After 5 Months, RWJUH Nurses' Strike Is Officially Over

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — The longest nursing strike in New Jersey history is now over.

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital announced Friday, Dec. 15 it officially came to an agreement with its unionized nurses. The nurses voted last week to ratify a new three-year contract.

This brings the five-month nursing strike — it started Aug. 4 — at the New Brunswick hospital to an end. A date when nurses will return to work has not yet been announced, but the hospital said it will announce it soon.

"We are pleased with the outcome of today’s vote and look forward to welcoming our nurses back home," said Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital president Alan Lee.

On Aug. 4, approximately 1,700 nurses at the New Brunswick hospital walked off the job.

The nurses were asking for pay raises, a cap on health insurance costs, and for the hospital to hire more nurses, which they called "safe staffing levels." Increased staffing and raises were included in the new contract, said the hospital.

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is a trauma center for Central New Jersey, and consistently ranked as one of the best hospitals in the state.

It was a strike that had hostility on both sides:

In late August, the hospital cut off health insurance for the nurses on strike, saying if they did not work, they were not eligible for health insurance. In response, a week later the nurses went to the Maplewood home of RWJBarnabas Health CEO Mark Manigan, where they held a silent protest directly in front of his house. See photos: Striking Nurses Rally In Essex County Outside Home Of Hospital CEO

For weeks, the nurses marched and picketed outside the hospital's main entrance in New Brunswick, and there were reports of scuffles between nurses and hospital security guards. Read: Fights Reported In Picket Line As RWJ Nurses Remain On Strike

The nurses' union also asked Gov. Phil Murphy to help end the strike, but he did not get involved, at least publicly.

While the strike dragged on, RWJUH said it was forced to spend tens of millions of dollars to hire replacement nurses. RWJUH President Lee said in this Dec. 1 public letter the hospital paid more than $120 million for replacement nurses.

The RWJUH nurses are members of United Steel Workers 4-200 nurses' union.