NYSNA Update: August 15, 2025
NYSNA Nurses Launch 2025 Private Sector Campaign to Defend Healthcare!
On Thursday, Aug. 14, NYSNA nurses from 12 private sector facilities across New York City launched their bargaining platform for their 2025 contract fight! NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, kicked off the bargaining conference by reminding nurses of their power and commitment to win respect and protect healthcare access for patients. Nurses then introduced the five-point platform that will guide this contract fight. New York City Democratic Mayoral Nominee and Queens Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr., Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and New York City Central Labor Council Secretary-Treasurer Janella Hinds joined NYSNA members at a rally and press conference in support of their campaign to defend healthcare and protect New Yorkers. Crain’s New York Business, POLITICO, and The City covered the press conference.
Nurses then attended powerful breakout sessions to learn about the impact of Medicaid cuts in their facilities, the risks of unregulated artificial intelligence programs, how to include contract language to protect nurses from workplace violence, Organizing 101 for new Contract Action Team members and more. They also met by region to strategize and develop facility-specific platform points.
While the political reality of budget cuts and attacks on healthcare seems daunting, nurses reminded each other of what they accomplished under the challenging post-COVID-19 conditions of their last contract fight. The energy and engagement in the conference showed NYSNA nurses are prepared to push back against employers who will take advantage of this political moment to propose givebacks or staff and service cuts. They are ready to unite, organize and fight to defend healthcare, protect their patients and win the contract they deserve!
NYSNA Nurses and Allies Hold Town Hall to Demand an End to Bellevue Service Cuts
On Wednesday, Aug. 13, NYSNA nurses joined forces with community allies and elected officials to hold a town hall meeting to demand Bellevue Woman’s Center in Schenectady preserve surgical services. Bellevue is the only maternal and child healthcare center in Schenectady county, and cuts to the essential services they provide pose an enormous threat to patient care across the region. Despite previously saying that the cuts would take place in December, Ellis Medicine recently announced that surgical services at Bellevue will close on Aug. 22.
Assembly Member Phil Steck, Save Burdett Birth Center Coalition, Save Our Services Schenectady Coalition for Healthcare Access, and many community members spoke out about the critical need to preserve services at the hospital. News10, CBS 6, and NBC News 13 covered the town hall.
The proposed cuts would shutter surgical services in the operating room and outpatient settings at Bellevue. While patients will still be able to receive cesarean sections, any other surgical services would likely require travel by ambulance to Ellis’s chronically understaffed main campus. Amidst a broader federal attack on healthcare services, particularly women’s reproductive health services, Medicaid and other healthcare programs that predominantly support vulnerable New Yorkers, nurses are demanding enough staff and services to serve their community. Show your support for their fight to save maternal health care services in Schenectady County by signing this petition.
Oneida Nurses Vote to Ratify New Contract!
On Thursday, Aug. 14, NYSNA nurses at Oneida Health voted to ratify a new three-year contract! This new contract comes after months of bargaining at Oneida and includes wage increases to recruit and retain nurses, the introduction of float restricting language and—critically—no givebacks to management!
Congratulations, Oneida nurses! This contract comes after a long bargaining campaign, a speak-out, an informational picket, a petition, a lawn-sign visibility campaign, an ad campaign and months of demanding that management return to the table and bargain in good faith. Perseverance and tenacity have led to a contract that will keep Oneida nurses caring for the community they love — when we fight, we win!