Contract Talks At Clara Maass Hospital Hitting Standstill, Union Says

BELLEVILLE, NJ — “Have a heart – give us a fair contract.” That was the rallying cry from a nurse at a hospital in Belleville, who took part in a statewide show of solidarity spearheaded by 1199SEIU Healthcare Workers East on Valentine’s Day.

Earlier this week, staff members at several health care facilities in New Jersey fastened a sticker reading “Have A Heart” to their chests – a nod to ongoing contract negotiations that are currently taking place in their workplaces.

Workers donned heart stickers on Tuesday at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, Embassy Manor in Edison, Arbor Ridge in Wayne, Complete Care at Clark in Westfield, Manhattanview in Union City, Spring Creek in Perth Amboy, and Hackensack Meridian Health in Shrewsbury.

Tanya Howard, a registered nurse who works at Clara Maass in Belleville, was among them.

“I stand in solidarity with my union family across the state and urge management to ‘have a heart’ and come to the table to bargain in good faith immediately,” Howard said. “Health care workers are essential and deserve fair contracts that preserve benefits, raise wages, include humane sick and vacation time, and enable a dignified retirement.”

“We demand that management respect us and our contributions to our facilities and the communities we serve,” Howard said.

According to 1199SEIU, the workers are pushing for a “fair contract” that raises wages and safeguards their health insurance benefits and paid time off.

More than 500 registered nurses at Clara Maass Medical Center voted to join 1199SEIU last year. See Related: Nurses At Belleville Hospital Unionize; Pay, Staffing Among Issues

The union released the following statement after the vote:

“After being hailed as ‘health care heroes’ during the pandemic, nurses saw management ignore their concerns about unsafe staffing and working conditions. Driven by a commitment to achieve quality patient care and safe staffing, real job security, pay and benefits commensurate with their profession, and respect, nurses came together to win a real voice in their workplace.”

Howard’s peer at the hospital, Silvia Guimaraes, said the new union members came together with the hopes of “improve staffing and nurse and patient safety” by having a voice in their working conditions.

“Now that we’ve won, we can fight for a contract that secures safe nurse-patient ratios, supports us in protecting our licenses and guarantees fair pay and a secure retirement,” Guimaraes said. “It is going to take all of us standing together and supporting each other through negotiations to win the contract we deserve.”

After the unionization vote, Mary Ellen Clyne, president and CEO of Clara Maass Medical Center, said hospital administrators “acknowledge and respect the right of our nursing staff to decide on whether or not union representation is in their best long- and short-term interest.”

“We will do everything we can to continue to make the hospital the best possible workplace it can be,” Clyne said in August 2022. “Working together, collegially, with all of our health care professionals, we will continue to advance our health care mission across our community.”

However – as of Friday – negotiations have slowed down, according to Rhina Molina, 1199SEIU executive vice president (New Jersey region).

Molina offered the following update to Patch:

“Clara Maass registered nurses are still at the negotiating table. The hospital has been unwilling to agree to changes that would improve staffing levels and truly engage and receive input from the nurses around improving working conditions and patient care. Essentially, they want to keep everything the same as it has always been. Clara Maass nurses are committed to doing everything it takes to secure the workplace improvements they need to provide the highest level of care, and call management to fully recognize their essential contributions to the hospital and the community it serves.”

Patch reached out to Clara Maass for an update on negotiations, and received the following reply:

"Clara Maass Medical Center deeply respects and values the nurses who provide exceptional care to its patients. The medical center is currently negotiating with 1199SEIU and will continue to work with the union in good faith until a contract is reached."

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