A three-day nursing strike that disrupted patient care at two of New York City’s largest hospitals has ended.
Both hospitals, Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital in upper Manhattan, announced tentative agreements with the New York State Nurses Association early Thursday. A short time later, the union said the same thing. It referred to the agreements as “historic.”
To deal with the walkout of up to 7,100 nurses, both hospitals were postponing non-emergency surgeries, diverting ambulances to other medical centers, bringing in temporary staffers, and assigning administrators with nursing backgrounds to work inwards.
Truly moving to hear from frontline nurses and our supporters about the conditions that have led to this strike. Thank you Council members @CMPiSanchez, @cmmvelaz, @EricDinowitzNYC for your support! #NYCNurseStrike Day 2 #NYSNAStrong pic.twitter.com/lMSHKbqzxg
— NYSNA (@nynurses) January 10, 2023
The union claimed it was forced to strike due to severe understaffing, which left nurses caring for too many patients.
However, the company announced early Thursday that nurses “won concrete enforceable safe staffing ratios in both deals and will be back on the job starting this morning.”
“This is a historic victory for New York City nurses and nurses across the country,” said Union President Nancy Hagans, herself a registered nurse. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, NYSNA nurses did the impossible, saving lives night and day, and now we’ve proven that nothing is impossible for nurse heroes.
We won enforceable safe staffing ratios at both Montefiore and Mount Sinai, where nurses went on strike for patient care, because of our unity and putting everything on the line.”
Montefiore and Mount Sinai were the last of a group of hospitals whose nursing contracts were set to expire at the same time. The union initially threatened to strike at all of them at the same time, but as the Monday strike deadline approached, the other hospitals reached agreements. Over the next three years, all will receive raises of 7%, 6%, and 5%, respectively.
Montefiore stated that its agreement calls for similar raises.
Nurses on the picket lines emphasized that staffing levels were a more pressing concern than pay. Nurses in New York City were hailed as heroes in the spring of 2020 when the city was a hotspot for COVID-19 deaths. But they’ve been complaining about burnout due to poor staffing levels, which have been a problem for years.
“Remember, we were already short of staff before (the) pandemic,” said Mount Sinai nurse Nagie Pamphili.
Montefiore announced early Thursday that it had agreed to hire more than 170 nurses.
The administration at Mount Sinai has stated that the union’s focus on nurse-to-patient ratios “ignores the progress we have made to attract and hire more new nurses, despite a global shortage of healthcare workers affecting hospitals globally.”
