Nine registered nurses in the utilization review department of Cooper Medical Center in Camden, N.J., in September voted to join Health Professionals and Allied Employees, Local 5118, by a vote of 7-1. At the time of the original organizing campaign, the utilization nurses were excluded from the bargaining unit of staff nurses at the hospital.

The 15 public health nurses in the West Allis public health chapter of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (WFNHP), Local 5001, will receive their first pay increase in three years after ratifying a new contract in August. The nurses negotiated a tentative agreement in December 2001 with the city, which they then ratified. City officials subsequently turned down the tentative agreement on financial grounds. WFNHP returned to the bargaining table in 2002 and 2003, and met with a mediator this year to resolve differences with the employer. In a last-ditch effort to reach a deal before arbitration began, the nurses met again with the city and approved a new, three-year pact that expires Dec. 31, 2004. Also included is a new one-year pact that ends on Dec. 31, 2005.

The nurses will receive back pay, which includes a 3 percent raise effective Sept. 1, 2002, May 1, 2003, and Jan. 1, 2004, and a 1.5 percent raise effective July 1, 2004. The one-year pact contains a 3 percent raise, effective Jan. 1, 2005. 

Registered nurses at Southern Ocean County Hospital in Stafford, N.J., represented by the Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE), voted overwhelmingly to ratify their first union contract in July. The 250 nurses of HPAE, Local 5138, joined the union in 2003. Contract provisions include wage increases; establishment of a staffing committee; a first-time grievance and arbitration procedure; reimbursement for education and nursing certification; and limits on “floating” nurses out of their specialty areas. A new salary step system will be put in place, rewarding experienced nurses for years of service. Over the 22-month contract period expiring on May 31, 2006, nurses will receive a 6 percent increase, in addition to the step increases, which are valued at 1.5 percent a year.