RWJ Nurses' Strike Now In 3rd Week; No Deal In Sight

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — The nurses' strike at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital appears to be at a stalemate:

Approximately 1,700 nurses at the New Brunswick hospital have been on strike for nearly three weeks now, having walked off the job starting Aug. 4. As of Wednesday, neither they nor hospital administration appear close to reaching an agreement.

"We last sat down with the union and a mediator on Aug. 16," said a hospital spokesman. "And that was for seven hours. At this time, there are no additional meetings scheduled."

"It's status quo at this point, unfortunately," he said.

On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) weighed in; he sent this letter to RWJ Barnabas Health CEO Mark Manigan in support of the striking nurses. And U.S. Congressman Frank Pallone, the Democratic congressman who represents Central Jersey, has walked the picket lines with the nurses on multiple days.

So far, Gov. Phil Murphy has not intervened at all to end the nurses' strike, despite the fact that he did so this April when Rutgers professors went on strike for the first time in school history. During that strike, Murphy said he was "pissed off" and had a "lock-the-door, throw-away-the-key" mentality. Murphy demanded both sides meet at his office in Trenton, and the governor held the meetings for several days until they reached an agreement.

More than 7,000 people signed this Change.org petition, started Aug. 12, calling on Gov. Murphy to get involved to end the Robert Wood Johnson nursing strike.

The main sticking point is staffing levels.

Renee Bacany, who has been a nurse at the New Brunswick hospital for 17 years and is part of the negotiating team, told NJ 101.5 this week that at one point the nurse-to-patient ratio was four nurses for every five patients. Today, nurses have a higher patient load, she said.

But an RWJ spokesman said the hospital has twice met the union's terms on staffing and a pay raise for the nurses, and the union rejected both offers.

"In fact, they came back with a counteroffer that was over and above what they previously suggested," he said.

Sanders said: "I have been told that ICU and pediatric nurses are being spread too thin, and as a result, nurses are rapidly burning out while patients are not receiving the attention they need."

Meanwhile, RWJ University Hospital says it paid national nursing staffing agency U.S. Nursing more than $17 million to bring in nurses to work during the strike.

Those replacement nurses are being paid up to $300 an hour, on top of being put up at local New Brunswick hotels, and their travel expenses.

There is a nationwide nursing shortage and New Jersey ranks among the 10 states with the most unfilled RN positions. New Jersey is short 14,000 nurses, according to RWJ Barnabas.

Rutgers RWJ Med School Asks Students To Volunteer In Nursing Strike (July 28)