New Jersey
Nurses at three New Jersey hospitals poised to strike over staffing ratios
About 3,000 nurses at three hospitals in New Jersey could soon begin a strike for safe staffing. Contracts expired Friday for 1,500 nurses at Cooper University Health Care in Camden, 800 nurses at Englewood Health in Englewood and 750 nurses at Palisades Medical Center (part of Hackensack Meridian Health) in North Bergen. As of this writing, Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE), the union to which the nurses belong, has not given the hospitals 10 days’ notice that a strike will begin.
The nurses’ main demand is that safe nurse-to-patient ratios be included in their new contracts. More than 90 percent of the nurses at each hospital voted to authorize the strike, which signifies the magnitude of the problem and the workers’ determination to fight.
The developments in New Jersey continue a series of near-unanimous strike votes among US healthcare workers. Inadequate staffing, a long-standing problem that has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been the main factor motivating workers’ struggles. Understaffing increases nurses’ workloads, heightens the risk of medical errors, reduces the quality of patient care and contributes to overwork and burnout.
Recent years have seen a wave of early retirements among nurses, as well as an increase in nurses leaving the profession entirely. In New Jersey, nearly one-third of nurses have left bedside care in the past several years, according to HPAE. At least seven of 10 currently employed nurses are considering retirement. Only about half of New Jersey’s 147,000 licensed nurses are working, according to the union.
The contracts at Cooper University Health Care, Englewood Health and Palisades Medical Center are the first healthcare worker contracts to expire in New Jersey since last year’s strike at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) in New Brunswick. Debbie White, president of HPAE, said at a recent news conference that the agreement with RWJUH would serve as a model during the current negotiations. This statement is a clear warning that HPAE plans to betray the 3,000 nurses who are poised to strike.
For more than four months, the RWJUH nurses fought bravely for safe staffing and enforceable nurse-to-patient ratios. Finally, the United Steelworkers (USW) presented them with an agreement that established ratios but allowed the hospital to maintain understaffing of 18.5 percent without being penalized. It placed the onus on the already overburdened nurses to fill out safe staffing forms when understaffing exceeded the allowed level. If these criteria were met, then the contract provided for nurses to receive only two or three hours’ additional pay, even if the understaffed shift was 12 or 16 hours long. Under increasing financial pressure, and believing that the USW would not negotiate better terms, the RWJUH nurses ratified the inadequate agreement. “This was not the contract that we wanted,” one of them told the World Socialist Web Site.
Imposing a similar defeat on the 3,000 nurses who are ready to strike would be consistent with HPAE’s record of betrayals. In 2020, White prevented a strike of about 1,200 workers at Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC) in Neptune. The union also kept these workers divided from those at Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, who were also without a contract. Both facilities are owned by Hackensack Meridian Health. HPAE’s opposition to a united fight enabled the company to impose its demands at nurses’ expense. One result is that in 2022, most nurses at JSUMC reported that they wouldn’t feel safe being treated at their workplace.
Instead of waging united struggles, HPAE encourages its members to appeal to Democratic politicians. Like the USW, HPAE is advocating for state legislation that would mandate staffing ratios. It has held rallies in Trenton, New Jersey’s capital, to demand passage of this reform. But such legislation has been introduced in New Jersey’s Senate each year for the past 20 years, only to die in committee. In California, Oregon and Massachusetts, where safe staffing laws have been passed, healthcare systems flout them with impunity.
HPAE knows very well that nurses’ pleas will fall on deaf ears. But because of its intimate relationship with the Democratic Party, it encourages illusions that the latter will respond to workers’ needs. The Democrats’ priority is not providing workplace reforms, but continuing the genocide that Israel is committing in Gaza and the proxy war with Russia that is being fought in Ukraine. As the world’s oldest capitalist party and a trusted agent of Wall Street, the Democratic Party is a party of imperialist war, which is paid for by attacks on the working class at home.
The HPAE’s affiliation with the Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, which is the healthcare division of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), makes its integration into the Democratic Party unmistakable. Like President Joe Biden and other Democrats, AFT President Randi Weingarten has smeared students protesting the genocide as antisemitic. But Weingarten had no qualms about traveling to Ukraine in 2022 and shaking hands with genuine antisemites such as Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor of Lviv and an open admirer of Stepan Bandera, who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. The Democrats rely heavily on Weingarten to suppress opposition within the working class and promote nationalism and war.
White’s recent comments and the history of the HPAE make clear that the union is preparing to betray the 3,000 nurses at Cooper University Health Care, Englewood Health and Palisades Medical Center. They also reveal that these nurses face not only a workplace struggle, but also, and more fundamentally, a political struggle. To wage a determined and effective fight for safe staffing, the nurses will need to establish their political and organizational independence. This will require them to organize rank-and-file committees that they, not the HPAE leadership, control democratically. These committees must also be independent of both capitalist parties.
Rank-and-file committees will enable the nurses to elaborate a winning strategy to fight for their demands. The nurses’ power will be strengthened if they appeal to other healthcare workers, and workers in other industries, for support. A strike at the three New Jersey hospitals must become part of a campaign to remove the profit motive from healthcare and to establish a socialist system that provides the highest quality healthcare to all as a basic right.
Every year comes with its own personality, but New Jersey doesn’t wait around to see what the rest of the country decides is “in.” We move fast here. We adapt. We complain loudly — and then we make it part of our routine. Somewhere between a jughandle turn and a diner refill, 2026 developed a very Jersey personality. You may not have noticed it happening, but you’re already living it.
Here are 10 things that feel unmistakably so 2026, Garden State edition.
The way New Jersey talks now (and what it really means)
Calling every inconvenience “a situation.”
Traffic? Situation. School drop-off? Situation. The coffee machine acting up? Full-blown situation.
Quietly flexing about not pumping gas.
We don’t brag. We just casually mention it… often.
Errands, routines and the New Jersey sense of time
Planning an entire weekend around one errand.
Costco, Home Depot, or MVC — choose wisely and clear your schedule.
Checking Dan Zarrow’s forecast on the NJ101.5 app religiously.
Because if you’re going to trust the weather, it might as well be someone who knows New Jersey.
Having a “favorite small town” you don’t live in.
You’ve “been a few times.” You “get the vibe.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Roads, tolls and the daily traffic psychology of NJ
Treating tolls like a personal betrayal.
Every increase feels targeted, and we all do the same mental math at the booth anyway.
Explaining traffic circles and roundabouts like a survival skill.
Somehow we all know exactly what to do — except when we don’t.
Money stress, comfort food and Garden State coping mechanisms
Treating diners as emotional support buildings.
Coffee refills fix things. It’s science.
Complaining about taxes while never actually leaving.
Because deep down, we know better.
Comparing energy bills like it’s a competitive sport.
Nobody likes the numbers, but everyone wants to know if theirs is worse.
The truth is, 2026 in New Jersey isn’t about trends you see online. It’s about habits, shortcuts, shared frustrations, and small victories we all pretend are normal. And if you read this nodding along, congratulations — you’re not behind the times. You’re just right on schedule… in New Jersey.
Best New Jersey Diners For Breakfast and Lunch
Thank you to our New Jersey listeners for these recommendations.
Gallery Credit: Bill Spadea
New Jersey
Though down from previous month, New Jersey online casinos post November revenue record in 2025
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While online casinos in New Jersey fell short of another revenue record, November was still the state’s second-best month ever with over $253 million.
They’ve been around for over 12 years, yet online casinos in New Jersey continue to find ways to set revenue records. After posting the industry’s largest single-month total in October, NJ online casinos last month combined for $253 million to set a November record and ranks as the second-biggest single-month total in Garden State history.
NJ online casinos set single-year record with one month left
Since launching in 2013, NJ online casinos have continually set high-water marks – even now, a dozen years later.
With $253 million in November revenue, as reported by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, casino apps in the Garden State now sit at just over $2.64 billion for the year, leading to $455 million in state tax revenue. With one month left in 2025, the industry has already set a single-year record, which previously stood at around $2.4 billion.
To further put into perspective the growth of online gambling in New Jersey, the industry is over 22% ahead of the 11-month pace it set in 2024. Consider the first 14 months of online casinos in NJ, during which time operators combined for a mere $131.2 million in revenue.
While it’s unlikely that NJ online casinos will reach the $3 billion mark by the end of the year, iGaming has proven it can continue to grow after more than 10 years of existence.
FanDuel Casino, DraftKings Casino continue to set pace
While the monthly total is one for the books, the standard brands set themselves apart from the rest of the market.
For example, FanDuel Casino – which new users can sign up with and claim the FanDuel casino bonus – reported $60.2 million. That was well ahead of the second-place DraftKings Casino bonus, which helped drive $49.6 million in November.
Along with the BetMGM Casino app ($30.6 million), Borgata Casino ($20.6 million) and Caesars Palace Online Casino ($19.3 million), the top five revenue-earners in November accounted for more than 71% of the total online casino total in November.
New Jersey
Ice, freezing rain alerts expand to 10 N.J. counties. Wind advisory issued for 50 mph gusts Monday.
Winter weather advisories have been expanded to 10 New Jersey counties with freezing rain that could cause a dangerous layer of ice tonight.
The National Weather Service has also issued a wind advisory for 16 counties Monday with up to 50 mph gusts possible.
The more immediate concern is freezing rain already hitting the state Sunday evening.
Winter weather advisories for Bergen, Essex, Hudson Passaic and Union counties expire between 10 p.m. and midnight.
Winter weather advisories for Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties take effect at 6 p.m. and run through 2 a.m.
As temperatures remain near or below freezing across northern New Jersey this evening, precipitation will fall as freezing rain, particularly in Warren and Morris counties where a glaze to one-tenth of an inch of ice accumulation is possible.
The National Weather Service warns that even areas outside the advisory that remain near freezing at the onset of precipitation could experience localized icing, especially on shaded surfaces that have remained below freezing for more than 36 hours.
Temperatures will rise above freezing areawide during the pre-dawn hours Monday as a warm front lifts through the region, changing any remaining freezing rain to plain rain.
A brief break in the rain is likely prior to daybreak Monday.
The warm front will be quickly followed by a strong cold front Monday afternoon, bringing another period of rain that may be moderate in intensity at times.
High temperatures Monday will reach the upper 40s along the coast before the cold front passes, bringing high winds to the area.
The wind advisory for 16 counties runs from 10 a.m. Monday to 1 p.m. Tuesday. Just Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union counties are not under wind advisories.
“Strong westerly winds develop Monday with wind gusts up to 50 mph and a wind advisory has been issued,” the weather service said Sunday evening. “Some tree damage and power outages possible.”
Tuesday will be markedly colder with high temperatures struggling to rise above freezing even at the Jersey Shore.
Wind chills in the teens and low 20s are expected during the day.
Skies will be partly cloudy with continued gusty winds of 20 to 30 mph.
Wednesday brings slightly milder conditions with highs in the mid 30s to near 40 degrees, though it remains well below normal for late December.
The extended forecast shows below-normal temperatures continuing through the end of the week and into the New Year.
Thursday may bring a chance of snow showers as a weak cold front passes through, though accumulations are expected to be light.
Friday looks dry with highs in the low to mid 30s.
Another weather system may impact the area late next weekend, potentially bringing a mix of rain and snow, though forecast confidence remains low for that timeframe.
Current weather radar
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