NEW YORK (WABC) — Nearly 15,000 nurses across New York City are now on strike after no agreement was reached ahead of the deadline for contract negotiations.
It is the largest nurses’ strike in NYC’s history.
The hospital locations impacted by the strike include Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside, Mount Sinai West, Montefiore Hospital and New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Their contract expired on December 31.
The union says it wants higher pay and safer working conditions for its members.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a statement Sunday night, saying;
“The safety and wellbeing of this city is my top priority and ensuring New Yorkers have the care they need is critical, especially during flu season. The city’s Emergency Management team, FDNY, health department, public hospital system, and my senior leadership team are in constant communication and closely monitoring the situation. We are prepared for any and all scenarios, including a strike.
“No New Yorker should have to fear losing access to health care — and no nurse should be asked to accept less pay, fewer benefits or less dignity for doing lifesaving work. Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable. I’m relieved that most hospitals have reached an agreement and urge the remaining parties to stay at the table and reach a deal that both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency, saying that a strike “could jeopardize the lives of thousands of New Yorkers and patients.”
Last Thursday night, medical staff at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital were confronted with an armed patient holding people hostage. Police ultimately shot and killed the armed patient.
Lindsay Tuchman reports that the man was armed with a piece of toilet seat.
New York State Nurses Association President Nancy Hagans remarked on the need for nurses amid a high number of flu hospitalizations across the state.
“These wealthy hospitals are pushing to cut health benefits for nurses who put their own health on the line to care for New Yorkers during this historic flu surge,” Hagans said.
For nurse practitioner Dania Munoz, safety is a priority when it comes to the job.
“Violence is on the rise in our institutions and in our units. Nurses at the bedside, and not just nurses, doctors as well. Techs are getting hurt by patients,” Munoz said.
“We are strike ready on Monday, but we don’t want to be there. We need fair contracts now, because I know people are going to suffer, and that is not what we want. What we need is the protection and safety to do our jobs.”
Regardless of the strike, all hospitals stressed that they will remain open.
On Sunday, representatives for Mount Sinai released a statement, reading in part; “we are prepared for a strike that could last an indefinite amount of time and have taken every step to best support our patients and employees in the event NYSNA forces our nurses to walk away from the bedside for the second time in three years.”
Meanwhile, all three Northwell hospitals on Long Island have already reached an agreement to avert a strike.
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