The Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital nurses’ strike now enters its fifth month, with the strike costing big money for both sides of the dispute. Nearly 1,700 nurses walked off the job in the beginning of August and have been without pay or health benefits. On the management side, the hospital said it has spent more than $120 million on replacing nurses to keep the facility operating. The nurses’ union submitted its latest contract proposal last week, and a spokesperson said that the proposal is similar to what the group has asked for since the strike began. Staffing levels and the removal of penalties for nurses who call out sick have been the top priorities for the union. The union’s spokesperson said there’s no deadline for the hospital to respond.
RWJ nurses’ strike enters 118th day
Nearly 1,700 nurses walked off the job in August
An Emmy award-winning journalist, Briana Vannozzi serves as the anchor for NJ Spotlight News, the newsroom of NJ PBS. She's worked in several capacities since joining the news division in 2012, as interim anchor and senior correspondent after years of general assignment reporting as a multimedia journalist. Vannozzi began her television journalism career by cutting her teeth on New Jersey State House politics for New Jersey Network News, and later as a news radio correspondent at FM News 101.9 covering crime and politics in New York City. Her work has taken her to national presidential nominating conventions, Capitol Hill, up and down the East Coast and every corner of the Garden State. She's interviewed every New Jersey governor dating back to Jon Corzine and moderated numerous political debates and forums. Her work has also earned awards from the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists and the Philadelphia Press Association. A Burlington County native, she's honored to be serving and covering her home state and raising her family there.