This past weekend, a patient entered our Emergency Department and moved through various parts of the hospital, interacting with staff, undergoing tests in radiology, and remaining in the pediatric ED.
HPAE President Debbie White, RN, said the safe staffing language negotiated will also allow the hospital to retain current staff and attract new nurses to JSUMC.
Registered Nurses at Jersey Shore University Medical Center represented by HPAE have struck a deal with Hackensack Meridian Health on a new contract that includes enforceable safe staffing ratios, better pay, and enhanced workplace violence prevention measures.
A TENTATIVE AGREEMENT HAS BEEN REACHED
We were at bargaining with management from 9am until nearly midnight on Friday with no new agreements reached.
We are continuing to push for movement on two of our biggest issues, staffing and pay, and other issues including on-call and PTO. Management is still pushing some of their own obnoxious proposals, including flexing.
We want to be clear that we have not issued a strike notice to the hospital. In fact, we already added another bargaining day on Monday, and we are hoping to make additional progress.
Gather together for an important membership meeting on to kick off the vote. If you can attend in person, wear red! Secret-ballot voting begins Mon, Aug 25th. Members are publicly pledging to Vote Yes! ahead of the vote.
The Bargaining Team met with management yesterday and today. Here’s where things stand...
The stress and burnout of unsafe staffing is the primary reason nurses are migrating out of our hospitals. Trying to care for too many patients at one time creates an environment where nurses can’t possibly give the best care.
The vote to authorize the strike was near unanimous: The total number of union voting members at the hospital is 1,700, and 1,411 voted "yes" to go on strike and 65 voted not to strike, according to the nurses' union.
Nurses at Jersey Shore University Medical Center have voted almost unanimously to authorize their bargaining committee to give a 10-day notice of their intent to strike if management continues to refuse to agree to safe staffing language in their contract.