Nearly 15,000 nurses could walk off the job at major medical centers.
New York City nurses at three major medical centers, citing slack progress in contract talks with hospitals, are holding to their strike threat for Monday, their union said Sunday. Nearly 15,000 nurses will walk off the job at medical centers in Manhattan and the Bronx operated by Mount Sinai, Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian, unless they reach last-minute deals with management, union leaders with the New York State Nurses Association said in a briefing.
Hospital leaders “were missing in action too much of the day yesterday and refused to bargain late,” Nancy Hagans, the NYSNA president, said. “They are still refusing to address our most important issues: patient and nurse safety,” Hagans continued. “Although we are willing to negotiate on salaries, they have failed to deliver meaningful counter-proposals and are still threatening healthcare cuts for frontline nurses.” There was no immediate comment from the hospitals on the status of negotiations, but NYSNA said negotiations were set to resume at 1 p.m. Sunday. Hagans said nurses are “ready to bargain all day and night to avoid a strike tomorrow.” Representatives of the hospitals have denied they are trying to cut health benefits or roll back staffing protections, as the nurses’ union charges. And they have touted the security precautions they are already taking to protect staff and patients from Hospitals have also characterized nurses’ salary asks as out of touch, especially in light of anticipated federal cuts to health care funding. For Mount Sinai and Montefiore, this would be the second nurses strike in three years, following a three-day walkout in January 2023 — and the Nurses Association says this one would be the largest nurses strike in city history. “This could jeopardize the lives of thousands of New Yorkers and patients and I am strongly encouraging everyone to stay at the table, both sides, management and the nurses, until this is resolved,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday.Friday declaring a disaster emergency in counties where the nurses are expected to strike. The order allows doctors, nurses and other clinicians who are licensed in other states and Canada to practice in New York.When and where are nurses planning to strike? Nurses are planning to walk out and hold rallies at multiple Mount Sinai locations starting at 6 a.m. and at hospitals operated by NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center starting at 7 a.m. NewYork-Presbyterian’s Allen Hospital, Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center Montefiore Medical Center’s Jack D. Weiler Hospital, Henry and Lucy Moses campus, Hutchinson campus and the Children’s Hospital at MontefioreNurses strikes can pose a risk for patients. A study of nurses strikes in New York state between 1984 and 2004 found that the walkoutsinto the death of an infant in Mount Sinai’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that was first reported by Gothamist. Hospital representatives and the city’s Office of Emergency Management say they are working to maintain services and keep patients safe if a strike is not avoided. The Office of Emergency Management says it will monitor hospital capacity and help the affected hospitals divert or transfer patients to other facilities as needed. In a joint statement issued Thursday, the three hospital systems said, “A strike will pose challenges for sure, but our institutions will do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions to the delivery of the safe, high-quality care we are known for.” That means bringing in outside staff. Mount Sinai has brought in more than 1,000 “qualified and specialized agency nurses” in preparation for a strike, hospital spokesperson Lucia Lee said Friday. “In the event of a strike all of our hospitals and emergency departments will remain open, and we expect most appointments will proceed as originally scheduled,” she added. NYSNA says it has filed unfair labor practice charges against Mount Sinai for making union nurses train their replacements. Joe Solomonese, a spokesperson for Montefiore, said management is preparing for “what we anticipate could be a multi-week strike.” Montefiore maintains that its services will not be significantly impacted.The Nurses Association says the strike could be called off at some or all of the hospitals at any time before nurses walk off the job Monday, but said there were still major sticking points as of Sunday morning. Union officials have praised smaller hospitals with less revenue for settling contracts, while calling out “wealthy” Montefiore, NewYork-Presbyterian and Mount Sinai for not bargaining in good faith. In addition to being at a standstill over salaries, nurses say management at the hospitals are trying to cut health benefits and roll back the staffing rules they won in previous contracts. Nurses are also demanding additional safety protocols at hospitals to protect patients and staff from violence, including measures such as panic buttons and metal detectors. Nurseson those demands after the NYPD shot a man at New York-Presbyterian Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn Thursday who was allegedly threatening patients and staff. Hospitals deny that they’re trying to cut nurses’ benefits and say they have worked to reduce staff vacancies in recent years and have robust security measures in place. “We have proposed significant wage increases that keep our nurses among the highest paid in the region, enhancements to their already outstanding benefits, and new strategies that demonstrate our shared commitment to safe staffing,” NewYork-Presbyterian said in a statement. In a memo sent to nurses in late December, which was shared with Gothamist, Maureen Scanlan, Montefiore’s chief nurse executive, said nurses get premium-free health insurance and have no copays within the Montefiore network. She added that Montefiore is committed to “continued, unchanged care.” Hospitals have characterized nurses’ salary and benefit demands as out of touch, given looming federal health care cuts — but the Nurses Association says these large hospital systems can afford them. Smaller hospitals that have already reached tentative deals with the union have agreed to match whatever salary increases are ultimately agreed to with Mount Sinai, Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian.Caroline Lewis is on the health care beat for WNYC and Gothamist. She has covered COVID, a nurses' strike, the overdose crisis and New York’s marijuana legalization effort, and spent a year investigating patients' medical bills. She always wants to hear about how everyday New Yorkers experience the health system. Got a tip? EmailHow Gov. Murphy plans to make NJ juries more equitable during his final daysRyan KostGothamist is a website about New York City news, arts, events and food, brought to you by New York Public Radio.
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