FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 30, 2020
Contact:
Kristi Barnes | Kristi.barnes@nysna.org | 646-853-4489
Carl Ginsburg | carl.ginsburg@nysna.org | 917-405-1060
**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR TOMORROW**
Montefiore Balks at Nurses’ Demands on Safe Staffing, Negotiations Stall
Nurses Walk Strike Line from 7AM – 7PM, Concerned about Patient Care Conditions Inside the Hospital
NEW ROCHELLE— The NYSNA nurses of Montefiore New Rochelle will walk out Tuesday, December 1 at 7 a.m. for a two-day strike to stop Montefiore’s intimidation and silencing of their voices. Approximately 200 nurses are expected to strike.
“We were hoping to avoid a ULP strike on December 1 and 2, but it’s clear that Montefiore does not want us to have a voice in patient safety,” said NYSNA leader at New Rochelle, Kathy Santioemma, RN. “After so many bargaining sessions, their position on safe staffing still has not changed—they’re not willing to spend a dime to ensure we have enough nurses to safely care for our community.”
Today was the Montefiore New Rochelle nurses’ last scheduled bargaining session to negotiate a new contract. Over the holiday weekend, nurses offered significant compromises, including real reductions in their overall economic proposals. Instead of seeking agreement, management demanded the nurses drop their top-priority proposals: hiring more nurses and improving safe staffing enforcement.
WHAT: NYSNA Nurses ULP Strike for a Voice in Patient Safety
WHO: Approximately 200 NYSNA nurses, State Senator Shelley Mayer, Assembly Member Chris Burdick, New Rochelle City Council Member Martha Lopez-Hanratty, Westchester-Putnam Central Labor Body President Thomas Carey, Reverend Dr. Stephen W. Pogue of the AME Zion Church and the Save and Transform Mount Vernon Coalition, Westchester County Legislator Damon Maher, CSEA Local 100 President Lionel Turner, Teamsters Local 456 President Louis Picani, Teamsters Local 804 President Vinnie Perrone, and more.
WHEN: Strike on Tuesday, December 1 and Wednesday, December 2 from 7AM – 7PM
**Press conference on Tues, Dec 1 at NOON**
WHERE: Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital
75 Glover Johnson Pl, New Rochelle, NY 10801
With COVID-19 cases rising steadily in the New Rochelle area and several red clusters emerging in Westchester County, it is clear to nurses that the hospital is not yet prepared for another surge of patients. The hospital also failed to adequately prepare for the nurses to strike, even though administration was given sufficient advance notice.
“I’ve seen the letters that Montefiore has given to patients, and I heard their plan for staffing the strike,” said Shalon Mathews, RN, an Emergency Room nurse. “It’s not a real plan. What they are doing is unprofessional, uncaring, and so unsafe. There’s nowhere for some of these patients to go, and the nurse-to-patient staffing ratios are dangerously high already.”
“The nurses are united and ready to do whatever it takes for safe patient care,” Santioemma said. “We'll be outside the hospital letting our patients know just that—beginning December 1.”
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The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. For more information, please visit our website at www.nysna.org.
