Contract issue is requirement that health care procedures be done in New Brunswick. Sue Epstein, Star-Ledger, August 4, 2006 The union representing the nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick notified the hospital administration yesterday that its members will strike in 10 days if they do not have a new contract. The notification, required under federal and state law to give the hospital enough time to prepare emergency plans to care for its patients, was filed after a day of negotiations Wednesday failed to produce a new three-year pact, according to Leslie Curtis, the union's chief negotiator. ... RWJ

Union alleges unfair labor practices at Robert Wood Johnson. David Stegon, Home News Tribune, August 4, 2006 New Brunswick - The Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital nurses union informed hospital officials yesterday they will strike in 10 days unless a new labor contract is reached. The nurses also filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board yesterday morning alleging unfair labor practices by the hospital. "We are open to bargaining, but the hospital has been unresponsive to our demands," said Leslie Curtis, chief negotiator for the nurses, who are represented by the United Steelworkers Local 4-200. ... Union

Colleen Diskin, NorthJersey.com, August 4, 2006 Exchanging hugs and jokes about the suntans they got while walking the picket line, nurses at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center ended their five-week strike and returned to work Thursday morning. About 150 nurses gathered at 6:30 AM outside the hospital for a final show of solidarity before marching two-by-two into the lobby to begin the 7-to-3 shift. A few passing motorists honked in support and co-workers shouted welcomes as the nurses pledged to put the bitterness of the contract negotiations behind them. ... Nurses

10-day notice given.
Asbury Park Press, August 4, 2006
New Brunswick - Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital nurses will strike in 10 days unless a contract is reached, their union announced Thursday. "We are open to bargaining, but the hospital has been unresponsive to our demands," said Leslie Curtis, the nurses' chief negotiator. Hospital spokesman John Patella disagreed. "The hospital provided the nurses with a fair and competitive offer that improved wages and benefits and kept them among the best paid nurses in New Jersey," he said.
Copyright © 2006 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved.

David Stegon, Home News Tribune, August 3, 2006 New Brunswick - The nurses union at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital will hold a news conference today at 4 PM to discuss their ongoing labor situation with the hospital. The hospital's 1,313 nurses rejected the hospital's "final offer" on July 27, but the two resumed talking yesterday after originally scheduling to meet on Monday, although it was not clear if those talks were negotiating sessions. John Patella, a hospital spokesman, said last week the hospital was meeting with the union to "further clarify the elements of our best deal." The nurses' deal expired on July 27 after being extended twice from June 30. ... Nurses

Jan Barry, NorthJersey.com, July 30, 2006 The 660 striking union nurses of Englewood Hospital and Medical Center ratified a three-year contract Saturday that will bring an end to their monthlong work stoppage, as well as the hospital's employment of temporary medical staff at the 520-bed facility. Jeanne Otersen, a spokeswoman for the Health Professional and Allied Employees union, said the new contract was accepted by 96 percent of the nurses who voted in an "overwhelming" turnout. "It was a very enthusiastic endorsement of the contract by the members," said Otersen ... Englewood

Pension a key issue. Asbury Park Press, July 30, 2006 Englewood - After more than a month on the picket line, about 660 registered nurses from Englewood Hospital and Medical Center will return to work this week after they overwhelmingly approved a tentative contract agreement on Saturday. Jeanne Otersen, a union spokeswoman, said the nurses, who are part of Health Professionals and Allied Employees, would return to work Thursday. Key issues under dispute included proposed changes to the nurses' pension plan, plus scheduling and wages. ... Striking

David Stegon, Home News Tribune, July 29, 2006 New Brunswick - Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital officials and representatives from its nurses union are scheduled to meet Monday evening to discuss their labor dispute, but hospital officials stopped short of saying they will restart negotiations in wake of the nurses overwhelming rejection of the hospital's "final" contract offer. The nurses voted 765 to 165 to reject the hospital's final contract proposal on Thursday and voted to authorize the union to strike if necessary. But Jeanne Clark, a spokeswoman for the union and a nurse at the hospital for 16 years, said union officials are "eager to return to the negotiating table" ... City

William Lamb, NorthJersey.com, July 29, 2006 The presence of temporary workers who replaced striking nurses at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center may have contributed to an incident this month in which a physician began to operate on the wrong hip of an elderly patient, a group of Democratic state lawmakers said Friday. The legislators made the allegation in a letter to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The letter called on the commission to investigate US Nursing Corp., a Denver company that supplied replacement nurses to Englewood Hospital after 660 union nurses went on strike June 29. ... Were

WCBS, July 28, 2006 Englewood - The month-long strike by 660 unionized nurses at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center could be over soon. Hospital officials and the nurses union, Health Professionals and Allied Employees, reached a tentative agreement Thursday night during their first bargaining session in two weeks. The agreement, which would run for three years, will be voted on by the nurses Saturday. "We hope and expect that our members will vote to ratify this agreement," the union said in a statement. "We can then bring the real nurses back to the bedside by Thursday." ... Englewood

Lindy Washburn & William Lamb, NorthJersey.com, July 28, 2006 Negotiators for Englewood Hospital and Medical Center and 660 union nurses reached a tentative agreement for a new contract Thursday night, ending a monthlong strike that began June 29. Jeanne Otersen, a spokeswoman for the Health Professional and Allied Employees union, said the agreement cleared the way for the nurses to return to work Aug. 3 if they ratify the contract in a vote scheduled for Saturday. Otersen said the delay was necessary so nurses who took on temporary work during the strike could make arrangements to return to the hospital. ... Agreement

Governor Offers to Help Bring the Hospital Back to the Bargaining Table. United Steelworkers, July 28, 2006 Registered nurses represented by the United Steelworkers (USW) in New Brunswick, NJ rejected a contract offer from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Thursday, July 27 by a vote of 765 to 165. Jerry Collins, the president of USW Local 4-200, described the vote this way, "This is the largest turn out of our nurses since we first became organized. Maybe now the hospital will come back to the table and bargain with us." USW Local 4-200 represents 1,313 Robert Wood Johnson nurses and has been in contract negotiations with the hospital since April. ... Nurses

Jeanne Ridgway, Cherry Hill Courier-Post, July 26, 2006 Union nurses at Virtua-West Jersey Health here rallied for a two-hour "informational picket" late Tuesday afternoon outside the hospital's Evesham Road entrance. Working without a contract since June 11, nurses handed out literature to visitors explaining their bargaining position. A three-year labor contract is being sought. The affected nurses work at Virtua hospitals in Voorhees, Marlton and Berlin, and for its home-health division headquartered in Mount Laurel. ... Virtua

About 700 nurses to vote today at Vineland-based hospital group. Daniel Walsh, Press of Atlantic City, July 26, 2006 Vineland - South Jersey Healthcare's nurses vote today on whether to create the hospital network's first employee union. Nurses have petitioned to join the Health Professionals and Allied Employees, and more than 700 nurses will vote at four branches of the Vineland-based hospital network. Both the union and hospital management have encouraged nurses to vote. The vote will last most of the day, monitored by the National Labor Relations Board and culminating with a 7:30 PM close of polls and potentially a final decision by night's end. ... Nurses

Matt Dunn, Today’s Sunbeam, July 25, 2006 After months of bitter back-and-forth between South Jersey Healthcare and the Health Professionals Allied Employees AFT/AFL-CIO union, it all comes down to a critical vote this week. An election Wednesday will determine if 800 registered nurses employed by SJH - including those at SJH's Elmer Hospital in Elmer and its Adult Services site in Salem - will join the 11,000-member HPAE or continue to work union-free (sic). ... SJH