TODAY at 11 am: Labor Allies Join Striking Nurses, Closing Out Third Week of the the Largest Nurse Strike in NYC History

**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR TODAY, JAN. 30 AT 11 AM** 

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

LABOR ALLIES JOIN STRIKING NURSES, CLOSING OUT THIRD WEEK OF THE LARGEST NURSE STRIKE IN NYC HISTORY

Labor allies join NYSNA nurses on the strike line at NewYork-Presbyterian to demand that hospitals settle a fair contract that protects safe patient care for New Yorkers  

New York, NY—On Friday, Jan. 30, NYSNA nurses will hold a speak-out with labor allies to demand hospitals take action to settle fair contracts that protect quality care for all New Yorkers. After three weeks of picketing in the blistering cold, nurses have seen little movement from management on key remaining issues: safe staffing and protections from workplace violence. Striking nurses will continue to meet in bargaining committees to work on proposals until mediators call nurses and hospitals back to the table. Nurses remain ready to bargain and will continue to picket daily in hopes of settling fair contracts that protect nurse and patient safety.  

WHAT: Speak-Out with Labor Allies and NYSNA nurses

WHO: NYSNA nurses, New York City Central Labor Council, District Council 37, 32BJ SEIU, Professional Staff Congress/CUNY, UAW Region 9A, CWA District 1 and 1199 SEIU

WHEN: Friday, Jan. 29 at 11 a.m. (corrected time)

WHERE: NewYork-Presbyterian CHONY, 3959 Broadway, New York, NY 10032

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “We are proud to have the support of our union siblings, who have braved the cold to join our strike lines every day for the last three weeks, as we continue our fight for fair contracts that protect patients and nurses. New York City is a union town. From DC 37 to 32BJ SEIU, New York City workers are united. And when greedy bosses pick a fight with any group of workers in our city, we have each other’s backs because an injury to one is an injury to all.  Nurses are caregivers, but we are also workers who deserve dignity, respect, and safety at work. We will not tolerate union busting and we will not back down on our demands for safe staffing and protections from workplace violence.”  

Earlier this week, NYSNA nurses honored the life of ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who saved veterans’ lives, and was brutally murdered by federal immigration agents in Minnesota, with a vigil and days of action in protest of ICE and in solidarity with immigrant communities. NYSNA nurses were also joined on the picket line by Congress members, City Council members, and interns and residents from CIR/SEIU.  

In the first two weeks of the strike, nurses have held vigils with families and patients, welcomed elected officials and allies, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, gathered in non-violent actions, and held speak-outs at all four hospitals. Press is free to use photos and videos from NYSNA’s Facebook and Instagram pages. 

While nurses have made major progress toward protecting their high-quality healthcare — a key sticking point in bargaining at Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian — they have yet to see progress on safe staffing and protections from workplace violence. Nurses have continued to reiterate that they are more than willing to negotiate on wages, but will not cut corners on safe patient care. 

Meanwhile, hospitals have spent thousands on fighting nurses on safe staffing. In nine separate rulings in 2024, independent arbitrators found that Mount Sinai understaffed units and awarded nurses approximately $4.7 million in financial remedies for nurses who worked understaffed. Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian filed over 100 complaints between July and December 2023 alleging NYP violated safe staffing standards. The Department of Health conducted an on-site survey and found over 800 instances of noncompliance with the hospital’s clinical staffing plan. The DOH issued a statement of deficiency report with its findings and required the hospital to submit a plan of correction. 

Year after year, nurses are voted the most trusted profession because they fight for their patients. In New York City, many nurses come from the communities they care for and mirror patient demographics. Across the city, 35.4% of nurses are Black or African American, 10.7% Hispanic or Latinx, and 20.9% are AAPI. Over two-thirds of NYC nurses are women of color, and, according to the American Immigration Council, 28.2% of all registered nurses in New York state are immigrants.

While hospitals continue to inflate both nurses’ demands and the cost to their systems while citing unfavorable economic conditions, they continue to rake in profits. In the first three months of 2025, Mount Sinai health system posted more than $1.2 billion in revenue from Mount Sinai Hospital on the Upper East Side, a 20% increase over the same period last year. They made these gains while saving cash in anticipation of spending millions on temporary travel nurses.  

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. And they’ve already spent more than $100 million on temporary traveler nurses, who don't know New York City patients or communities. Over the weekend, they renewed traveler nurses’ contracts, showing that they are more willing to cut corners on care than swiftly reach a new agreement. 

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.  

On Friday, strike lines will start at the following times and locations:  

Tues., Jan. 27-Fri., Jan. 30: 9am-4pm: Mount Sinai Hospital, 1468 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10029 
Tues., Jan. 27-Fri., Jan. 30: 10am-7pm: Mount Sinai Morningside, 1111 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025 
Tues., Jan. 27-Fri., Jan. 30: 10am-7pm: Mount Sinai West, 1000 Tenth Ave, New York, NY 10019  

Montefiore Bronx Locations:  

Tues., Jan. 27-Fri., Jan. 30: 9am-4pm: Jack D. Weiler Campus, 1825 Eastchester Road, Bronx, NY 10461 
Tues., Jan. 27-Fri., Jan. 30: 9am-4pm: Montefiore Bronx, Henry & Lucy Moses Campus, 111 East 210th Street, Bronx, NY 10467 
Tues., Jan. 27-Fri., Jan. 30: 10am-2pm: Montefiore Bronx, Montefiore Hutchinson Medical Center, 1250 Waters Place, Bronx, NY  

NewYork-Presbyterian locations:  

Tues., Jan. 27-Fri., Jan. 30: 8am-4pm: NewYork-Presbyterian Allen, 5141 Broadway, New York, NY 10034 
Tues., Jan. 27-Fri., Jan. 30: 8am-4pm: NewYork-Presbyterian CUMC, 177 Fort Washington Ave, New York, NY 10032 
Tues., Jan. 27-Fri., Jan. 30: 8am-4pm: NewYork-Presbyterian CHONY, 3959 Broadway, New York, NY 10032 

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.  

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's outgoing 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.

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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.