NYSNA Nurses Take Action to Demand Hospitals Protect Health Benefits and Safe Staffing
**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR FRIDAY, JAN. 9 AT 12 PM**
Contact: Andrea Penman-Lomeli | press@nysna.org | 347-559-3169
Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org | 646-853-4489
NYSNA NURSES TAKE ACTION TO DEMAND HOSPITALS PROTECT HEALTH BENEFITS AND SAFE STAFFING
While Safety-Net Hospitals Commit to Investing in Patient Care, Some of the Wealthiest Hospitals Refuse to Safely Staff and Protect Health Benefits
Tentative Agreements Reached at 4 Hospitals, Strike Notices Rescinded at 3 Others, Nearly 16,000 NYSNA Nurses Still Set to Strike on Jan. 12
New York, NY— On Friday, Jan. 9 at 12 p.m., NYSNA nurses will hold an emergency solidarity action at the League of Voluntary Hospitals to demand that hospital executives from the city’s wealthiest hospitals agree to protect patient and nurse safety. While safety-net hospitals have protected nurses’ health benefits, agreed to workplace safety protections, and improved safe staffing ratios and enforcement mechanisms in tentative agreements, New York City’s wealthiest hospitals have made little progress at the bargaining table. If the wealthiest hospitals do not follow the lead of safety-net hospitals and negotiate fair contracts, NYSNA nurses will go on the largest strike in New York City history on Jan. 12.
WHAT: NYSNA Nurses Emergency Solidarity Action
WHERE: League of Voluntary Hospitals, 555 West 57th St., New York
WHEN: Friday, Jan. 9 at 12 p.m.
WHO: NYSNA nurses and allies
Since nurses delivered strike notices on Jan. 2, nurses at Flushing Hospital Medical Center, Maimonides Medical Center, One Brooklyn Health Interfaith Medical Center and One Brooklyn Health Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center have reached tentative agreements and nurses at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, Richmond University Medical Center, and The Brooklyn Hospital Centerhave rescinded strike notices. Management at these safety net hospitals agreed to improve safe staffing, fully fund health benefits for nurses, protect nurses from workplace violence, and guarantee wage increases equitable with what nurses at the wealthy academic hospitals win.
Negotiations at other NYC private sector hospitals, including BronxCare, Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, Montefiore, and NewYork-Presbyterian continue through the weekend. Key sticking points in negotiations include management’s threats to cut healthcare benefits for the frontline nurses who care for New York City, management’s attempt to roll back safe staffing standards that nurses won when they went on strike at two major hospitals three years ago, and management’s refusal to agree to protections from workplace violence, despite a recent active shooter incident at Mount Sinai Hospital and yesterday evening’s horrific incident at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.
Yesterday, 45 labor unions, representing more than 2.5 million workers, released a letter calling on the remaining hospitals to settle fair contracts ahead of the Jan. 12 strike deadline. Hundreds of elected officials and community-based organizations previously sent NYSNA nurses letters of solidarity and urged hospital executives to settle fair contracts to protect the health and safety of New York’s communities.
While nurses have fought above all for safety, management has responded with retaliation, intimidation, and stalling, and flaunted the millions they’ve collectively spent on temporary travel nurses. Mount Sinai has attempted to threaten and silence nurses who have spoken out on workplace safety. NewYork-Presbyterian has threatened job loss for striking. Montefiore has surveilled union nurses, in attempts to intimidate them. NYSNA has filed unfair labor practice charges in response.
Amidst the worst flu surge in recent history, hospital executives appear to be more willing to use patients as bargaining chips in negotiations than to come to fair contracts.
NYSNA President and Maimonides nurse Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “Our safety-net hospitals have shown that they value the patients of this city, investing in safety at a time when patients need it most. Management at the wealthiest hospitals need to stop playing games, because we will not roll back the clock on the progress we’ve made in safe staffing. We are willing to do whatever it takes to settle fair contracts, but management is not meeting us where we are at. We have three days to avert a strike. If management agrees to prioritize patients over profitsand protect our health benefits, we can get this done.”
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 at a similar pre-pandemic point 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. Now, they're gearing up to collectively spend almost $100 million per week on temporary traveler nurses, who don't know New York City patients or communities.
NYSNA launched a new advertising campaign and website this fall that calls out hospital greed. Visit nychospitalgreed.com to learn more. Previously, nurses launched a website for New Yorkers to learn more about how to support NYSNA members: https://www.nursescareforny.org/
More than a thousand NYSNA Northwell Health nurses on Long Island are also bargaining for fair contracts that protect patient care. Nurses at Northwell/Huntington, Northwell/Plainview and Northwell/Syosset overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike and are ready to call a strike if management does not agree to a fair contract. Long Island and New York City nurses are united and willing to do whatever is necessary to protect their patients and their communities.
Striking is always a last resort, but nurses say they are prepared to strike if hospital administration gives them no other option.
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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.