NJ Nurses Strike hits 100 Days: Progress Stalled
🏥 Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital nurses have been on strike 100-days
🏥 There is little indication the two-sides are close to a new agreement
🏥 The strike has been costly for both sides
Nurses have now been on strike at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital for more than 100-days.
The strike by more than 1,700 nurses at RWJUH began on Aug 4.
There doesn't appear to be any signs on progress to end the walkout which passed the 100-day mark on Saturday.
Represented by United Steelworkers 4-200, the strike has been a bitter fight over minimum staffing levels that the union claims are necessary to protect patient safety.
Hospital officials claim they have already agreed to staffing levels that are higher than other hospitals in New Jersey.
Where do talks stand?
The latest proposal was made by RWJUH last Wednesday. Union officials posted on Facebook that they have reviewed the proposal and sent a response, but did not reveal any details of the response or the proposal.
That is the last we have heard from either side about negotiations that have been taking place with a federal mediator.
The union has refused to allow the mediator to settle the strike through a process known as 'binding arbitration.'
The cost of the strike has been great
Striking nurses have not gotten a paycheck from the hospital since August.
Most have also been forced to go without health benefits. Hospital officials terminated health benefits on Sept. 1. Unless nurses can afford so-called COBRA coverage that can cost as much as $2,500 per month, they have no coverage.
The union has accused RWJUH of "union busting" tactics.
Replacement nurses have been contracted by the hospital to maintain operations and patients care, but that also comes with a heavy cost.
Hospital officials say they have already spent more than $103 million on replacement nurses.
Will there be a settlement?
Eventually, it would seem.
The union has been calling on Gov. Phil Murphy to directly intervene, but he has refused.
Murphy has called for an end to the strike, and said both sides should "lock themselves in a room and throw away the key" until a deal is reached.
When Rutgers professors went on strike earlier this year, Murphy summoned both sides to his office and personally helped work out a deal.
He has shown no desire to do the same in this labor dispute.
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