Sergio Bichao

@sbichao

Somerset Medical Center merged with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in June.

Nurses in the Somerville hospital voted last week to join a union.

United Steelworkers already represents 1,400 nurses at the New Brunswick hospital.

SOMERVILLE – About 430 nurses at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital campus in this borough will join the labor union already representing the 1,400 nurses at the hospital's New Brunswick campus.

The registered nurses in Somerville voted Thursday and Friday, 204 to 170, in favor of joining the United Steelworkers, rejecting the hospital's campaign to oppose unionizing.

A spokesman for the hospital said Monday that the workers' vote is expected to be certified by the National Labor Relations Board after a week.

The nurses become the first organized bargaining unit at the Somerville hospital since the Somerset Medical Center merged with the New Brunswick-based hospital in June.

Despite the merger, union officials decided to pursue a vote instead of trying to make a legal case that the Somerville nurses should be able to join their New Brunswick colleagues without an election.

"We look forward to getting to the bargaining table as soon as possible," union representative Del Vitale said. "This win is important for the community that the hospital serves. The registered nurses will have more power to advocate for patients, ensuring quality care."

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Executive Vice President Vincent D. Joseph said hospital officials "acknowledge and respect the right of our nursing staff to decide on whether or not union representation is in their best long- and short-term interest."

"We will do everything we can to continue to make the hospital the best possible workplace it can be," he said. "Working together, collegially with all of our health care professionals, we will continue to advance our health care mission within the greater Somerset community."

United Steelworkers said the hospital hired an anti-union public relations firm, Kulture, in an effort to dissuade the nurses from voting in favor of organizing. A hospital spokesman would not say how much the nonprofit spent on the campaign.

Staff Writer Sergio Bichao: 908-243-6615; sbichao@mycentraljersey.com