In the months leading up to the walkout, the union carried out a campaign to win public support for the demand for lower nurse-to-patient ratios in order to provide higher quality care for patients. “Our Fight is Your Fight” union ads were placed on billboards, buses, and in area newspapers. The strikers are also calling for improvements in wages and retirement benefits.

The unionists are staffing lively picket lines 24 hours a day along the main road leading to the hospital and on both sides of the road that leads to its parking lot. The hospital has recruited about 100 scabs and is providing them with room and board in a local hotel.

HPAE members at five other New Jersey hospitals were also set to strike June 2 but reached contract agreements before the deadline, winning pay raises of 8-10 percent over a two-year contract.

Workers at two of the hospitals, Englewood and Pascack Valley, won an important demand to have staffing ratios written into their contracts. This includes an agreement on the exact number of nurses required in different units. For example, the contract stipulates that there must be one nurse for every six patients on the day shift of a medical and surgical unit.

On the picket line at Bergen Regional, the strikers explained that the fight has been brewing for six years, since the hospital was sold by the county government to a private company. The company slashed the workforce by 42 percent, cut the number of holidays from 16 to 8, cut holiday overtime, and eliminated the pension entirely. The unionists also described the difficulty of doing their jobs without enough supplies such as pillows, towels, blankets, soap, and pajamas. The cafeteria closes at 4:30 p.m., leaving the afternoon and night shift workers without eating facilities that they can reach on their 30-minute lunch break.

The union reports that there has been a 40 percent reduction in the nurse staff since the hospital was privatized six years ago.  
 
 
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