Tentative Deal Reached In Nurses' Strike At RWJ University Hospital

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — After nearly five months, the nurses' strike at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is about to come to an end.

A new collective bargaining agreement was reached between the nurses on strike and hospital management Friday afternoon. The nurses are members of United Steel Workers 4-200 union.

"A memorandum of agreement was signed by both parties and will be presented over the next several days to union members as part of the ratification process," said Wendy Gottsegen, a spokeswoman for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

Judy Danella, a senior nurse at RWJ and one of the strike leaders, confirmed an agreement was reached. However, the 1,700 nurses on strike have not officially voted yet to approve their new contract.

Neither hospital management nor the union divulged the terms of the new contract. Danella said it would be improper to leak the terms of the deal to the media before union members had a chance to vote on it.

"But we did get the safe staffing levels we have been asking for," she told Patch Friday afternoon.

Some of the things the nurses were asking for included pay raises, a cap on health insurance costs, and for the hospital to hire more nurses.

Longest nursing strike in NJ history

Nurses at the New Brunswick hospital first walked off the job Aug. 4, and the strike is about to enter its fifth month. This has been the longest time in history that nurses at a New Jersey hospital have gone on strike.

(RWJ's nurses last went on strike in 2006, and it lasted six weeks.)

"I never thought it would last this long; I thought the strike would only last a few days," said Danella. "I really hope that when we all go back to work, we are all professionals because it's about the patients. The patients are why we did this."

"I know we nurses will go back with a commitment to our patients, and I know we will be professional. I hope they will be, too," she said, referring to RWJ management.

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is a trauma center for Central New Jersey, and consistently ranked as one of the best hospitals in the state.

It's been a labor feud marked by hostility on both sides:

In late August, the hospital cut off health insurance for the nurses on strike, saying if they did not work, they were not eligible for health insurance.

Then a week later, the nurses went to the Maplewood home of RWJBarnabas Health CEO Mark Manigan, where they held a silent protest directly in front of his house.

For weeks, the nurses marched and picketed outside the hospital's main entrance, and there were reports of scuffles between nurses and hospital security guards. Read: Fights Reported In Picket Line As RWJ Nurses Remain On Strike

The nurses' union asked Gov. Phil Murphy to get involved to end the strike (he did not get involved, at least publicly), and federal mediators also tried to help both sides come to an agreement.

While the strike dragged on, RWJ admitted it spent tens of millions of dollars to hire replacement nurses. RWJ University Hospital president Alan Lee said in this Dec. 1 public letter the hospital paid more than $120 million for replacement nurses.

"The union was intent on striking," Lee also said in that letter. "We offered to enter binding arbitration or participate in a board of inquiry, but the union declined both options."

"I'm sure there will be some resentment towards us nurses," said Danella Friday afternoon.

The next step is that RWJ's approximately 1,700 nurses will now be asked to vote to approve the new contract. That process will take place over the next two weeks, said Danella.

Hospital management said in a statement Friday:

“RWJUH has the utmost respect and appreciation for our nurse colleagues and all they do for our patients, the community and this hospital. We look forward to the outcome of the ratification vote.”