(NEW YORK CITY) - New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA)-Represented Nurses who are employed at New York City’s Public Hospitals rallied last week outside Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan and called on Mayor Eric Adams to do the right thing for racial and health care justice for New Yorkers.  The Unionized Nurses are seeking a fair contract that will help to recruit and retain enough Caregivers at the bedside. 

According to data the City has shared, New York City spent more than half a billion dollars on temporary Travel Nurse contracts in 2022 - largely to fill gaps created by the City paying Staff Nurses too little to be able to afford to stay at the bedside.

Much of that money went to for-profit staffing companies instead of into the pockets of Black and Brown New Yorkers caring for their communities, Union Officials said.

New York City could save hundreds of millions of dollars and solve the crisis of high turnover and chronic understaffing by raising pay for Public Hospital Nurses, who make nearly $20,000 less a year than their Private Sector counterparts, they added. 

City Officials, including Comptroller Brad Lander, are also raising concerns about the high costs and implications for standards of care with NYC Health+Hospitals’ reliance on Temporary Travel Nurses.  According to Politico, his office has sent a letter demanding data and documents related to the public system’s spending with temporary staffing agencies. 

Joined by a number of Elected Officials at the rally, NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, a Registered Nurse herself, said: “When I was growing up, my entire family would travel from Staten Island to Kings County Hospital because we knew we could find a Nurse to speak Haitian Creole.  I am worried about what will happen to New York’s Communities of Color, Immigrant Communities and Low Income Communities that depend on H+H for their care.  I am worried about what will be left of our essential Public Health System without enough Nurses.  Our message to Mayor Adams is: ‘No contract! No peace!’”

New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO President Vincent Alvarez - who spoke at the rally, said: “Our City’s Public Sector Nurses need a fair contract to ensure that Working Class New Yorkers who depend on our Public Health System are able to access the same high standard of care as patients at Private Sector Hospitals.  Right now, low pay and understaffing are causing a health care crisis, compromising the quality of patient care in our Working Class Communities. Our City should be investing in our Public Health Care System and our Essential Workers, not wasting millions of dollars a year on temp agency contracts.  The entire New York City Labor Movement will continue to stand with NYSNA and our nearly (9,000) Health+Hospitals Nurses as they fight for the contract they need in order to deliver the high quality, compassionate health care that Working New Yorkers deserve."

NYSNA, which represents more than 42,000 Members across the State, is New York’s largest Union and Professional Association for Registered Nurses and is an affiliate of National Nurses United - the country's largest and fastest-growing Union and Professional Association of Registered Nurses, with more than 225,000 Members nationwide.

To Read This Labor News Report In Its Entirety, Go To: TODAY AT 12 NOON: NYC Public Hospital Nurses to Rally at Bellevue Hospital to Demand Fair Contract | New York State Nurses Association (nysna.org)

Photo Courtesy Of NYSNA’s Facebook Page.