Court order limiting the number of RWJ strikers stays in place

🔵 Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital nurses have been on strike since Aug. 4

🔵 A court order limits the number of strikers and the amount of noise they can make

🔵 No new talks have been scheduled

Striking nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital have agreed to the terms of a court order on the number of picketers and the amount of noise they can make.

The hospital filed an injunction Monday in Middlesex County Superior Court seeking a reduction in the number of nurses, members of United Steelworkers 4-200, who can walk the picket line at one time. Judge Thomas Daniel McCloskey set the number of picketers to 10 and prohibited them from making noise pending a hearing on Friday.

The hospital said that the nurses had become "increasingly aggressive" and were blocking the entrance to a parking garage. At least three incidents between nurses and hospital security were reported to New Brunswick police, union President Judy Danella told New Jersey 101.5.

McCloskey issued an order Wednesday that allows 15 nurses at a time at hospital entrances, on hospital property. They may not use "noise makers and instruments" such as megaphones, drums, air horns and noise amplifiers on the sidewalks or entrances adjacent to the hospital.

No violence or blocking of other hospital workers is allowed

The order prohibits strikers from "preventing, hindering, blockading or obstructing hospital employees or any patient or other person from approaching, entering or leaving Plaintiff’s Hospital and parking garages." Threats of violence are also not permitted under the order.

"We appreciate the acknowledgment and commitment to re-establishing a healing and respectful environment for our patients and their loved ones, our neighbors and other local businesses. RWJUH fully supports the union's right to peacefully protest but we stand firm that we must simultaneously ensure the safety of our patients, staff and visitors," hospital spokeswoman Wendy Gottsegen said in a statement.

The union posted the order on its website without comment.

Members voted Tuesday turned down two opportunities to end their 49-day-old strike and will stay on the picket lines. They rejected an offer from RWJUH initially made Aug. 2 that the hospital said was never submitted to union members for consideration. They also rejected an offer to send the dispute to binding arbitration and return to work.

Gottsegen said a mediator has not yet scheduled new talks.

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