NYC Hospital Proposals Fall Short of Protecting Nurse and Patient Safety in Fourth Week of Historic Nurse Strike

For Immediate Release: Feb. 3, 2026

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

NYC HOSPITAL PROPOSALS FALL SHORT OF PROTECTING NURSE AND PATIENT SAFETY IN FOURTH WEEK OF HISTORIC NURSE STRIKE

Management’s counter-proposals don’t address safe staffing ; Bosses threaten to leave frontline nurses out in the cold after settling contracts

NewYork-Presbyterian continues to drag its feet at the table, fight against nurses’ demands for safe staffing and workplace violence protections

Striking NYC nurses head back to the bargaining table and continue to picket on day 23, hold the line for patient and nurse safety

The Brooklyn Hospital Center nurses demanded millionaire executives of safety net hospitals reinstate health benefits

New York, NY — On Feb. 2, NYSNA nurses from Montefiore, Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, and NewYork-Presbyterian were at the bargaining table at the Javits Center. Striking nurses continued picketing at all hospital locations, and nurses at The Brooklyn Hospital Center held a speak-out to demand hospital executives pay for and reinstate their health benefits. Assembly Member Phara Souffrant-Forest, State Senator Jabari Brisport, New York City Council Hospitals Chair Mercedes Narcisse, and Council Member Lincoln Restler joined the nurses in Brooklyn.  

Nurses who gathered at the Javits Center received revised proposals from hospital management in the afternoon and late in the evening. The proposals failed to address safe staffing — one of nurses’ key demands and a sticking point in negotiations. NewYork-Presbyterian continues to propose safe staffing enforcement provisions that are weaker than those at every other NYSNA New York City hospital. All hospitals except NewYork-Presbyterian made inadequate counter proposals on workplace violence. NewYork-Presbyterian, one of the richest hospitals in New York City and state, did not even make counter-proposals on workplace violence and other contract issues. Although nurses significantly revised and moderated our proposals to expedite bargaining, the hospitals returned proposals that were inadequate and failed to offer a clear path to return nurses to work.  

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, “The same greedy hospital executives that have left nearly 15,000 frontline nurse heroes outside in the bitter cold for more than three weeks now insult us with unserious proposals that fail to address our key issues: safe staffing and protections from workplace violence. NYSNA nurses have done everything possible to settle fair contracts. We consolidated and revised our proposals to focus on our key issues and moved our wage proposal in the hope of coming to a fair agreement. But, instead of bargaining in good faith, the bosses at Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and NewYork-Presbyterian presented proposals today that show their disregard and disrespect for nurses and the patients we care for.”

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 attempt to roll back safe staffing standards that nurses won when they went on strike at two major hospitals three years ago. These safe staffing standards ensure that patients receive the time and attention they need from nurses and that nurses are not overburdened with patients. Safe staffing standards mean better care for patients.
• 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.

###

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.