Flurry of negotiations spells danger for New Brunswick, New Jersey nurse strike

The sudden flurry of negotiations between Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) and the United Steelworkers (USW) suggests that the months-long strike of 1,700 nurses in New Brunswick, New Jersey, is in imminent danger of being betrayed.

After months of infrequent meetings, representatives of RWJUH and the USW recently held three negotiating sessions within one week. Another session is scheduled for Sunday. This burst of activity signals a renewed effort by both parties to end the strike quickly on the hospital’s terms.

To prevent their hard-fought struggle from being defeated, the nurses must take control of their strike by forming a rank-and-file committee that is independent of the USW leadership. The nurses must break the impasse and end their isolation by expanding the strike to other RWJUH facilities and other sections of the working class.

On August 4, the nurses at RWJUH’s New Brunswick campus walked out to demand increased staffing, safe nurse-to-patient ratios, better wages, a cap on healthcare costs and healthcare benefits in retirement. Although the economic demands are justified and necessary, the nurses have consistently emphasized the urgent need for safe staffing, without which appropriate patient care is impossible.

Nurses in the hospital’s emergency rooms and intensive care units have sometimes been responsible for as many as nine patients each, nurse Louise Gurgui told News 12 New Jersey. For comparison, California law (which is poorly enforced) mandates nurse-to-patient ratios of 1:4 in the emergency department and 1:2 in the intensive care unit. A shockingly high 1:9 ratio would increase the risk of potentially fatal errors and adverse events.

“It’s too frustrating not to be able to give the care that we really want to give to our patients,” a medical-surgical nurse told the World Socialist Web Site on condition of anonymity. “If a nurse is drowning, how can we help our patients?” she asked.