(NEW YORK CITY) – New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) Nurses began an Unfair Labor Practice Strike on Monday (January 12th). After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that Nurses have been fighting for: Safe staffing for patients; Health care benefits for Nurses; and Workplace violence protections, forcing nearly 15,000 Nurses out on the largest Nurse Strike in New York City History.  

Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut Nurses’ health benefits, cuts would impact not just striking Nurses at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Morningside and West and NewYork-Presbyterian, but nearly 27,000 Nurses at more than 50 Hospitals around the State who are enrolled in NYSNA’s Health Benefit Plan.

Nurses had hoped to make progress at the bargaining table and avert a Strike, but management at Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, Montefiore, and NewYork-Presbyterian would not negotiate fair contracts that improve safe staffing, fully fund health benefits for Nurses and protect Nurses from workplace violence, NYSNA said.

Management barely met with mediators and left some tables as early, showing that they had zero interest in averting a Strike, Union Officials said.  

Instead of following the lead of New York City’s eight Safety-Net Hospitals and Northwell Health’s three Hospitals on Long Island that all reached tentative agreements with Nurses to avert strikes, New York City’s wealthiest Academic Hospitals are forcing Nurses out on Strike and refusing to agree to NYSNA's proposal to continue Nurses’ health benefits, the Union said.  

At a morning news conference, NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said: “Unfortunately, greedy Hospital executives have decided to put profits above safe patient care and force Nurses out on Strike when we would rather be at the bedsides of our patients. Hospital management refuses to address our most important issues - patient and Nurse safety. It is shameful the City’s richest Hospitals refuse to continue health care benefits for Front-Line Nurses, refuse to staff safely for our patients and refuse to protect us from workplace violence. 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.”  

New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento said at the news conference: “Union Members across the City and State, from the Public Sector, Private Sector and Building Trades, are united in our support of the Nurses represented by the New York State Nurses Association, who have been put in the unfortunate position of having no other choice than to Strike. These Nurses are dedicated professionals who provide quality patient care under unimaginable conditions day in and day out. It is unfathomable that these hospitals show such complete disregard for the pressure under which these Nurses work and for all they do for their patients each day. It is time for the hospitals to treat these Nurses fairly, with the dignity and respect they deserve, and to negotiate in good faith and quickly to ensure Nurses can get back to serving their communities by providing superior care to their patients.  

New York City AFL-CIO Central Labor Council President Brendan Griffith also spoke at the news conference and said: “Nurses have made every effort to reach fair agreements that protect patient care, workplace safety and access to health care - and they have done so in good faith. What we are seeing instead from some of the City’s wealthiest Private Hospitals is continued stalling, threats and attempts to roll back the standards Nurses have already fought to win. Strikes are always a last resort, and it is shameful NYSNA is forced to Strike to prevent a handful of employers from risking safety and patient care. At a moment of intense strain on our Health Care System, executives appear more willing to spend millions on temporary staffing than to commit to safe staffing and real protections from workplace violence. That approach is dangerous and unacceptable. The entire New York City Labor Movement stands with NYSNA Nurses and calls on Hospital leadership to reach agreements now that keep Workers safe, protect patients and respect the Nurses that our Working Families rely on every day."

Key sticking points and open issues remain: Management’s threats to cut health care benefits for the Front-Line Nurses who care for New York City; Management’s attempt to roll back Safe Staffing Standards Nurses won when they went on Strike at two major Hospitals three years ago; and Management’s refusal to agree to protections from workplace violence, despite a recent active shooter incident at Mount Sinai Hospital and the recent horrific violent incident at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.

To Continue Reading This Labor News Report, Go To: Hospitals Force Nearly 15,000 NYSNA Nurses Out on Largest Nurse Strike in New York City History | New York State Nurses Association

Photo Courtesy Of NYSNA’s Facebook Page.