Hundreds of nurses went on strike at a New Jersey hospital, unhappy over staffing levels and salaries.
The nurses strike at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick started early Friday morning, as crowds gathered outside the campus in picket lines. Other issues at stake include lack of retirement medical benefits and a cap on medical insurance costs, the nurses union said.
According to the hospital, the nurses at Robert Wood Johnson are the highest paid in the state, and the hospital is among the highest staffed. In a statement, the hospital said it has done everything it can to avert a strike.
"We are deeply disappointed that the Union has decided to take this extreme action. It did not and should not have come to this. This is not a strike of necessity and could have been avoided had the Union not been so intent on this outcome. No one benefits from a strike, least of all, our nurses," the statement reads.
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But nurses, part of the 1,700 workers at the hospital represented by United Steel Workers Local 4-200, said that the hospital isn't doing enough. That's why the union gave the hospital the heads up that a strike was on the horizon after their contract expired last month.
“They’re not giving us that safe staffing ration that we need. They’re giving us guidelines — guidelines do not provide an actual ratio,” said Adriana Mantilla, a nurse at the hospital.
If we don’t have safe staffing numbers, we cannot adequately take care of patients safely. We need to have that so that we can take care of your children in critical situations. That’s what we do everyday in the pediatric emergency room,” said fellow nurse Elizabeth Amplo.
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The hospital said that they have "twice" met the union's demands, and have offered to go to arbitration or submit to a board of inquiry, but the union rejected both those proposals. Hospital officials said they are standing by for a response from a new offer given on Wednesday.
"We want to reassure our patients, their families and our community that we continue to care for our patients without interruption. We will remain fully open and continue to deliver the high-quality care they deserve," the hospital said in their statement.
