(BRONX, NEW YORK) - New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) Midwives who work for Physician's Group of New York (PAGNY) at NYC Health+Hospitals/Jacobi and North Central Bronx Hospitals have voted - almost unanimously, to authorize a Strike after their employer failed to make sufficient movement to meet demands for safe staffing.

This now gives NYSNA Leaders the power to give management a 10-day Strike notice.

The Public Hospital Midwives who work at Jacobi and North Central Bronx have been fighting for a fair contract for more than a year and have been working with an expired contract since June 30th, 2023.

They are demanding in-person bargaining with a Mediator and they want Dr. Mitchell Katz, the President and Chief Executive Officer of NYC Health+Hospitals (H+H), at the table.

Midwives want to settle a fair contract that allows them to provide quality care for patients in the Bronx, NYSNA Officials said.

They have been bargaining with the Physician Affiliate Group of New York (PAGNY), which staffs many of the Midwives in the NYC H+H System.  

Midwives are essential to providing safe maternal and birthing care in the Bronx, which has some of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in New York State.

Recent studies have shown that increasing and integrating Midwives into the Health Care System could avert 41% of maternal deaths, 39% of neonatal deaths, and 26% of stillbirths.  

NYSNA Midwives struggle with high turnover and the pressure to see too many patients in too short a time, which compromises the quality of care and education Midwives can provide to new parents and their babies.

Many of their patients are Immigrants, speak English as a second language, and have not been treated for pre-existing conditions.

Midwives are routinely asked to do the job of multiple Staff Members, are double-booked, rarely get breaks, and have some of the lowest pay in the region - and Midwives are highly skilled Clinicians who are difficult to recruit even in the best of times.

At the same time, the Midwives at NYC H+H/Jacobi and North Central Bronx provide a much broader scope of care than many peer hospitals.

NYSNA Midwives have proposed hiring Midwives to improve safe staffing and have demanded pay parity.

The employer has not agreed to these proposals that will help retain Midwives to improve safe patient care, the Union said.

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said: “Bronx Midwives and their patients deserve respect. They deserve a fair contract that will keep Midwives at the bedside, serving some of the most vulnerable patients in the Bronx and in our City. The public system must invest in Midwifery and improving health outcomes for pregnant patients and families in the Bronx.”

To Continue Reading This Labor News Story, Go To: NYSNA Bronx Midwives Vote To Authorize Strike, Demand Safe Staffing and a Fair Contract Now | New York State Nurses Association