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New Jersey Nurses Win First Contract

Nearly 400 registered nurses at Kimball Medical Center and St. Barnabas Behavioral Health Center are set to ratify a first contract reached April 27 between the New Jersey Nurses Union/CWA Local 1091 and the employer.

The parties agreed not to publish specifics until the pact is ratified, but CWA Representative Gladys Finnigan said it includes improvements in wages and working conditions, a grievance and arbitration procedure, and just cause for terminations.

"We're quite pleased, and the bargaining committee is unanimously recommending that the agreement be ratified," said Finnegan, who bargained the pact along with six representatives of the unit.

The pact came after several months of mobilization activities. CWA District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton met with the hospital's CEO to facilitate the final agreement, Finnegan said.

The nurses, about 300 at the medical center in Lakewood and the rest at the health center in Toms River, overcame an aggressive anti-union campaign and won a representation election May 28, 2004.

"There was a lot of resistance to bargaining," Finnegan said. The first meeting between the parties did not take place until late last September, and the dates for meetings were far between."

She said there was little progress until after CWA Research Economist Bob Master conducted mobilization training and the nurses set up an internal structure to implement that in March.

The nurses displayed solidarity by wearing stickers with slogans promoting bargaining and scrubs bearing the CWA logo. They signed a pledge not to work overtime after a certain date and registered with temporary agencies to show management they were prepared to strike if necessary. They won support from the community with a campaign for safe staffing levels and conducted lively informational picketing April 23-25.

Said Lisa Romano, an RN at Kimball and member of the bargaining committee, "This was a long struggle for the RNs to have a voice in their workplace, and we've finally reached a tentative pact that the nurses can be proud of."

Also serving on the bargaining committee were Loretta DiTocco, Sue Bucino, Teena Bittay, Mary Barbes, Jane Mannion and Kathy Reilly. Local 1091 Labor Representatives Karen May and Dawn Baker also participated in the negotiations.

Full terms of the pact will be explained to the membership in early May and the date for a ratification vote will be announced as soon as a location has been arranged, Finnegan said.