Shore nurses rally as part of labor dispute

SOMERS POINT — Members of the Shore Nurses Union, the collective bargaining unit that represents nurses at Shore Medical Center, rallied Tuesday to bring attention to their ongoing labor dispute with the hospital.

About 30 members of the union gathered in front of the hospital to alert the public to the ongoing negotiations. During the 20-minute rally, union representatives spoke about the labor situation at the hospital.

The rally comes after the union voted by a 77 percent margin to strike. The union has to give the hospital 10 days’ notice before nurses walk off the job.

“We are fighting for our patients here at the hospital,” said Dottie Rudert, a nurse at Shore Medical Center and member of the union’s executive committee. “The patients deserve the best quality care that they can get. With all of the recent cutbacks and outsourcing of departments, it’s been harder and harder for us to do our jobs.”

The 340 nurses at the hospital have been working without a contract since September 2014, union officials said. Union and the hospital officials have been at odds over the last year on a variety of issues, including salary, benefits, pension, privatization of some services and time off. The two sides returned to the bargaining table Tuesday night.

“We value our nurses and we respect their right to hold their rally today,” Shore Medical Center spokesman Brian Cahill said. “We have been waiting to meet with them at the table, and we have a session scheduled tonight. We are hopeful that they will attend so we can engage in meaningful bargaining and progress can be made in our negotiations.”

The hospital is a full-service acute-care community hospital serving Atlantic and Cape May counties.

“Every nurse and health care professional here cares deeply about giving our patients safe and quality care. We want to make sure that when you come to the hospital, you have the best possible care,” said Jeanette Martin, a Shore Nurses Union delegate and nurse at the hospital. “Our nurses believe that we must do things differently in this hospital if we are to provide our patients with the quality care that they so rightfully deserve.”

Source: Press of Atlantic City