Posts tagged New Brunswick
Bitter strike over as nurses, N.J. hospital reach tentative agreement after 120+ days
December 3, 2023 // For months, the union members went without paychecks and benefits, which the hospital had cut off in September. The two sides were at a standstill, and for a time, it was unclear how they would find a path forward. The strike drew national attention, as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) visited Rutgers University in October to hold a Senate committee hearing on the labor dispute and hospital staffing guidelines. At the event. Sanders expressed support for the nurses and the ratios they sought while lambasting hospital leaders for not appearing. The hospital — ranked the fifth best in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report — had maintained that strict staffing ratios would not allow it the necessary flexibility during times of high patient volume. But many nurses said they were working in untenable conditions, often forced to juggle five or six patients during a given shift, which they said impacted the patients’ well-being as well as the nurses’ ability to provide adequate care.
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Running ‘Very Smoothly’
August 7, 2023 // The hospital made its initial payment of more than $17 million to an agency to provide replacement nurses in the event of a strike July 28. Three days later, training for the replacement nurses on the hospital’s unique systems, processes and technology began, according to the hospital. Several nurses who lined the picket lines along Somerset Street on Saturday told TAPinto New Brunswick they have heard reports that care has declined since their strike began. They said patients have had to wait longer to be treated. The hospital has added more than 200 nurses to the budget to adjust for volume and acuity since May 2022, and added more than 150 new nurses, net of attrition, since 2022, according to a statement from the hospital.
Union representing nurses at RWJU-NB to give strike notice today
July 25, 2023 // Danella told ROI-NJ this weekend that the union still is hopeful to have an agreement on a new contract. Its issues, she said, involve pay and staffing. Danella acknowledged the hospital has been attempting to increase its staff, but she said the number of nurses still is not at the level needed for a Level 1 trauma center. “We usually get the sickest of the sick, which we’re accustomed to, and we’ve done it for the 30 years I’ve been there,” she said. “We want to ensure that the acuity of the patients is taken into account for our daily staffing numbers.” The sides thought they had reached a tentative agreement last week, but that agreement was voted down – by a 3-1 margin – by the union. Attempts to reach a new agreement have since fallen short, leading the union to give a strike notice today.
Rutgers’ unions ratify new contracts, formally ending strike
May 11, 2023 // Three unions, which represent about 9,000 Rutgers staff members, were involved in the strike: the Rutgers AAUP-AFT, which represents full-time faculty, graduate workers, postdoctoral associates and some counselors; the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, which represents part-time lecturers; and the AAUP-BHSNJ, which includes faculty in the biomedical and health sciences at Rutgers’ medical, dental, nursing and public health schools.
‘Many of us are struggling’: why US universities are facing a wave of strikes
April 24, 2023 // Thousands of workers at universities have gone on strike in 2023 amid new union contract negotiations in demand of pay increases that align with the effect high inflation rates have had on the cost of living. The strikes are a continuation of wave of industrial action in higher education in the US last year. In late 2022, 48,000 graduate workers and post-doctoral researchers went on strike throughout the University of California system, the largest strike in US higher education history. There were 15 academic strikes in the US in 2022, the highest number of strikes in academia in at least 20 years.
National Right to Work Foundation Issues Special Legal Notice to Rutgers Professors Impacted by Union Officials’ Strike Order
April 13, 2023 // In regards to union members, the Foundation’s notice informs workers that they maintain the right to resign from union membership at any time. The notice also suggests, if employees wish to continue working during the strike and avoid union discipline such as fines, that current union members resign their union membership at least one full day before returning to work. “It is Foundation attorneys’ best legal opinion that public sector employees have the right to resign their membership in a union at any time. At least two federal district courts have reached that conclusion,” mentions the notice. “If you are now a union member and want to work during the strike, you should seriously consider resigning your union membership at least one day, if not more, BEFORE you return to work during the strike.” “By initiating a strike that affects thousands of Rutgers employees, these union bosses are not only threatening the education of students, but are also potentially upending the livelihoods of countless families,” commented National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “Rutgers professors should know that they have the right to reject union boss strike orders and can continue working.”
Rutgers president won’t rule out legal action to block strike
April 12, 2023 // Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway won’t rule out the possibility of legal action to block the ongoing strike from Rutgers University’s faculty unions. In a Monday evening email addressed to “Members of the Rutgers Community,” Holloway said that the university “will have no choice but to take legal action” if “there is no movement towards an agreement.” Gov. Phil Murphy personally intervened earlier to delay Rutgers from taking legal action to block the three unions from their ongoing strike. Holloway also alleged in the Monday evening email that protestors entered and disrupted a class where there was a “critical exam” that was underway. A university spokesperson did not respond to questions for more details on the incident.
Thousands of Rutgers University faculty and staff walk out Monday in historic strike
April 10, 2023 // Thousands of Rutgers University employees are walking off the job Monday. They voted to strike first time in the school's 257-year history.
Rutgers could face first faculty strike in its history — key union vote Tuesday
February 24, 2023 // The voting will run for a week-and-a-half, and a strike will only be called if an overwhelming majority of the members agree to it, organizers said. A strike wouldn’t automatically be triggered by the vote, the unions said in a letter to members. Instead, their leaders would instead have the option of calling a strike in March or April, if they still haven’t struck a contract deal with the university. “All of us would rather be teaching. None of us want to go out on strike,” said Rebecca Givan, the president of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT and an associate professor in the School of Management. The Rutgers AAUP-AFT represents about 5,000 full-time faculty, graduate workers, postdoctoral associates and Educational Opportunity Fund counselors. The adjunct union represents another 2,700 part-time lecturers.