TOMORROW: Sen. Bernie Sanders & Mayor Zohran Mamdani Join Striking Nurses on the Picket Line
Contact: Eliza Bates | press@nysna.org | 646-285-8491
Andrea Penman-Lomeli | press@nysna.org | 347-559-3169
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS & MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI JOIN STRIKING NURSES ON THE PICKET LINE
In second week of the largest nurse strike in NYC history, allies join picket lines in support of NYSNA nurses, demand hospitals settle fair contracts that protect patient and nurse safety
New York, NY— On Tuesday, Jan. 20, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mayor Zohran Mamdani will join striking NYSNA nurses on the picket line to demand fair contracts that protect patient and nurse safety. Montefiore, Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, and NewYork-Presbyterian continue to leave nearly 15,000 NYSNA members out in the cold on the second week of the city’s largest nurse strike in history. Nurses are fighting to improve working conditions and patient care conditions inside their hospitals.
WHAT: Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mayor Zohran Mamdani on the picket line
WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 10 AM
WHERE: Mount Sinai West, 1000 Tenth Ave, New York, NY 10019
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “We are so fortunate to have the support of our community and allies, who truly energize our movement as we picket through the bitter cold. We need hospital management to understand that we are out here fighting for the safety of our patients and nurses, so that every patient can have a qualified nurse at their bedside. Hospital management must take action to maintain our health benefits, guarantee enforceable safe staffing, and make hospitals safer workplaces.”
To celebrate MLK weekend, nurses held a series of nonviolent direct actions in the spirit of Dr. King. On Monday, nurses gathered with Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders to speak out at Mount Sinai Morningside. Nurses also held free community health screenings, and celebrated with family activities, including face painting and balloon-making.
Press is free to use photos and videos from NYSNA’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
Since the strike began on Jan. 12, NYSNA nurses have held one bargaining session with each of the four hospitals. The most recent session was with Montefiore on Sunday evening. No major progress was made towards settling fair contracts with any of the hospitals.
On Tuesday and throughout the week, strike lines will start at 8 AM at the following locations:
Mount Sinai Hospital, 1468 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10029
Mount Sinai Morningside, 1111 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025
Mount Sinai West, 1000 Tenth Ave, New York, NY 10019
Montefiore Bronx Locations:
- Jack D. Weiler Campus, 1825 Eastchester Road, Bronx, NY 10461
- Montefiore Bronx, Henry & Lucy Moses Campus, 111 East 210th Street, Bronx, NY 10467
- Montefiore Bronx, Montefiore Hutchinson Medical Center, 1250 Waters Place, Bronx, NY
NewYork-Presbyterian locations:
- NewYork-Presbyterian Allen, 5141 Broadway, New York, NY 10034
- NewYork-Presbyterian CUMC, 177 Fort Washington Ave, New York, NY 10032
- NewYork-Presbyterian CHONY, 3959 Broadway, New York, NY 10032
Key sticking points in bargaining remain:
- Management’s threats to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits. These cuts would impact not just striking nurses at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Morningside and West and NewYork-Presbyterian, but nearly 44,000 people, including nurses and their families, around the state who are enrolled in NYSNA’s health benefit plan. The same wealthy hospitals that have jacked up prices for patients and they are now saying that it costs too much to cover healthcare benefits for their frontline nurses.
- 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.
While nurses have fought above all for safety, management has responded with retaliation, intimidation, and stalling.
On the eve of the strike, Mount Sinai unlawfully fired 3 Labor & Delivery nurses via voicemail on the eve of the largest nurse strike in New York City history. NYSNA filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against Mount Sinai for these unlawful terminations. Management at Mt. Sinai falsely claimed that the nurses they unlawfully fired via voicemail on Sunday interfered with the temporary travel nurses that Mt. Sinai brought in ahead of the strike — but it's clear that this was an act of pure intimidation intended to scare nurses on the eve of the strike. Two of the three L&D nurses who were unlawfully terminated are brand new mothers only recently back from maternity leave.
Mount Sinai has been aggressively union busting — especially in the Labor and Delivery unit. Late last year, management disciplined Labor and Delivery nurses for going to a union meeting. Mt. Sinai previously unfairly disciplined 14 vocal nurse leaders leading up to the strike, some of whom spoke to the press after the active shooter incident, and others who spoke to colleagues about their union and contract negotiations.
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.
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 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.
While prices in healthcare go up, so does executive pay at the largest private sector 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 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.