NYSNA Nurses at NYP-Brooklyn Methodist Hospital Ratify Strong Contract Agreement That Improves Care, Protects Nurse and Patient Safety
For Immediate Release: Friday, Aug. 28, 2026
Contact: Joseph Celestin | press@nysna.org | 518-776-8337
Cara Noel | press@nysna.org | 718-678-9207
NYSNA NURSES AT NYP-BROOKLYN METHODIST HOSPITAL RATIFY STRONG CONTRACT AGREEMENT THAT IMPROVES CARE, PROTECTS NURSE AND PATIENT SAFETY
Brooklyn, NY – On Friday, Aug. 28, nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital (NYP-Brooklyn Methodist) voted to overwhelmingly ratify a new three-year contract agreement. Nurses have fought, for months, for a fair contract that maintains safe staffing standards and includes strong protections against violence in healthcare settings for nurses and patients. The victory comes on the heels of last winter's historic nurses’ strike, where nurses from four private-sector hospitals, including other NewYork-Presbyterian locations, fought to win contracts that ensure safe, quality care for patients.
Highlights of the contract include:
- Improved enforceable safe staffing standards, including new arbitration language that prevents the hospital from rejecting arbitrators, which significantly delays the grievance process.
- Strong protections against workplace violence, including improvements to emergency response teams and weapons detection systems, and additional paid time off for nurses who are victims of workplace violence.
- Safeguards against artificial intelligence, including provisions to protect RN clinical judgement.
- Annual wage increases of 4% across the life of the contract.
NYSNA members' previous contract with NYP-Brooklyn Methodist expired on April 30.
Nurses experience some of the highest rates of workplace violence, and NYSNA members at NYP-Brooklyn Methodist have reported being harassed, groped and assaulted while working. Recent incidents, including an active shooter incident in January, focused NYP-Brooklyn Methodist Hospital nurses on improving safety at the hospital for both healthcare professionals and patients. During the contract campaign, nurses educated their community on violence in healthcare settings, held an informational picket outside the hospital, and gathered for a candlelight vigil to highlight the rise in workplace violence.
“Nursing has always had its safety challenges, but recent incidents, including January’s lock-down because of an active shooter have shown us that we must prioritize the safety standards needed to keep our patients and ourselves safe,” said Local NYSNA President at NYP-Brooklyn Methodist Aldrich Crespino, RN. “We’ve been determined to make sure management hears us loud and clear.”
Nurses also fought to include enforceable safe staffing standards in their new contract, to ensure there are always enough nurses to safely care for Brooklyn patients, despite NYP-Brooklyn Methodist’s history of fighting against nurses’ efforts to fix understaffing at the hospital. In August 2024, the nurses brought hospital management to arbitration over understaffing in four interconnected units—labor and delivery, pediatrics, pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) and neonatal ICU. The hospital used its substantial resources on legal maneuvers to delay the hearing, avoiding accountability to this day.
“Members came together, listed their demands, and stood strong for the tools and protections they need to keep themselves and their patients safe while delivering excellent care,” said NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN. “We refuse to allow facilities to cut corners and balance their budgets on the backs of our members.”
“Nurses are the backbone of our healthcare system. When they are able to work safely and with dignity, our entire borough is better for it,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “Congratulations to NYSNA and the nurses at Brooklyn Methodist. Thank you for caring for Brooklynites each and every day, and for reminding us that worker solidarity makes our communities stronger.”
“I stand in solidarity with the nearly 1,600 incredible nurses at Methodist Hospital who fought for and won a fair contract. I’m pleased that the new contract will include safe staffing standards, strong protections against workplace violence, safeguards against AI, and maternal health services,” said New York City Council Member Lincoln Restler.
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The New York State Nurses Association represents approximately 45,000 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.