**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 2 AT 12 PM**
Contact: Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org | 646-853-4489
Eliza M. Bates | eliza.bates@nysna.org | 646-285-8491
9,000 Heath+Hospitals/Mayorals nurses are demanding pay parity with private sector to stop the flood of nurses leaving NYC’s public hospitals Lincoln speakout marks contract expiration, nurses at other major public hospitals host evening vigils to demand a fair contract
Bronx, NY— On Thursday, March 2 at 12 PM, NYSNA members at Lincoln Hospital are holding a speakout and rally. Lincoln is one of 11 city-run hospitals where nurses’ union contract expires today. Public sector nurses, who staff New York City’s public hospitals and mayorals agencies, are demanding that the city live up to its agreement on pay parity with the private sector to stop the bleed of nurses from public hospitals that has created a crisis of understaffing that harms NYC’s most vulnerable patients.
NYC’s public sector nurses are mobilizing on the heels of a strike victory for private sector nurses, who won groundbreaking contracts that improved staffing and included 19.9 percent pay increases. With new raises for private sector nurses, the pay disparity for newly graduated nurses in the public sector will be over $19,000 per year. NYC’s public health facilities serve mostly Black and brown and immigrant New Yorkers and are staffed by mostly Black and brown and immigrant nurses. Pay parity is an issue of health and racial equity for New York City.
WHAT: Lincoln Hospital Nurses Hold Rally & Speak Out on Understaffing Crisis Harming Patient Care
WHO: NYSNA H+H/ Mayorals nurses, community and healthcare advocates, elected allies, including Sen. Nathalia Fernandez, Assemblymembers John Zaccaro and Kenny Burgos, Committee on Interns and Residents (CIR/SEIU), and Doctors Council SEIU
WHERE: Outside of Lincoln Hospital, 234 E. 149th Street, Bronx, NY 10451 Morris Ave entrance between E. 148 and E. 149th Streets
WHEN: 12 PM, TODAY, Thursday, March 2, 2023
The Lincoln speakout is part of a system-wide day of action to mark the NYSNA nurses’ contract expiration. Nurses at Harlem Hospital, Jacobi, Elmhurst, Kings County, Bellevue, Metropolitan, South Brooklyn/Coney Island, and other major Health+Hospitals facilities will host candlelight vigils from 7-8 p.m.
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The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country's largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members nationwide.
