Little progress made in 2-plus-month nurses' strike in New Jersey, but meeting set for Friday
NEWARK, N.J. -- It has been more than two months since hundreds of nurses went on strike in New Jersey.
Little progress has been made in negotiations, but the sides are set to meet this week.
Nurses are no strangers to working on their feet, and on Thursday, the 63rd day of this strike, they pounded the pavement once again, this time on the Newark campus of Rutgers University.
"The bottom line is, the nurses want to be back to work. I want to go back to work," said Judy Danella, president of USW Local 4-200.
Around 1,700 nurses at RWJBarnabas University Hospital in New Brunswick walked off the job on Aug. 4, citing dangerously low staffing levels for striking after contract negotiations broke down.
"I work in an ICU. We are stretched to the bone, and it's not right," nurse Debra Stoner said.
Union leaders say hospital bosses are not coming to the bargaining table in good faith.
"And they want to penalize us for sick calls. That seems to be one of the biggest sticking points. You can't penalize a nurse for being sick. We work with so many sicknesses and illnesses. How can you do that to a nurse?" Danella said.
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Hospital administrators say it's the union that was intent on striking, no matter the contract offer.
On Thursday, picketers made their way past campus police at Rutgers-Newark to go face to face with the university's board of governors. They also called for the health system's president, Mark Manigan, to be fired.
The strike has been costly for both sides. RWJBarnabas has spent more than $75 million on fill-in nurses. Meanwhile, many staff nurses have lost their health insurance.
"It's difficult. The nurses, some are getting a little bit down. But we're strong, right? We're holding each other up," Stoner said.
The sides are set to meet with federal mediators on Friday.
Until then, the nurses are vowing to stay on their feet and keep hospital bosses on their heels.