it's been three weeks since 1700 nurses walked off the job at RWJ University Hospital in New Brunswick for the first time in 17 years their failed negotiations with the hospital as late as last week leaving them without income their patients without permanent nurses and the rest of us wondering when a deal will be reached including Bernie Sanders who recently added his voice in support of the workers on strike Ted Goldberg was at the picket line today and has more it's sad that we have to be out here without pay fighting for something every hospital should be providing to their staff the nurses strike at RWJ University Hospital is about to finish up its third week and with no strike pay nurses have become more pessimistic it's obviously a struggle for everyone individually we all have our own personal financial hardships but we're sacrificing this because our patients mean that much to us around 1700 nurses hope honking cars can raise attention for their demands they include a cap on health care costs better pay and higher levels of Staffing the pandemic pushed us to a breaking point where we were forced to take care of more patients than we should have been and since then they never backed off on our responsibilities and we're not machines so the problem is we're doing the jobs of more than one person it's not fair the patients to not get the time and the care that they deserve because we're spread across too many patients we want what's best for our patients we want to make sure they're taken care of and they get the best care that they deserve these nurses tell me the Staffing levels for replacement nurses temporarily hired by RWJ is close to what they're looking for in the future it's very hurtful we're just you know hopefully the union and the hospital can come to a great agreement and we get right back in and everything in a situation like the emergency room you have to staff for potential now not for what's actually there and that is something that they have not gotten the grasp of Carol tansy is a registered nurse in Pediatrics she says the latest contract proposal did have the Staffing levels the union wanted but it wasn't enforceable there's a clause in there that says if we have a sick call then the hospital's not responsible for maintaining the safe ratios that we agreed to and we don't think that that's reasonable or appropriate RWJ Barnabas health and underwriter for NJ Spotlight news did not respond to our request for comment but the strike is gaining the attention of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders who sent a letter to RWJ Barnabas Health president and CEO mark manigan saying if rwjbh can afford to hire these replacement nurses and pay their Executives Millions each year they can afford a contract that keeps nurses safe and provides living wages and good benefits and a spokesman for New Jersey senior senator Robert Menendez sent us this statement the senator is supportive of the nurses advocating for better working conditions and he hopes rwjbh will reach a good faith agreement that provides the nurses with safe standards quality working conditions affordable health care and living wages that support the employees the hospital community and patients if New Jersey's elected leaders enacted safe Staffing ratios law and our state it would take the issue off the bargaining table and we could have avoided tragedies like the one that is happening Debbie White leads hpae New Jersey's largest nurse Union but not the one that's on strike right now her Union is separately pushing State leaders to adopt a bill that would enforce safe Staffing levels and she argues without it nursing in New Jersey faces an existential threat 95 percent of new nurses say they're going to leave the bedside we have a hospital Staffing crisis so this bill has become so important to us that we've revised our entire endorsement process both sides came to the bargaining table a week ago but nurses tell me no progress was made leaving the future of this strike uncertain in New Brunswick I'm Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight news [Music]