Nurses on day two of the nurses stike exterior Mount Sinai Hospital.
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
The most important nurses’ strike in NYC historical past continued on Monday, even after 13 hanging nurses had been arrested throughout a protest in Midtown final week. Though the nurses weren’t on the picket line on Feb. 7 and eight as a result of excessive chilly, contract talks resumed with vital progress reported all through the weekend.
The nurses, represented by the New York State Nurses Affiliation (NYSNA), reportedly secured improved staffing ratios in a number of areas of Montefiore within the Bronx, one of many three hospitals affected by the strike. Administration and union reps additionally reached an settlement on a secure staffing normal for the primary time in an outpatient unit, and received new nurse positions to enhance affected person security and wait instances.
The profitable bargaining got here on the heels of a significant “speak out” on the Montefiore picket line on Friday, the place nurses, labor leaders and politicians demanded the hospital settle the contract points. The rally was in help of nurses at Montefiore, in addition to these on the different two hospitals affected by the strike, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian in Manhattan.
“We really appreciate all the solidarity we have received,” Pat Kane, RN, NYSNA govt director, stated. “It’s a great reminder that New York City’s unions and elected officials keep this city a union town. It shows that this strike is not just about nurses, it’s about protecting care for all working people.”
New York News contacted Montefiore to ask concerning the negotiations, the staffing requirements and the way the progress will assist nurses, hospitals, and sufferers, and is awaiting a response.
In the meantime, negotiations proceed to stall at Mount Sinai.
“Progress continues to be frustratingly slow, and we do not yet have closure on an agreement,” Brendan Carr, MD, CEO of Mount Sinai Well being Techniques, stated in a press release.
On Thursday, greater than a dozen nurses had been arrested once they blocked the doorway to the Better New York Hospital Affiliation at 555 W. 57th St. on Feb. 5, refusing repeated police orders to disperse.
The nurses had been launched from custody the identical day.
Nurses strike: picketing and progress
Nurses have been on picket strains virtually every single day because the strike began on Jan. 12. They didn’t picket on Saturday and Sunday as a result of freezing, single-digit temperatures and the town’s Code Blue alert.
Practically 15,000 unionized nurses from NYSNA are hanging over wage, higher staffing ratios, office violence protections, and improved advantages.
The nurses beforehand made some motion through the strike at Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian, when each hospitals agreed to take care of the nurses’ well being advantages. Healthcare advantages haven’t been on the bargaining desk between Montefiore and the union.
Regardless of milestones of progress, the union stated it should proceed to advocate for key sticking factors within the labor standoff.
“We continue to do hard work at the bargaining table, fighting for our patients and our communities,” Nancy Hagans, RN, president of NYSNA, stated. “While our employers continue to use patients as bargaining chips, we know that patients deserve better and will continue to fight for the safe staffing standards that our patients deserve.”
The nurses preserve that they’ll proceed to picket in any respect hospital places till a contract deal is made. The affected hospitals and their emergency rooms stay open with the assistance of company nurses and the NYS Division of Well being. Each hospital administration and NYSNA urge New Yorkers to hunt hospital care if wanted.
