Hospitals Force Nearly 15,000 NYSNA Nurses Out on Largest Nurse Strike in New York City History
**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR MONDAY, JAN. 12 AT 10 AM**
Contact: Eliza Bates | press@nysna.org | 646-285-8491
Andrea Penman-Lomeli | press@nysna.org | 347-559-3169
HOSPITALS FORCE NEARLY 15,000 NYSNA NURSES OUT ON LARGEST NURSE STRIKE IN NEW YORK CITY HISTORY
Management threatens drastic cuts to healthcare benefits for frontline nurses as NYSNA members fight for patient and nurse safety
Nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, Montefiore, and NewYork-Presbyterian to Begin Strike at 6 a.m.
Striking nurses to hold 10 a.m. press conference outside of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
New York, NY— NYSNA nurses will begin an unfair labor practice strike as early as 6.a.m. on Monday, Jan. 12, and hold a press conference at 10 a.m. at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital to discuss management’s refusal to ensure safety for nurses and patients. After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections, forcing nearly 15,000 nurses out on the largest nurse strike in New York City history.
Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits. These cuts would impact not just striking nurses at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Morningside and West and NewYork-Presbyterian, but nearly 27,000 nurses at over 50 hospitals around the state who are enrolled in NYSNA’s health benefit plan.
Video and audio of our strike announcement is available for media to use.
WHAT: NYSNA Strike and Strike Line Press Conference
WHO: NYSNA nurses and allies, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Manhattan Borough President Brad Holyman-Sigal, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento, New York City Central Labor Council President Brendan Griffith, and labor leaders
WHEN: Monday, Jan. 12 at 10 a.m. Press Conference
WHERE: Press conference: across the street from NewYork-Presbyterian Millstein, 177 Fort Washington Ave, New York, NY 10032
Strike Lines Start at:
- 6 a.m at Mount Sinai Hospital, 1468 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10029
- 6 a.m. at Mount Sinai Morningside, 1111 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025
- 6 a.m. at Mount Sinai West, 1000 Tenth Ave, New York, NY 10019
7 a.m at Montefiore Bronx Locations:
- Jack D. Weiler Campus, 1825 Eastchester Road, Bronx, NY 10461
- Montefiore Bronx, Henry & Lucy Moses Campus, 111 East 210th Street, Bronx, NY 10467
- Montefiore Bronx, Montefiore Hutchinson Medical Center, 1250 Waters Place, Bronx, NY
- Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, 3415 Bainbridge Avenue, Bronx, NY 10467
7 a.m. at NewYork-Presbyterian locations:
- NewYork-Presbyterian Allen, 5141 Broadway, New York, NY 10034
- NewYork-Presbyterian CUMC, 177 Fort Washington Ave, New York, NY 10032
- NewYork-Presbyterian CHONY, 3959 Broadway, New York, NY 10032
On the eve of the largest nurse strike in history, nurses hoped to make progress at the bargaining table and avert a strike. However, management at Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, Montefiore, and NewYork-Presbyterian would not negotiate fair contracts that improve safe staffing, fully fund health benefits for nurses, and protect nurses from workplace violence. Management barely met with mediators and left some tables as early as 7:30, showing that they had zero interest in averting a strike.
Instead of following the lead of New York City’s eight safety-net hospitals and Northwell Health’s three hospitals on Long Island that all reached tentative agreements with nurses to avert strikes, New York City’s wealthiest academic hospitals are forcing nurses out on strike and refusing to agree to NYSNA's proposal to continue nurses’ health benefits.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said: “Unfortunately, greedy hospital executives have decided to put profits above safe patient care and force nurses out on strike when we would rather be at the bedsides of our patients. Hospital management refuses to address our most important issues—patient and nurse safety. It is shameful that the city’s richest hospitals refuse to continue healthcare benefits for frontline nurses, refuse to staff safely for our patients, and refuse to protect us from workplace violence. It is deeply offensive that they would rather use their billions to fight against their own nurses than settle a fair contract.Nurses do not want to strike, but our bosses have forced us out on strike.”
“Nurses put their lives on the line every day to keep New Yorkers healthy. They should never be forced to choose between their own safety, their patients’ well-being, and a fair contract,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “As our state faces a historic flu surge, our communities are counting on New York's hospitals for high-quality, reliable frontline care. Meanwhile, hospital management is threatening nurses' health benefits, rolling back hard-won staffing protections, and doing too little to address workplace violence. I am proud to stand with New York’s nurses in calling on hospitals throughout this city to put patients over profits and ensure safe workplaces for our frontline health care workers.”
“NYSNA nurses work day and night to care for New Yorkers and keep us healthy,” said New York City Comptroller Mark Levine. “As our city battles one of the worst flu seasons in recent memory, it's clear that we must ensure they get a fair contract. It's right for them, and for their patients.”
"Shame on anyone who has seemingly forgotten who got our city through the COVID pandemic. Shame on anyone who knows the sacrifices our nurses make every single day and still denies them the pay and benefits they deserve," said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. "To our nurses taking this extraordinary step today, Queens salutes you for your service to our families and stands with you in your fight for fairness. In this city, the interests of working people will always come before those of private corporations."
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said, “I stand with NYSNA in their fight for a fair contract. Nurses are irreplaceable, and safe staffing is not a luxury, it’s a lifeline. They carried our city through the pandemic, and they continue to keep Manhattan safe every single day. They deserve respect, real protections, and fair contracts. Hospital leadership must act now to protect both workers and patients.”
New York State Senator Robert Jackson said, “At a moment when our hospitals are stretched thin and our communities are vulnerable; nurses are holding the line between care and crisis. Their call for fair contracts is not a labor dispute—it is a public health imperative. Safe staffing, dignity on the job, and respect for professional judgment are the foundations of quality care. When hospital executives delay justice at the bargaining table, it is patients who bear the cost. I stand in unwavering solidarity with NYSNA nurses and urge hospital administrators to negotiate in good faith, without delay, because protecting those who care for us is how we protect our communities—and how we honor the promise of a just health care system.”
New York State Assembly Member Manny De Los Santos said, “Nurses are the backbone of patient care. They are the ones at the bedside through emergencies, flu surges, and long nights when families depend on the healthcare system to work. When nurses demand safe staffing, workplace protections, and fair contracts, they are demanding what patients need to survive and heal. Forcing nurses toward a strike while relying on replacement staffing puts care at risk. New Yorkers deserve a healthcare system that respects nurses, protects patients, and treats safety as non-negotiable.”
City Council Member and Hospitals Committee Chair Mercedes Narcisse said, “Nurses belong at the bedside, not on a picket line fighting for what they should be given. They are asking for safe staffing levels, fair pay, and working conditions that allow them to care for patients properly. My fellow nurses deserve a fair contract that reflects the work they do every day and the care they provide to our communities.”
City Council Member and Health Committee Chair Lynn Schulman said, “When nurses are put at risk, patient care suffers. I stand in solidarity with the nearly 16,000 nurses who are going on strike to demand real protections from workplace violence, truly safe staffing levels, fair health benefits, and good wages. Our patients and communities deserve nothing less.”
New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento said, “Union members across the city and state, from the public sector, private sector, and building trades, are united in our support of the nurses represented by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), who have been put in the unfortunate position of having no other choice than to strike. These nurses are dedicated professionals who provide quality patient care under unimaginable conditions day in and day out. It is unfathomable that these hospitals show such complete disregard for the pressure under which these nurses work and for all they do for their patients each day. It is time for the hospitals to treat these nurses fairly, with the dignity and respect they deserve, and to negotiate in good faith and quickly to ensure nurses can get back to serving their communities by providing superior care to their patients.
“Nurses have made every effort to reach fair agreements that protect patient care, workplace safety, and access to healthcare, and they have done so in good faith,” said New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO President Brendan Griffith. “What we are seeing instead from some of the city’s wealthiest private hospitals is continuedstalling, threats, and attempts to roll back the standards nurses have already fought to win. Strikes are always a last resort, and it is shameful that NYSNA is forced to strike to prevent a handful of employers from risking safety and patient care. At a moment of intense strain on our healthcare system, executives appear more willing to spend millions on temporary staffing than to commit to safe staffing and real protections from workplace violence. That approach is dangerous and unacceptable. The entire New York City Labor Movement stands with NYSNA nurses and calls on hospital leadership to reach agreements now that keep workers safe, protect patients, and respect the nurses that our working families rely on every day."
Key sticking points and open issues remain: management’s threats to cut healthcare benefits for the frontline nurses who care for New York City, management’s attempt to roll back safe staffing standards that nurses won when they went on strike at two major hospitals three years ago, and management’s refusal to agree to protections from workplace violence, despite a recent active shooter incident at Mount Sinai Hospital and the recent horrific violent incident at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.
While nurses have fought above all for safety, management has responded with retaliation, intimidation, and stalling, and flaunted the more than $100 million they’ve collectively spent on temporary replacementnurses. Mount Sinai has disciplined and attempted to silence nurses who have spoken out on workplace safety and targeted RNs for exercising union rights. NewYork-Presbyterian has threatened job loss for striking. Montefiore has surveilled union nurses, in attempts to intimidate them. All three hospitals have withheld information on their excessive use of traveler nurses. NYSNA has filed unfair labor practice charges in response.
Amidst the worst flu surge in recent history, hospital executives appear to be more willing to use patients as bargaining chips in negotiations than to come to fair contracts.
While NewYork-Presbyterian, Montefiore and Mount Sinai – three of New York City’s wealthiest private hospitals – are claiming they can't afford to settle a fair union contract that keeps nurses and patients safe, they likely have plenty of cash on hand to use to fight their own workers. As of September 2025, these three hospitals had on hand twice as much cash and cash equivalents as they had in 2017, even adjusting for inflation, holding onto over $1.6 billion dollars, showing that the safe staffing ratios nurses won years ago allowed them to continue to rake in profits. And they’ve already spent more than $100 million on temporary traveler nurses, who don't know New York City patients or communities.
While prices in healthcare go up, so does executive pay at the largest private sector hospitals. The city’s private hospitals have increased their executive compensation by millions and according to 990 tax filings, the CEOs of New York City’s three major academic medical centers, Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian increased their total compensation, including salaries, benefits, and perks, by over 54% from 2020 to 2023. The CEOs at Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian, the same ones who say they cannot afford to safely staff their hospitals, now make, on average, nearly 12,000 percent more than the registered nurses on the frontlines caring for patients.
In 2024, NewYork-Presbyterian CEO Steve Corwin raked in $26.3 million in total compensation — that’s over $2.1 million per month, and nearly $72,000 per day. In just one day, NYP CEO Steve Corwin made more money than many New York City families make in an entire year.
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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.