HPAE local 5094’s University Hospital professional members ratify a new contract with historic gains in wages and benefits

HPAE Local 5094’s University Hospital professional members ratify a new contract with historic gains in wages and benefits

HPAE Local 5094 professional members have ratified a new three-year contract with University Hospital in Newark, which includes new benefits, improved language for existing benefits as well as wage increases to bring lower-paid workers to some level of parity.

HPAE President Debbie White, RN, commended Local 5094’s negotiating and contract action teams for their hard work and perseverance in fighting for a contract with gains that will go a long way toward stabilizing the hospital’s professional staff. Local 5094 members include social workers, laboratory workers, IT workers, clinical staff and other work titles.

“These gains will help support members in HPAE Local 5094, who work alongside nurses and other healthcare workers performing direct patient care. Having a more stable workforce for the entire hospital can only translate to better care for patients,” White said.

HPAE Local 5089, which represents the registered nurses at University Hospital, ratified their new contract two months ago.

HPAE Local 5094 Co-president Ryan Novosielski said: “This agreement is a definite improvement and will help us retain current staff but also recruit new staff. I salute the bargaining team for their time, care, strength, energy, and creativity in fighting for and mobilizing members, which helped us to achieve this agreement.”

The new 5094 contract includes the following:

• Retroactive pay to October 1, 2024,
• Wage increases of 3.25% on October 1, 2025, and October 1, 2026; and total average wage increases ranging from 8.5 to 11% over the life of the contract.
• Tuition Reimbursement: Increased to $5,000 per year to provide additional money for those returning to school, and a one-time $250 compensation for additional certifications.
• Enhanced protections for layoffs, extended sick leave, bereavement time and other leave time.

This past year, HPAE locals across the state have won historic contracts with improved staffing standards this year including: HPAE Local 5004 at Englewood Hospital; Local 5147 at Hudson Regional Hospital, Local 5030 at HMH Palisades Medical Center; Local 5118 at Cooper University Health Care; and Local 5089 at University Hospital.

HPAE President White said the Code-Red campaign to win staffing ratios in labor contracts must be reinforced by a statewide law with the same provisions. She urges legislators in Trenton to pass the “Patient Protection and Safe Staffing Act (S2700/A3683) into a law mandating safe patient-to-staff ratios in New Jersey hospitals.

“Our safe staffing wins benefit patients because we know that limiting the number of patients a nurse can care for at any given time increases the quality of care. Every patient deserves a nurse at the bedside who is not overwhelmed, distracted and stressed,” White said. “And our fight goes beyond the bargaining table and into the Trenton State House, to urge NJ policymakers to pass these same standards into law.”

Nurse-to-patient ratios have been shown to improve patient satisfaction scores and outcomes, decrease patient deaths and decrease stress and burnout of staff. Safe staffing truly does save lives.

When the “Patient Protection and Safe Staffing Act (S2700/A3683), sponsored by Senator Vitale and Assemblywomen Quijano and Murphy, becomes law, it will establish staffing ratios for nursing and non-licensed assistive personnel, with ratios set based on the needs of specific medical units.

RESOURCES:

• Overworked. Unsafe for everyone: The urgent need for Safe Staffing legislation in New Jersey
• Results of Survey of Current & Recent Bedside Nurses in NJ Hospitals
• Decades of Safe Staffing and Current Research
• HPAE POSITION PAPER, MARCH 2023 | Understaffed. Overworked. Unsafe for everyone: The urgent need for Safe Staffing legislation in New Jersey
• HPAE POSITION PAPER II, APRIL 2024 | Understaffed. Overworked. Unsafe for everyone: The urgent need for Safe Staffing legislation in New Jersey

For more information, contact: Michael Allen, (646) 436-7556.

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