NYC Council Progressive Caucus Joins NYSNA Nurses to Speak Out for Safe Staffing and Fair Contracts at NewYork-Presbyterian NEW-YORK PRESBYTERIAN

**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR TODAY, FEB. 4 AT NOON** 

Contact: Andrea Penman-Lomeli | press@nysna.org | 347-559-3169
Eliza Bates | press@nysna.org | 646-285-8491

NYC CITY COUNCIL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS JOINS NYSNA NURSES TO SPEAK OUT FOR SAFE STAFFING AND FAIR CONTRACTS AT NEW-YORK PRESBYTERIAN  

Nearly 15,000 NYSNA members continue to picket on day 24 of the largest and longest nurse strike in NYC history, holding the line for patient and nurse safety, and continuing to bargain every day

In response to hospitals’ inadequate counterproposals, NYSNA nurses to hold speak-out with City Council Progressive Caucus Members and demand safe staffing standards for patients.

NewYork-Presbyterian continues to propose safe staffing enforcement provisions that are weaker than those at every other NYSNA New York City hospital

New York, NY — On Feb. 4, NYSNA nurses will hold a speak-out at NewYork-Presbyterian with members of the City Council Progressive Caucus to demand safe staffing standards to protect New York City patients. At the bargaining table on Monday, Jan. 2, hospital proposals failed to address safe staffing — one of nurses’ key demands and a sticking point in negotiations. Hospitals also made inadequate counter proposals on workplace violence and failed to offer a clear path to return nurses to work. On Feb. 3, nurses were back at the bargaining table and reached tentative agreements on several non-economic issues.  

Nurses are speaking out on day 24 of this historic nurse strike to demand that greedy hospital management invest in patients instead of outrageous executive pay.  

NYSNA nurses from Montefiore, Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, and NewYork-Presbyterian continue to bargain at the Javits Center. Striking nurses continue picketing at all hospital locations.  

WHAT: Speak-Out with NYSNA Nurses and New York City Progressive Caucus City Council Members  

WHO: NYSNA nurses and New York City Progressive Caucus City Council Members Carmen De La Rosa, Lincoln Restler, Gale Brewer, Althea Stevens, Tiffany Cabán, Sandy Nurse, Alexa Avilés, Kayla Santosuosso, Christopher Marte, Shanel Thomas-Henry, and Justin Sanchez

WHEN: Wed., Feb. 4, City Council Members Join Strike Line at Noon

WHERE: NewYork-Presbyterian-Milstein, 177 Fort Washington, New York  

Hospitals have claimed that they are ready to bring back the nurses, even as they continue to pay expensive temporary replacement nurses as much as $10,000 per week. Mount Sinai recently advertised for new temp contract assignments starting in mid-February. Before the strike even began, hospitals had already spent more than $100 million on temporary traveler nurses, who don't know New York City patients or communities.  

At the same time, hospitals are threatening to not return nurses to work immediately, even after settling fair contracts. They have suggested they will prioritize respecting and extending their contracts with replacement workers instead of bringing back striking nurses. NYSNA nurses emphasize that the strike will not be over until all members return to work.  

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “Nurses are not backing down. This is day 24 and, as we’ve said over and over, every day out here on the strike line makes us stronger. We have not waited in the bitter cold to settle for anything less than what our patients deserve. The 15,000 nurses fighting for safe staffing and protections from workplace violence are not just fighting for themselves, they are fighting for the future of healthcare. We need management to get serious about bargaining so that we can get back to our patients.  

Nurses intend to continue bargaining until they settle fair contracts that protect patient and nurse safety and bring the nurses back to work immediately and unconditionally.  

Nurses will continue to hold rolling actions on and off the picket line every day this week. The latest picket line times can be found at www.nysna.org/strike.  

Key sticking points in bargaining remain:  

• Management’s refusal to agree to safe staffing standards that protect patient care. NewYork-Presbyterian continues to propose safe staffing enforcement provisions that are weaker than those at every other NYSNA New York City hospital.
• 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. Workplace violence is only getting worse and puts the safety of nurses and patients at risk.  

While nurses have fought above all for safety, management has responded with retaliation, intimidation, and stalling.  

Since before the strike began, Mount Sinai has responded to nurses’ demands for safety for nurses and patients with aggressive union-busting, unlawfully firing three labor and delivery by voicemail the night before the strike began. Mount Sinai previously unfairly disciplined 14 vocal nurse leaders. Some of those who were disciplined spoke to the press after an active shooter incident, and others had spoken to colleagues about their union and contract negotiations. NYSNA filed several Unfair Labor Practice charges against Mount Sinai for retaliation. 

In addition to Mount Sinai’s intimidation, NewYork-Presbyterian has threatened job loss for striking and coerced RNs for exercising their right to strike. Montefiore has surveilled union nurses, in attempts to intimidate them and attempted to silence RNs. Montefiore also unlawfully restricted striking nurses’ access to healthcare at the hospital and unlawfully restricted their access to the hospital’s pharmacy to pick up their prescription medications. NYSNA has filed unfair labor practice charges at all three hospitals.  

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.  

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.  New CEO Brian Donley made $5.4 million in salary, benefits and perks in 2024. He partnered with the infamous healthcare scam company Theranos during his time as a senior executive at the Cleveland Clinic. Donley was also the head of the Cleveland Clinic London from 2018 to 2022. During his tenure, he opened a UK outpost of a private hospital, working to lure National Health Service (NHS) doctors away from the public health system to work in a private clinic where patients needed expensive private health insurance.

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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.