Nurses from 5 personal hospitals in Brooklyn and Staten Island who had been set to strike later this month have rescinded their Jan. 2 strike discover as they neared tentative agreements with administration, in line with the union representing them.
Over 16,700 nurses at seven personal NYC hospitals may nonetheless strike subsequent week after negotiations with hospital management over healthcare and office violence protections, wages and staffing stay at an deadlock. Affected hospitals embrace Montefiore Medical Heart, Mount Sinai Hospitals, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia College Medical Heart, Brooklyn Hospital Heart, BronxCare Well being System and Flushing Hospital.
However on Jan. 6, the nurses at 5 medical facilities, who’re all members of the New York State Nurses Affiliation, reached tentative agreements with their employers: One Brooklyn Well being’s Interfaith Medical Heart, One Brooklyn Well being’s Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Heart, Maimonides Medical Heart, Wyckoff Heights Medical Heart and Richmond College Medical Heart.
The union mentioned the nurses at these “safety net hospitals” would proceed bargaining this week with the “mutual goal of settling their contracts” by Friday.
“Our safety-net hospitals are taking significant steps toward settling fiscally responsible contracts that protect nurses and patients, while rich private hospitals like Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and NewYork-Presbyterian continue to throw away hundreds of millions of dollars to fight against frontline nurses,” NYSNA president and Maimonides nurse Nancy Hagans, RN, mentioned.
Nurses chant outdoors Mount Sinai Hospital in the course of the first day of the NYSNA strike on Jan. 9, 2023.Photograph by Dean Moses
She applauded the protection internet hospitals for negotiating with the nurses.
“The safety-net hospitals that care for New York City’s most vulnerable patients are doing the right thing by guaranteeing healthcare benefits for nurses and agreeing to stronger safe staffing standards and protections from workplace violence,” she mentioned. “New York City’s wealthiest hospitals should follow their lead.”
Administration responds
A spokesperson for Mount Sinai instructed New York News in an announcement that administration is making ready for a strike. It’s one thing they’re already aware of, as nurses on the medical heart went on strike for 3 days earlier than successful a historic contract in 2023.
“While we are continuing to work to reach a deal to provide nurses with exceptional wages and benefits, we are taking steps to prepare for a strike, and have already begun bringing together clinical leaders to run staffing disruption drills, integrating outside nurses into our daily operations, and are coordinating with other systems to manage capacity to ensure our campuses are prepared to maintain high-quality patient care in the event of a staffing disruption,” the spokesperson defined.
Hospital management mentioned that the preparations are costly, and that they “take away resources that could be invested in nurses or other members of our care teams.”
Mount Sinai reported that NYSNA calls for would require the well being system to spend $3.59 billion over three years, practically triple its present prices of $1.281 billion.
“NYSNA has stated that ‘our healthcare system is under attack’ and ‘healthcare cuts will mean…less hospital funding,’ which will cost hospitals in New York $8 billion and 35,000 jobs, yet NYSNA is demanding hospitals increase the average nurse salary by $110,000 to $272,000 per year for 10 days of work per month,” the hospital spokesperson mentioned.
New York News contacted different hospitals with pending strikes for touch upon security preparations and negotiations, and is awaiting responses.
In the meantime, Brendan Griffith, president of the NYC Central Labor Council for the AFL-CIO, mentioned final month that the town’s labor motion stands with the nurses’ after they voted to authorize a strike on Dec. 22.
“When hospitals drag out negotiations, fail to address workplace safety, or refuse to invest in staffing, it’s working people and their families who pay the price,” he mentioned.
