Virtua Health union of 1,700 nurses rejects contract offer

The nurses at Virtua Health voted this week to reject a contract proposal that was negotiated between their union and the hospital’s administration over two months.

The contract would have covered 1,700 nurses, most of whom work at Voorhees Hospital, Camden County, and Marlton Hospital, Burlington County, the hospital said. The nurses’ last contract expired on Feb. 28. Bargaining for a new contract began in early January, according to the union.

The team bargaining on behalf of the nurses and Virtua Health administrators reached a tentative agreement last week. However, the union’s general membership voted to reject the proposal on Monday.

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Neither the hospital nor the union responded to questions asking about the central issues in the negotiations. But improving staffing has been a key priority for the nurses, according to the union’s website.

The nurses are represented by JNESO, an AFL-CIO affiliate that represents roughly 5,000 nurses and health-care techs in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

“The members rejected the contract offer,” Douglas Placa, the union’s executive director, said in a statement.

A federal mediator is involved with the process, Placa said.

Mediators are available to assist in negotiations between a union and an employer once a contract is expired. A mediator can help by improving communication, establishing expectations, and offering suggestions.

While negotiations continue, the hospital said it will abide by the expired contract, according to a statement by Rhonda Jordan, Virtua’s chief human resources officer.

“We are engaged in continued dialogue with the union,” Jordan said.

Virtua is the largest health-care provider in South Jersey. In addition to Voorhees and Marlton, its three other hospitals in the region are Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Mount Holly, and Willingboro Hospital.

Nurses in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have gone on strike in recent months when negotiations did not lead to a contract that they found satisfactory.

About 1,700 nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick were on strike for more than 120 days last year. A main issue in the months-long negotiations was lowering the nurse-to-patient ratios ― and making sure they could be enforced as part of the contract.

The hospital and union reached an agreement to end the strike in early December.

» READ MORE: Nurses at Temple Health’s Jeanes hospital authorize strike but stop short of declaring one

In Pennsylvania, nurses at two Prime Healthcare-owned hospitals in the Philadelphia area — Suburban Community Hospital in Montgomery County and Lower Bucks Hospital in Bucks County — went on a 5-day strike over Christmas. The nurses returned to work without a new contract.

And last week, nurses at Temple University Hospital — Jeanes Campus in Philadelphia voted to authorize a strike as negotiations seemingly reached a dead end. The vote allows the nurses to go on strike if they give the hospital 10 days’ notice.