NYSNA Nurses from Northwell Hospitals Speak Out and Demand a Fair Contract that Ensures Safe Patient Care
For immediate release: Friday, Dec. 12
Contact: Andrea Penman-Lomeli | press@nysna.org | 347-559-3169
Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org | 646-853-4489
NYSNA NURSES FROM NORTHWELL HOSPITALS SPEAK OUT AND DEMAND A FAIR CONTRACT THAT ENSURES SAFE PATIENT CARE
NYSNA Nurses at Northwell/Plainview, Northwell/Syosset, and Northwell/Huntington Hospitals Demand Management Stop Stalling and Start Settling Fair Contracts
Long Island Federation Sends Letter of Solidarity with NYSNA Nurses to Northwell, Urging Management to Set the Right Example
Northwell/Huntington, Plainview and Syosset Nurses Announce Strike Authorization Votes Starting Next Week at All Three Hospitals
New Hyde Park, N.Y. - On Friday Dec. 12, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) nurses from Northwell/Plainview, Northwell/Syosset, and Northwell/Huntington gathered at Northwell headquarters, for a rally and speak-out in defense of quality patient care. More than 1,000 nurses at the three Northwell hospitals have been bargaining for a new union contract for months. They aim to settle fair contracts by the end of the year, but instead of negotiating fair contracts that help hire and retain nurses for safe staffing, Northwell management is asking for major concessions that could erode quality care on Long Island. Northwell nurses are uniting to demand Northwell prioritize quality care on Long Island.
Safe staffing is a major concern for nurses throughout the Northwell Health System and a major sticking point in negotiations at Northwell/Plainview, Northwell/Syosset, and Northwell/Huntington. Nurses are demanding safe staffing ratios that keep patients safe in their contracts. Instead, management wants to keep staffing levels that don’t reflect the increased demands in units like the emergency room, where nurses are asked to take care of up to twelve patients.
Northwell management has responded to nurses’ demands for safe patient care with avoidance and delay tactics. They have come to bargaining late and unprepared and made bargaining inaccessible to nurses who want to participate. Nurses know that Northwell management can afford to invest in safe patient care. Northwell is the state’s largest private employer and is investing in outrageous salaries and benefit packages for hospital executives. In 2023, the 20 top executives at Northwell made over $36.7 million in salaries, bonuses and perks. This includes their outgoing CEO Michael Dowling, who alone made over $9 million in 2023.
NYSNA launched a new website and advertising campaign called “Northwealth” in support of Long Island nurses. The campaign calls attention to Northwell’s outrageous executive pay, investment in expanding through mergers and acquisitions, and history of hiking up patient prices after they acquire smaller community hospitals. Northwell Nurses United members are fighting to make sure Northwell puts patients before profits.
Chris Coburn, RN, at Northwell/Plainview Hospital, said, “Northwell can afford to invest in safe patient care. They regularly pay their executives some of the highest nonprofit salaries in the state, yet say they can’t afford to invest in safe patient care. Nurses are out here because they’re demanding better for themselves and their patients. We are at a crossroads in healthcare, and giant hospital systems like Northwell need to maintain quality care by keeping frontline staff at the bedside.
At the speak-out, NYSNA nurses from Northwell/Huntington, Northwell/Plainview and Northwell/Syosset announced that they would begin taking strike authorization votes next week. A yes vote authorizes NYSNA’s bargaining committees to call for a strike if a contract isn’t reached by their target deadline of Dec. 31.
Meloi Policastro, RN, at Northwell/Syosset, said, “Nurses are united across Long Island, and we will do whatever it takes to get the fair contract this community deserves. We’re here because we care deeply about this community and are fighting to provide the quality care that this community deserves.”
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, BSN, RN, CCRN, said, “NYSNA nurses are making big changes on Long Island and standing up to the state’s largest private employer. This is what nurses do. They are first and foremost patient advocates, fighting to improve patient care. Northwell nurses are united and will not stop until they get the contracts that respect patients and Long Island communities.”
Nassau County Legislator Arnold Drucker said, “Nurses are the backbone of our healthcare industry, and too often their needs are overlooked. Nurses know every aspect of hospital life- and are acutely attuned to how to provide the highest standard of care to their patients. They deserve to be paid commensurate to the crucial value of the work they do, and deserve to have reasonable nurse to patient quotas established, so they can continue providing the highest benchmark of service with a personal touch and diligence that every patient deserves.”
Long Island Federation Labor President John Durso said, “We believe that setting the right example starts with respecting the people who care for us and making sure they have the resources, support, and fair compensation they need to do their jobs safely and effectively. The members of NYSNA are dedicated professionals, committed to delivering the highest level of patient care. They want everyone receiving care on Long Island to have safe, quality care delivered by professionals who are respected, supported, and fairly compensated.”
The Long Island Federation of Labor, representing 250,000 union members on Long Island, sent a letter to Northwell management in solidarity with the NYSNA nurses at Northwell. The letter urges Northwell Health set the right example, work cooperatively with NYSNA nurses, “show real respect for the healthcare workers who carry our communities” and settle a fair contract.
NYSNA Northwell nurses across New York have won strong contracts in recent years, including at Northwell/ South Shore University Hospital earlier this year, and at LIJ Valley Stream, Peconic Bay Medical Center and Staten Island University Hospital in 2024.
NYSNA is the voice of RNs throughout the Northwell system, representing over 4,000 members at seven facilities throughout Long Island and Staten Island. When Northwell acquired Nuvance Health earlier this year, another 1,225 NYSNA nurses at two hospitals joined the Northwell system at Vassar Brothers Medical Center and Putnam Hospital. Together, NYSNA nurses have secured strong contracts that raise the standards for patients, nurses, and our communities.
Approximately 20,000 NYSNA nurses in 12 New York City hospitals are also bargaining with a deadline of Dec. 31, 2025, to settle fair contracts. This week, nurses at several New York City hospitals began voting to authorize a strike. Going on strike is always a last resort, and NYSNA nurses will continue to do everything within their power to settle fair contracts.
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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.