Nurses at Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood have rejected a proposed contract agreement, leaving them without a contract since the end of September, TLS has learned.

In a statement provided to TLS, hospital officials confirmed that nurses represented by the New Jersey Nurses Union (NJNU/CWA) voted last month to reject a memorandum of agreement that had been negotiated and signed by the nurses’ negotiating committee. The contract expired at midnight on September 30.

The dispute also affects nurses at RWJBarnabas Health’s Behavioral Health Center in Toms River, which is negotiating under the same agreement.

According to the hospital, the rejected proposal included an average first-year salary increase of more than 4.1%, representing a $1 million investment in wages alone.

Additionally, all nurses would have received at least a 3.5% base-wage increase in the first year, followed by a 3% increase in the second year, along with enhanced benefits and increases to certain pay differentials.

According to the hospital, 46% of nurses would have received first-year increases exceeding 3.5% based on their positions on specific wage scales.

The hospital said it remains committed to negotiating in good faith and reaching what it described as a fair and equitable agreement, while balancing nurses’ needs with the organization’s financial stability.

“As of today, we have not been contacted by union to resume negotiations since the MOA was rejected,” the hospital told TLS, while stressing that no matter what happens, “patient care will continue without interruption,” noting that they have the “staffing, resources and operational plans in place to deliver safe, high-quality care throughout this process.”

Meanwhile, a nurse at the Lakewood campus who spoke to TLS, described the proposed agreement as unfair, particularly regarding raises and paid time off, and said nurses feel “their work and dedication to patient care are not being adequately recognized by hospital leadership.”

The nurse said a strike remains a possibility if the sides cannot reach a fair agreement.

During a similar event in 2023 at Robert Wood Johnson hospital in New Brunswick, an outside nursing agency provided care to the hospital’s patients.

As of Friday, neither a strike date nor a formal strike notice was announced.