NYSNA Nurses are now on strike in New York City. This is the largest nurses’ strike in the history of the Big Apple.
Key sticking points and open issues remain: management’s threats to cut healthcare benefits for the frontline nurses who care for New York City, management’s attempt to roll back safe staffing standards that nurses won when they went on strike at two major hospitals three years ago, and management’s refusal to agree to protections from workplace violence, despite a recent active shooter incident at Mount Sinai Hospital and the recent horrific violent incident at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said: “Unfortunately, greedy hospital executives have decided to put profits above safe patient care and force nurses out on strike when we would rather be at the bedsides of our patients. Hospital management refuses to address our most important issues—patient and nurse safety. It is shameful that the city’s richest hospitals refuse to continue healthcare benefits for frontline nurses, refuse to staff safely for our patients, and refuse to protect us from workplace violence. It is deeply offensive that they would rather use their billions to fight against their own nurses than settle a fair contract. Nurses do not want to strike, but our bosses have forced us out on strike.”
While nurses have fought above all for safety, management has responded with retaliation, intimidation, and stalling, and flaunted the more than $100 million they’ve collectively spent on temporary replacement nurses. Mount Sinai has disciplined and attempted to silence nurses who have spoken out on workplace safety and targeted RNs for exercising union rights. NewYork-Presbyterian has threatened job loss for striking. Montefiore has surveilled union nurses, in attempts to intimidate them. All three hospitals have withheld information on their excessive use of traveler nurses. NYSNA has filed unfair labor practice charges in response.
The hospitals affected include: Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside, Mount Sinai West, Montefiore Hospital and New York Presbyterian Hospital. Over 15,000 nurses are now on strike beginning today.
“Nurses put their lives on the line every day to keep New Yorkers healthy. They should never be forced to choose between their own safety, their patients’ well-being, and a fair contract,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “As our state faces a historic flu surge, our communities are counting on New York’s hospitals for high-quality, reliable frontline care. Meanwhile, hospital management is threatening nurses’ health benefits, rolling back hard-won staffing protections, and doing too little to address workplace violence. I am proud to stand with New York’s nurses in calling on hospitals throughout this city to put patients over profits and ensure safe workplaces for our frontline health care workers.”
“NYSNA nurses work day and night to care for New Yorkers and keep us healthy,” said New York City Comptroller Mark Levine. “As our city battles one of the worst flu seasons in recent memory, it’s clear that we must ensure they get a fair contract. It’s right for them, and for their patients.”
“Nurses have made every effort to reach fair agreements that protect patient care, workplace safety, and access to healthcare, and they have done so in good faith,” said New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO President Brendan Griffith. “What we are seeing instead from some of the city’s wealthiest private hospitals is continued stalling, threats, and attempts to roll back the standards nurses have already fought to win. That approach is dangerous and unacceptable. The entire New York City Labor Movement stands with NYSNA nurses and calls on hospital leadership to reach agreements now that keep workers safe, protect patients, and respect the nurses that our working families rely on every day.”
The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country’s largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members nationwide.
