Suspensions at Clara Maass Hospital Due to Employee Infractions, Not Union Activities

Belleville, NJ – May 17, 2023 – Despite claims by 1199 SEIU earlier this week, the suspension last week with pay of several employees was due to violations of care and hospital employment protocols, not any union activities or anything related to collective bargaining.

“RWJBarnabas always has been and always will be a union-friendly organization that values our nurses, their hard work, and their dedication to our patients,” noted a statement released by Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, NJ. “That is why it is important to correct the factually inaccurate and disingenuous statements distributed by 1199 SEIU about employee suspensions at Clara Maass.

“The initial disciplinary action of a nurse at the hospital stemmed from actions with regard to patient care that not only violated hospital protocols, it was also so egregious that it likely would have violated protocols of care at any hospital,” noted the statement. “In fact, the action and subsequent discipline was reviewed and sanctioned by the employee’s peers through a standard peer review process that the union was fully aware of and participated in.”

The Clara Maass statement also noted that, “Other employees were disciplined after a large group of individuals, including CMMC nursing staff and an unauthorized non-employee representative, surrounded an experienced nursing director on a patient unit and in front of patient rooms to challenge the suspension of the individual involved in the original patient issue. The manager felt so intimidated and threatened for their personal safety that the director filed a formal complaint. Such behavior cannot and will not be tolerated and will be met with swift and decisive action.”

Despite the actions of several employees that resulted in various levels of discipline, the vast majority of nurses and other employees continue to provide excellent patient care.  In fact, Clara Maass hosted a special ceremony on Thursday, May 11, honoring 12 nurses in recognition of their contributions during National Nurses Week.

“We recognize our nurses’ right to organize and are committed to working in good faith with their union through the collective bargaining process,” Clara Maass added in its statement. “Because we value our nurses, their hard work, and their dedication to our patients, we immediately offered the union a market adjustment wage increase at the very first negotiations session. The union rejected that offer. We hope the union will reconsider our offer to increase nurses’ pay so these increases can go into effect as soon as possible.”