NYSNA Update: November 14, 2025
New York City Nurses Hold Week of Action to Demand Hospitals Protect Healthcare
NYSNA nurses at New York City private sector hospitals held another strong week of action, and elected officials and community allies joined them. Nurses at Mount Sinai Morningside/West, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Maimonides, Mount Sinai Hospital and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center spoke out and demanded hospitals do their part to protect healthcare! Legislators and allies joined nurses to show their support in this fight. Nurses demanded fair contracts that respect patients, nurses and our communities, and WBAI and Public News Service covered their actions. Below are updates for each of these hospitals.
The Brooklyn Hospital Center
NYSNA nurses at The Brooklyn Hospital Center gathered outside the hospital on Wednesday to speak with local elected officials about the state of their contract negotiations with management. State Senator Jabari Brisport and Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest (represented by her chief of staff) listened as the nurses, many with 20 and 30 years at the hospital, expressed outrage at the hospital’s proposals to limit time off, provide less orientation for new staff, expand the use of floating, and significantly decrease tuition reimbursement. Both elected representatives assured the nurses that they would stand with them in their efforts to win a fair contract.
Mount Sinai Morningside-West
On Wednesday, Nov. 12, nurses gathered at Mount Sinai West to speak out and demand Mount Sinai invest in safe patient care rather than risky artificial intelligence and high executive pay. Nurses spoke about safe staffing, workplace violence and protecting immigrant patients. Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, Council Member Erik Bottcher and Assembly Member Tony Simone joined them. Nurses hope this action will lead to more progress at the bargaining table, where management has still refused to put forth any proposals.
Maimonides Medical Center
NYSNA nurses at Maimonides braved the wind and rain to speak out for safe patient care. President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, kicked off the event, and elected officials and community allies — including Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso; New York City Central Labor Council Secretary Treasurer Janella Hinds; City Council Members Mercedes Narcisse, Crystal Hudson and Alexa Aviles; City Council Member-Elect Kayla Santosuosso, Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte and the Rev. Kirsten Foy of Arc of Justice — joined the nurses. They all talked about the importance of safety net hospitals for the Brooklyn community and demanded that Maimonides stop trying to roll back safe staffing and nurse benefits during bargaining.
Mount Sinai Hospital
On Thursday, Nov. 13, nurses gathered at Mount Sinai Hospital, braving the rain and hail, to speak out about the need to protect access to care for ALL New Yorkers, especially trans and immigrant patients. Nurses spoke out about the way management has retaliated against vocal patient advocates, attempting to undermine nurse power. Nurses were joined by Senator Jose Serrano, Council Members Julie Menin and Assembly Member Micah Lasher and Claire Valdez. Additionally, Mark Hannay, Director of Metro New York Healthcare, and a patient’s husband spoke in support of nurses.
Wyckoff Heights Medical Center
To close out the week of action, nurses spoke out at Wyckoff Medical Center. City Council Members Sandy Nurse, Justin Brannan and Julia Salazar and community allies, including The Black Institute and Churches United for Fair Housing, joined them. Nurses spoke out about safe staffing and the impact understaffing has on patients and nurses and in pediatrics and other units. Nurses will keep fighting until they get the contract nurses and their community deserves.
We Care for the North Country: NYSNA Members Launch Ad Campaign
NYSNA members at seven facilities in the North Country are bargaining for new contracts and fighting to ensure that all North Country residents have access to the safe, quality patient care they deserve. Members at Samaritan Medical Center, Carthage Area Hospital, Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, University of Vermont (UVM)-Elizabethtown Community Hospital and UVM-Alice Hyde are already at the table. Nurses at Adirondack Medical Center and UVM-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital are set to begin bargaining as soon as next week.
Across the North Country, members have already engaged in sticker actions, petition deliveries, and marches on the boss to let hospital leadership know that they're serious about this fight and won't back down until they settle the contract nurses and patients deserve. At Samaritan, nurses continue to make good progress at the table and are pushing back against management for refusing to include language around artificial intelligence and new technologies in their contract. Nurses, however, are the true experts in patient care, and a computer—no matter how advanced—can never take the place of a real nurse at the bedside.
Additionally, this week, members launched a coordinated ad campaign to protect patient care and healthcare services in the North Country, with a new billboard in Watertown. Billboards are launching next week near UVM-Alice Hyde, Carthage-Hepburn Medical Center and CVPH. Members hope that the campaign will build awareness of the role they play in keeping North Country residents safe and healthy, especially as federal cuts to healthcare funding are set to take place at the beginning of the year. Stay tuned—both for more updates from the North Country and as more billboards are set to launch in the coming weeks!
Strength in Solidarity: 2025 NYSNA Convention Recap
In late October, hundreds of NYSNA members from across the state gathered in Monticello for our 2025 NYSNA Convention! This year’s was the largest in NYSNA history, with over 1,000 delegates, member observers and guests in attendance. Over the course of our two-day convention, NYSNA members furthered our nursing practice and advocacy skills by attending workshops, helped to determine our union’s direction by participating in the voting body, and connected with our union siblings from across New York. We also listened to two keynote presentations—the first on the impacts of cuts to healthcare funding and the second from New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento and National Nurses United (NNU) Officer and Veterans Affairs Nurse Ketsia Saint-Fort on meeting the moment as healthcare workers and members of the labor movement.
Check out the full convention recap here, including the list of approved resolutions and photos from both days!