NYSNA Nurses End Historic 41 Day Strike
After six long weeks, NYSNA nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP) voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new contract on Saturday, Feb. 21, joining their union siblings at Montefiore and Mount Sinai in securing fair contracts that protect nurses and patients, and ending the historic New York City nurse strike.
For weeks, management at all four hospitals—Montefiore, Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, and NYP—dragged out the strike, refusing to negotiate with nurses and spending hundreds of millions of dollars on replacement travel nurses. After working with a mediator, nurses at Montefiore and the Sinai system were able to reach tentative agreements and vote on a new contract in early February. At NYP, though, nurses made their voices heard when they rejected a mediator's proposal that fell short on safe staffing and layoff protections. Nurses voted to continue their unfair labor practice strike, demanding that one of the richest hospitals in the city and state do more to care for New York’s nurses and patients.
Nurses held the line for two more weeks. They fought hard to allocate new nursing hires to the areas they were most needed and maintained strong staffing enforcement language that holds employers accountable. Just last week, nurses won an almost $400,000 arbitration award after tracking NYP’s unsafe staffing levels for months, showing just how far NYP will go to delay and deny their staffing issues. Their new agreement will include language to help expedite the staffing arbitration process.
In addition to improved safe staffing language, nurses at all four hospitals maintained their health and pension benefits, and won increased wages, protections against workplace violence, and safeguards against artificial intelligence.
The media followed all six weeks of our historic strike closely. Highlights include: The New York Times, Documented, Reuters, AMNY, 1010Wins, Crain’s, The City, Univision, WNYC, Associated Press, The New York Daily News, Fox 5, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, ABC7 and NY1.
You can view photos and videos from all six weeks on the strike on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
What’s Next?
Nurses at Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and Mount Sinai Morningside and West have already returned to work caring for the New Yorkers who need them most, though management has not made it easy. NYSNA has and will continue to vigorously defend our members’ rights and hold management accountable to the agreement to return to work.
Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian are set to return to work on Thursday, Feb. 26.
NYSNA nurses at all four hospitals are excited to return to work, looking forward to seeing the patients they care deeply for, and celebrating this long, hard-fought victory. The contracts nurses were able to secure at all four hospitals will go a long way in providing safe, quality patient care to all New Yorkers—but we know the fight doesn’t stop there. NYSNA members will continue to hold hospital management accountable, ensuring that they live up to these new agreements and prioritize patients over profits.
We’ll also continue to advocate for safe patient care at the state and federal levels, in addition to the work nurses do inside our hospitals. Congratulations on your well-earned victory, NYP and New York City nurses!