement read. “The ball is now in their court. We remain fully committed to reaching an agreement with enforceable staffing standards. Further negotiations are set for Tuesday.”
— Editor’s note: RWJBarnabas Health is an underwriter of NJ Spotlight News.
