Nearly 15,000 nurses strike in NYC: 6 things to know

Nearly 15,000 nurses at hospitals in New York City went on strike Jan. 12 after months of negotiations, marking the largest nurses strike in the city’s history.

Six things to know:

1. The New York State Nurses Association has been negotiating contracts that would guarantee safe staffing, healthcare benefits and protections against workplace violence, according to a Jan. 12 union news release. 

2. Nurses went on strike at the following hospitals:

• Montefiore’s Jack D. Weiler Hospital, Einstein Campus; Montefiore Einstein Hospital, Moses Campus; Montefiore Einstein Hutchinson Campus; and Children’s Hospital at Montefiore

• Mount Sinai Hospital; Mount Sinai Morningside; and Mount Sinai West

• NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center; NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital; and NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital

3. The union delivered strike notices to 12 hospitals Jan. 2, then later rescinded them at eight safety-net hospitals after reaching tentative agreements. The tentative agreements include stronger safe staffing measures and enforcement remedies, protections from workplace violence, pension continuity without cuts, and language related to artificial intelligence to ensure a nurse is always present at the bedside, the union said.

4. The union also reached tentative agreements and canceled strike notices at New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health’s Huntington, Plainview and Syosset hospitals, according to a Jan. 10 LinkedIn post from President and CEO John D’Angelo, MD.

5. The organizations employing striking workers shared the following statements with Becker’s Jan. 12:

• A NewYork-Presbyterian spokesperson said the system has taken steps to ensure patient care throughout the strike. “We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognizes the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment,” the spokesperson said. “We have proposed significant wage increases that keep our nurses among the highest paid in the city, enhancements to their outstanding employer-funded benefits and new measures that reflect our shared commitment to safe staffing and workplace safety. However, good faith bargaining requires compromise from both sides.”

• “Unfortunately, NYSNA decided to move forward with its strike while refusing to move on from its extreme economic demands, which we cannot agree to,” a Mount Sinai spokesperson said. “[B]ut we are ready with 1,400 qualified and specialized nurses — and prepared to continue to provide safe patient care for as long as this strike lasts.”

• “NYSNA’s leaders continue to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases, and their troubling proposals like demanding that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job,” said Joe Solmonese, senior vice president of strategic communications at Montefiore. “We remain resolute in our commitment to providing safe and seamless care, regardless of how long the strike may last.”

6. The union said hospital management has threatened to discontinue or reduce health benefits for nurses, which could affect nearly 27,000 nurses at more than 50 hospitals across the state who are enrolled in the union’s health benefit plan, the release said.

“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,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, said in the union release. “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.”  

The union represents more than 42,000 members and is affiliated with National Nurses United, which has more than 225,000 members nationwide.

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