New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech and Secretary/Treasurer Laurel Brennan, along with Congressman Frank Pallone and our affiliates, participated at the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on the urgent crisis of safe staffing in the healthcare industry. The testimony given by the nurses and witnesses was compelling and heart wrenching. Their courage to testify speaks volumes about them and the crisis in the healthcare system.
The USW Local 4-200 nurses have been on strike for more than 80 days, fighting for a fair contract that provides safe staffing standards, fair wages, and quality healthcare. These nurses have risked their lives during the pandemic and have often been sacrificing their time with family and friends to meet the needs of their patients.
They deserve to be heard and granted a safe staffing policy through collective bargaining. We join with our USW Local 4-200 sisters and brothers, and all healthcare workers, demanding that Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and all healthcare facilities address these concerns and negotiate good contracts that benefit the workers, the patients and the community.
