For the fifth straight day, the strike continues by nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. The nurses walked off the job Friday after contract negotiations between the hospital and nurses union stalled.
Judy Danella, the president of United Steel Workers Local 4-200, the union that represents the nurses, says the nurses and the hospital will meet again Wednesday but she isn’t getting her hopes up. “The second proposal they had given out pretty much mirrors the first with a minor little change,” Danella said. “Everything else was pretty much the same as the one the members rejected seventy-five percent.”
Staffing support and increased paid sick days remain the sticking points between the sides. The nurses say they are working under dangerous conditions for patients, and are under the constant threat of burnout due to the lack of support and resources. The hospital has released several statements maintaining it remains fully operational and praising the replacement workers that have taken over.
Danella said if the strike goes on, “Some nurses are going to start looking for other jobs.” She said, “After 28 years, it’s hard press to even want to continue my employment there. I will continue but not with the press releases going out that are saying we are just greedy individuals.”
— Editor’s note: RWJBarnabas Health is an underwriter of NJ Spotlight News.
