More than 7,000 nurses at Mount Sinai Medical Center and Montefiore Medical Center are seeking better wages and working conditions.
Nurses in New York City say they are still often overwhelmed in the wake of the strain the pandemic has placed on hospitals.
More than 7,000 nurses at two hospitals in New York City went on strike early Monday, forcing the health centers into a frantic flurry to move patients, divert ambulances and scale back other services.
The strikes, over working conditions, salaries and staffing policies, presented serious challenges to hospitals already facing the “tripledemic” of R.S.V., flu and Covid-19 cases across the city.
After failing to reach an agreement during a late-night bargaining session on Sunday, the New York State Nurses Association said early Monday that nurses were on strike at two hospitals: the Mount Sinai Medical Center, on the Upper East Side, and Montefiore Medical Center, in the Bronx.
“It is time for the hospitals to treat these nurses fairly, with the dignity and respect they deserve, to ensure nurses can get back to serving their communities by providing superior care to their patients,” Mario Cilento, the president of the New York State A.F.L.-C.I.O. said in a statement on Monday.
The hospitals rushed to bring in temporary staff and continue operations, even pressing doctors into service to fill nursing shortages. In a statement on Monday, Montefiore Medical Center said the union’s leadership had “decided to walk away from the bedsides of their patients,” despite management’s offer of a 19.1 percent compounded wage increase and its commitment to creating more than 170 new nursing positions.
“We remain committed to seamless and compassionate care, recognizing that the union leadership’s decision will spark fear and uncertainty across our community,” the statement said.
Mount Sinai administrators said in an emailed statement that the union leadership had walked out of negotiations at 1 a.m. on Monday morning. “Our first priority is the safety of our patients,” the statement said. “We’re prepared to minimize disruption, and we encourage Mount Sinai nurses to continue providing the world-class care they’re known for.”
Union officials said they were fighting for pay raises to keep up with inflation. They also said hospitals have not hired enough nurses to deal with shortages created by the Covid-19 pandemic and have asked for improved staffing ratios.
“We do not take striking lightly, but that’s what’s going to happen if our bosses give us no other choice,” said Nancy Hagans, president of the Nurses Association, which represents 42,000 nurses in New York State.
The union said that the main sticking point at both hospitals was adequate enforcement mechanisms to ensure safe staffing levels were honored. No bargaining sessions were scheduled for Monday at this point, but the nurses were ready to return to the table, the union said.
On Sunday night, Gov. Kathy Hochul called for binding arbitration “so that all parties can swiftly reach a resolution.” Officials from both hospitals said they would welcome arbitration and hoped the nurses’ union would agree and postpone its strike deadline, but union officials did not accept the offer.
“Gov. Hochul should listen to frontline Covid nurse heroes and respect our federally protected labor and collective bargaining rights,” union officials said in a statement. “Nurses don’t want to strike. Bosses have pushed us to strike by refusing to seriously consider our proposals to address the desperate crisis of unsafe staffing that harms our patients.”
The negotiations are taking place nearly three years into a pandemic that has left some frontline medical workers with deep distrust for management, prompting nurses to walk out in states across the country, as well as overseas. Nurses in Britain went on strike last month for the first time in the 74-year history of the country’s National Health Service.
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More Than 7,000 NYC Nurses Go on Strike at Two Hospitals - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
More than 7,000 nurses at two hospitals in New York City went on strike early Monday, forcing the health centers into a frantic flurry to move patients, divert ambulances and scale back other services.
The strikes, over working conditions, salaries and staffing policies, presented serious challenges to hospitals already facing the “tripledemic” of R.S.V., flu and Covid-19 cases across the city.
After failing to reach an agreement during a late-night bargaining session on Sunday, the New York State Nurses Association said early Monday that nurses were on strike at two hospitals: the Mount Sinai Medical Center, on the Upper East Side, and Montefiore Medical Center, in the Bronx.
“It is time for the hospitals to treat these nurses fairly, with the dignity and respect they deserve, to ensure nurses can get back to serving their communities by providing superior care to their patients,” Mario Cilento, the president of the New York State A.F.L.-C.I.O. said in a statement on Monday.
The hospitals rushed to bring in temporary staff and continue operations, even pressing doctors into service to fill nursing shortages. In a statement on Monday, Montefiore Medical Center said the union’s leadership had “decided to walk away from the bedsides of their patients,” despite management’s offer of a 19.1 percent compounded wage increase and its commitment to creating more than 170 new nursing positions.
“We remain committed to seamless and compassionate care, recognizing that the union leadership’s decision will spark fear and uncertainty across our community,” the statement said.
Mount Sinai administrators said in an emailed statement that the union leadership had walked out of negotiations at 1 a.m. on Monday morning. “Our first priority is the safety of our patients,” the statement said. “We’re prepared to minimize disruption, and we encourage Mount Sinai nurses to continue providing the world-class care they’re known for.”
Union officials said they were fighting for pay raises to keep up with inflation. They also said hospitals have not hired enough nurses to deal with shortages created by the Covid-19 pandemic and have asked for improved staffing ratios.
“We do not take striking lightly, but that’s what’s going to happen if our bosses give us no other choice,” said Nancy Hagans, president of the Nurses Association, which represents 42,000 nurses in New York State.
The union said that the main sticking point at both hospitals was adequate enforcement mechanisms to ensure safe staffing levels were honored. No bargaining sessions were scheduled for Monday at this point, but the nurses were ready to return to the table, the union said.
On Sunday night, Gov. Kathy Hochul called for binding arbitration “so that all parties can swiftly reach a resolution.” Officials from both hospitals said they would welcome arbitration and hoped the nurses’ union would agree and postpone its strike deadline, but union officials did not accept the offer.
“Gov. Hochul should listen to frontline Covid nurse heroes and respect our federally protected labor and collective bargaining rights,” union officials said in a statement. “Nurses don’t want to strike. Bosses have pushed us to strike by refusing to seriously consider our proposals to address the desperate crisis of unsafe staffing that harms our patients.”
The negotiations are taking place nearly three years into a pandemic that has left some frontline medical workers with deep distrust for management, prompting nurses to walk out in states across the country, as well as overseas. Nurses in Britain went on strike last month for the first time in the 74-year history of the country’s National Health Service.
CONTINUED:
More Than 7,000 NYC Nurses Go on Strike at Two Hospitals - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
