FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 21, 2019
Contact: Carl Ginsburg, carl.ginsburg@nysna.org, 917.405.1060

One-Day Strike scheduled for Tuesday, November 26

Somers Point, NJ – Registered nurses at Shore Medical Center today announced a one-day strike scheduled for Tuesday, November 26th, starting at 7:00 am.

Shore Medical Center has been engaging in unfair labor practices, including unilaterally blocking nurse leader access to the facility to discuss union concerns, retaliating against a nurse bargaining committee member, parading scab replacement workers around the hospital in front of nurses to dissuade them from striking, and failure to provide vital information for bargaining.

All of this unfair labor practice behavior is in conjunction with Shore’s refusal to engage in good faith bargaining, to reach a collective bargaining agreement that improves patient care and other contractual standards. Shore’s contractual proposals would keep nurse and patient care standards at an unacceptably low level for South Jersey.

“Each time Shore comes to the table to negotiate, they come with the intention of taking away as much as they can get away with. For 20 years, Shore Nurses have fought to preserve what we have: good working conditions with fair wages, quality care for our patients and respect for each other. We are not interested in giving anything back. We have to think of the future generation of nurses that will replace older nurses. They have to have a reason to want to work at Shore. What Shore is offering won’t attract new nurses and that’s a shame” said Dottie Rudert, Co-President.

“Sometimes after all the talk, talk, talk, without being heard, we just have to take bigger steps. This is about treating the nurses fairly. It’s high time Shore Medical Center administrators treat us with respectful professionalism which is both hard earned and deserved. Shore Medical Center basks in awards recognizing stellar patient care and celebrates more than $27 million dollars in profit over of the last two years. The RNs are the very ones delivering the care and generating that profit. We are asking fair terms for a settled contract.” said Suzanne Jenkins, Co-President.

###

The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. For more information, please visit nysna.org.