(ONEIDA, NEW YORK) - On Tuesday (December 31st), New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA)-represented Nurses at Oneida Health Hospital marched to the office of CEO Felissa Koernig to demand management come back to the bargaining table and settle a fair contract with safe staffing and a real plan to retain Nurses for safe patient care.  

After months of delaying bargaining, last night, Oneida management offered their so-called “final offer” and refused to continue to bargain over the dozens of open issues Nurses say are nowhere near resolved.

Nurses are demanding a fair contract with a plan for safe staffing and wage increases that will keep experienced Nurses at the bedside.

Their contract expired on December 31st, at midnight.

Registered Nurse Sheila Sreca said: “Nurses have made it clear we will do whatever it takes for quality patient care and a fair contract.  We’re speaking out because we have been fighting for much too long and are demanding that management respect the Nurses that have kept the hospital running.  What management is proposing is an insult to Nurses’ work and expertise, and the patients we care for.  Nurses deserve better.  This community deserves better.”  

NYSNA Nurses have been asking for enforceable safe staffing plans, a plan to retain experienced Nurses, and wages and benefits that would be regionally competitive.

Oneida management has refused to agree to more bargaining sessions and says this offer is their so-called “last and best.”

Last year, Oneida brought in nearly $133 million in revenue, up from $121 the year prior.

Oneida’s retention rate is poor and Nurses describe certain Units, like the Operating Room and Obstetrical/Gynecological Department, as a “revolving door.”

The package offered by Oneida management, with wage increases that do not exceed inflation, would make them some of the lowest paid Nurses in the region, the Union said.  

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said: “NYSNA Nurses at Oneida and our patients deserve respect.  We know management can afford to pay Nurses a wage that respects their expertise and retains experienced Nurses.  Oneida Nurses should know that when they marched to the CEO this morning, they had the force of all (42,000) NYSNA Nurses across the State behind them. And we will stop at nothing until our Members get the contract they deserve.” 

NYSNA represents more than 42,000 Members across New York and is the State’s largest Union and Professional Association For Registered Nurses.

NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), the country's largest and fastest-growing Union and Professional Association of Registered Nurses, with more than 225,000 Members nationwide.