Strike Averted at Southern Ocean Medical Center as Nurses agree on contract with staffing ratios
HPAE Local 5138 Nurses reach agreement on enforceable nurse-to-patient safe staffing ratios at Southern Ocean Medical Center
After a daylong negotiation on Saturday and into the early morning hours of Sunday, the nurses at Local 5138 have reached a tentative agreement on a new three year contract with their employer that includes enforceable nurse-to-patient safe staffing ratios, wages and other benefits.
“This is now the ninth HPAE contract bargained within the past year that mandates safe staffing in our hospitals. Safe staffing protects patients, retains nurses, and actually saves hospitals money,” said Debbie White, President of HPAE.
“We know that nurses will no longer tolerate the status quo of working short-staffed and are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve safe staffing in their hospitals,” White continued. “The unionized nurses at Southern Ocean Medical Center know they have the power to change that status quo. Why? Because safe staffing truly does save lives.”
“We are thrilled to be able to continue caring for our patients, which is what we prefer to do, rather than walking a picket line,” HPAE Local 5138 President Anna Pona, RN, said. “Nurses over the last several weeks fought to improve patient care and make their jobs safer. Our patients and our community were ready to stand with us and we can’t thank them enough for their support.”
Details of the new three-year contract will be released after Southern Ocean Medical Center nurses ratify the deal with Hackensack Meridian Health, the owner of the hospital.
RESOURCES:
- Overworked. Unsafe for everyone: The urgent need for Safe Staffing legislation in New Jersey
- Results of Survey of Current & Recent Bedside Nurses in NJ Hospitals
- Decades of Safe Staffing and Current Research
- HPAE POSITION PAPER, MARCH 2023 | Understaffed. Overworked. Unsafe for everyone: The urgent need for Safe Staffing legislation in New Jersey
- HPAE POSITION PAPER II, APRIL 2024 | Understaffed. Overworked. Unsafe for everyone: The urgent need for Safe Staffing legislation in New Jersey
For more information, contact: Michael Allen, (646) 436-7556.
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