three months and no deal the nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick are still on the picket line the nurses Union and Hospital continued to negotiate after a meeting on Friday with a federal mediator each side though digging in their heels while meeting today and a senior correspondent Joanna gagas reports the tone is growing more bitter hopefully we have a fair contract where safe Staffing is implemented that's what we really want is a contract and go back to work nurses from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital entered into another day of negotiations with their employer today after failing to reach an agreement during a mediation session on Friday where a federal monitor was present we're not giving up and you could see that with the 89% of nurses that voted to continue with their strike we are fighting for something that we do believe in and we want nurses to come into this profession knowing that we are doing the right thing for all the people that we are taking care of it's day 67 of the strike that's left workers without health benefits since September 1st and that's brought out the raw emotion of the messy negotiating process and of a job that can be gruelling in and of itself if I didn't love what I do we wouldn't be here no we all work together hard no all of us work together well even with the doctors and all the ancillary staff and all my fellow colleagues we all help each other doesn't matter if it's our patient or not we still help each other and we're always there for them it's not just about doing a task and just giving medications and going home on time we spend time with our patients genuinely the hospital has called the nurses demands untenable outlier positions and say their calls for higher nurse to Patient ratios actually exceed current Staffing levels proposed in legislation that the union claims to support some of the units do have the safe Staffing ratios but other units do not and we're trying to fight that where all of us have the safe Staffing as these negotiations drag out both the nurses Union and the hospital have pointed out that nearly $80 million has been spent so far on temporary nurses filling the gaps of those on strike it's very sad that that money couldn't went back into helping us get our contract and helping us move it along um you know that's they look at a contract as being a long-term they look at the temporary employees as being a short-term 80 million it's still a lot of money it's still a lot of money that should have never happened that way how could you have better seen that 80 million spent in terms of what you're asking for more staff better Better Staffing that's all we would ask for permanent staff the hospital said in a statement if there was any validity to the Union's claims that Staffing is not safe then he would propose that the hospital hire more nurses instead of proposing that nurses receive an additional $20 per hour but danella says a pay raise was never the sticking point and they've already agreed to a moderate increase it would be a 4% raise which is pretty much is I don't even know if that meets the C of living but it's 4% she thinks the agreement is stalled because this deal could have a ripple effect on the entire RWJ Barnabas health system which is an underwriter of NJ Spotlight news I think they're looking at us as um the flag Shir Hospital and every other hospital will want what we get I I believe that is part of the issues issues they hope can be ironed out before the end of this week in Iceland I'm Joanna Gagis NJ Spotlight News NJ Spotlight News [Music]