NYSNA Nurses at Oneida Health Hospital March on CEO to Demand a Fair Contract After Management Offers Insulting So-Called 'Final Offer'

For immediate release: Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024

Contact: Andrea Penman-Lomeli | press@nysna.org | 347-559-3169  
Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org | 646-853-4489

NYSNA NURSES AT ONEIDA HEALTH HOSPITAL MARCH ON CEO TO DEMAND A FAIR CONTRACT AFTER MANAGEMENT OFFERS INSULTING SO-CALLED ‘FINAL OFFER’

After months of delaying bargaining, management offers a so-called ‘final offer’ that frontline nurses say does not do nearly enough to ensure that patients receive the best care possible. Nurses, whose contract expires tonight at midnight, have been fighting for a contract with enforceable safe staffing plans, a plan to retain experienced nurses, and respectful wages and benefits.

Oneida, NY - On Tuesday, Dec. 31, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) nurses at Oneida Health Hospital marched to the office of CEO Felissa Koernig, JD, MBA, FACHE, to demand that management come back to the bargaining table and settle a fair contract with safe staffing and a real plan to retain nurses for safe patient care.  

After months of delaying bargaining, last night, Oneida management offered their so-called ‘final-offer’ and refused to continue to bargain over the dozens of open issues that nurses say are nowhere near resolved. Nurses are demanding a fair contract with a plan for safe staffing and wage increases that will keep experienced nurses at the bedside. Their contract expires tonight, December 31, at midnight.

Click here for photos of the action. All members of the media have permission to use photos with credit to the New York State Nurses Association.  

Sheila Sreca, RN, BSN, said, “Today, nurses have made it clear we will do whatever it takes for quality patient care and a fair contract. We’re speaking out because we have been fighting for much too long and are demanding that management respect the nurses that have kept the hospital running. What management is proposing is an insult to nurses’ work and expertise, and the patients we care for. Nurses deserve better. This community deserves better.”  

NYSNA nurses have been asking for enforceable safe staffing plans, a plan to retain experienced nurses, and wages and benefits that would be regionally competitive. Oneida management has refused to agree to more bargaining sessions and says this offer is their so-called ‘last and best.’ Last year, Oneida brought in nearly $133 million in revenue, up from $121 the year prior.

Oneida’s retention rate is poor, and nurses describe certain units, like the Operating Room and Obstetrical/Gynecological Department, as a revolving door. The package offered by Oneida management, with wage increases that do not exceed inflation, would make them some of the lowest paid nurses in the region.  

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “NYSNA nurses at Oneida and our patients deserve respect. We know management can afford to pay nurses a wage that respects their expertise and retains experienced nurses. Oneida nurses should know that when they marched to the CEO this morning, they had the force of all 42,000 NYSNA nurses across the state behind them. And we will stop at nothing until our members get the contract they deserve.”

This last offer comes after months of stalling and bad faith bargaining from Oneida management and now a refusal to continue to bargain. NYSNA nurses are fighting for a fair contract before their current contract expires this evening and have made safe staffing a top priority. They are asking hospital administrators to follow the staffing law and invest in improving care by recruiting and retaining more nurses for safe, quality care.  

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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.