As we promised you, we are pursuing all means at our disposal to get you a fair contract.  Therefore, we decided to go to mediation.  On Thursday, January 7, 2010, your negotiating team had an all day mediation session through state mediation. The mediator met with each side privately, and he shuttled back and forth, making every effort to try to bring the parties to a common ground.  Unfortunately, while we made constant movement, all of our efforts, and all of our movements, were met with the same answer:  NO.   

At the end of the day, Management did not, and would not, budge off of their proposal made in November, which is to give us the same as what the non-union employees got.  Not a nickel more.  Your last raise was 8/08.  And still no money at all for per diems.   

And as to our concern that they were not allowing you to take two workshop days (with your own PTO time) for your re-certifications, and were limiting it to one day, Management simply did not care.  If you feel that you need to take a re-certification course in two sessions, then that is your problem, not theirs.  Oh, yes, we almost forgot: they agreed to put a few books into the library so that when it is not locked, you might be able to borrow one to study.  They viewed that as a major concession!!!

This is not just about getting raises, or getting a second day for a workshop for recertification.  MANAGEMENT WOULD NOT AGREE TO ANY PROPOSAL OR SUGGESTION THAT WOULD ALLOW US TO EVEN TALK TO THEM ABOUT THE PENSION FOR NEXT YEAR.  NOTHING.  THEY WILL NOT EVEN AGREE TO TALK ABOUT IT!!!!  Doesn’t that make you wonder?   

But while they have little money for us and none for our pensions, they want to bring in more and more patients without increasing staff.  The SBHCS CEO, Ron DelMauro, stated in his meeting at KMC that they want to bring in more patients without any more staff. And he said that if we don’t like it, then we should go somewhere else.

So, there you have it.  One raise over two years, peanuts in wages in the one raise we would get, cut back on our re-certification workshop time, refuse to talk about our pensions, do not hire more nurses, but expect us to take care of more and more patients.

We mutually closed the session and we will be discussing any other options through mediation.

We will continue to update you.

Your 2009 NJNU Negotiating Team