union leaders were back at it today spending hours at the negotiating table RWJ University Hospital and the union representing 1,700 nurses are still locked in a bitter debate over contracts nearly three months after the nurses went on strike a senior correspondent Joanna gagis reports both sides are locked in but eager to cut a deal it's time to end it and go back to work I think we're on day 77 day 77 of a nursing strike that's left both sides frustrated and left nearly 1,700 nurses without work pay or benefits for more than two months now it has gone on way too long it's time to resolve this and go back to work Union Reps for the nurses at Robert with Johnson University Hospital sat down once again with Hospital leaders today to continue hashing out the sticking points of a deal to hopefully get the nurses back to work those sticking points focused on penalties that the unions requested if the hospital doesn't meet agreed upon Staffing ratios if they're not staffed appropriately if they don't meet the Staffing guidelines then again the only way the guidelines are enforcable is if there's a penalty so I guess um that's what we need enforceable guidelines with the penalty the nurses Union has proposed a $20 per hour penalty anytime a nursing unit is short staffed but Union president Judy denella tells us the hospital is looking for some wiggle room that penalty by proposing what's called a core deficit they want to have um it's called a core deficit which means they can go below a certain amount of staff without still meeting the penalty and if that ever took place it wouldn't be an enforcable guideline the negotiations hinge on whether a 15 to 18% core deficit will be included in a deal John August from Cornell University says negotiations like this are happening all around the state and Country and are the result of the bleeding of nursing staff that was exacerbated by coid the industry as a whole needs to be held accountable to not advancing uh a a a greater reaching out to their staff and working in a collaborative way to figure this out it is the management who has control they don't want to give up that control and they should give up some of that control uh and Empower nurses to sit down and be a partner you know in figuring out Solutions solutions to how they can improve their systems of care delivery something he thinks should be a focus in this postco conversation around how hospitals should be running and he believes nurses should be a part of that conversation include them in what I think is necessary which is a kind of realignment of the way we actually deliver Care by using a much larger team with more advanced uh um uh capacity and disab and and and abilities certainly technology can enhance that and and finally I think what the real issue is is the people nurses in particular who are leaving the profession because they don't feel like they have control over what they're doing some of that is Staffing but I think it really has to do with the deeper question of what is their role in actually determining care delivery Robert Johnson Hospital leader ship has maintained they want their nurses back to work as quickly as possible saying in a statement they've continued to offer language in support of topof Market wages as well as stfe Staffing standards that meet or exceed levels set forth by legislation in States like California and in a number of Hospital labor settlements across the country both sides hopeful that a resolution can be reached soon I'm Joanna gagis NJ Spotlight news