The largest nurses’ strike in NYC history moved two steps closer to ending Monday: Tentative agreements are now in place at Mount Sinai and Montefiore.
Approximately 10,500 New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) members at Montefiore, Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Morningside and West reached tentative agreements with their hospitals.
The agreement includes a salary increase of more than 12% over the life of the new three-year contract to recruit and retain nurses.
Other tentative agreements include those around safe staffing standards, protections from workplace violence and, for the first time, a safeguard against AI in their contracts.
Nurses at the hospitals will vote to ratify their contracts from Feb. 9 to Feb. 11. If the tentative contract agreements are ratified, nurses will return to work on Feb. 14.
The union celebrated the victory, which will return more than 10,000 nurses to their regular rounds at the medical centers. Nearly 15,000 nurses have been on strike since Jan. 12.
“For four weeks, nearly 15,000 NYSNA members held the line in the cold and in the snow for safe patient care,” Nancy Hagans, RN, president of the union, said. “Now, nurses at Montefiore and Mount Sinai systems are heading back to the bedside with our heads held high after winning fair tentative contracts that maintain enforceable safe staffing ratios, improve protections from workplace violence, and maintain health benefits with no additional out-of-pocket costs for frontline nurses.”
The successful bargaining came on the heels of a major “speak out” on the Montefiore picket line on Friday, where nurses, labor leaders and politicians demanded the hospital settle the contract issues. The rally was in support of nurses at Montefiore, as well as those at the other two hospitals affected by the strike, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian in Manhattan.
“I’m so proud of the resilience and strength of NYSNA nurses,” Pat Kane, RN, NYSNA executive director, said. “They have shown that when we fight, we win. Nurses sacrificed their own pay and healthcare while on strike to defend patient care for all of New York. We helped galvanize a movement for worker and healthcare justice that reached beyond New York City.”
Brendan Carr, MD, CEO of Mount Sinai, confirmed in a statement that the hospital agreed to terms with NYSNA.
“After a long and difficult negotiation, this morning we agreed to terms with the New York State Nursing Association (NYSNA),” the doctor stated. “We have a tentative agreement in place on all three campuses, and I hope our nurses will be coming back to work in the very near future.”
Bronx City Council Member Justin Sanchez said he was thankful to see nurses returning to work.
“Nurses are invaluable to our city. They are on the front lines every day, keeping our hospitals running and New Yorkers healthy. This agreement recognizes their work, and as a result, our communities are stronger and healthier,” he said. “This moment should be a turning point. Our city is at its strongest when workers are protected, respected, and supported, and when our institutions have the resources they need to operate at full capacity.
No nurses strike deal in sight at NewYork-Presbyterian
Meanwhile, around 4,200 nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian will have to stay on the picket line as contract talks with the hospital continue to stall.
The nurses previously made some movement during the strike at Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian, when both hospitals agreed to maintain the nurses’ health benefits. Healthcare benefits were not on the bargaining table at Montefiore.
During their ongoing fight for a fair contract, more than a dozen nurses on Thursday were arrested when they blocked the entrance to the Greater New York Hospital Association at 555 W. 57th St. on Feb. 5, refusing repeated police orders to disperse.
The nurses were released from custody the same day.
Nurses have been on picket lines almost every day since the strike started on Jan. 12. They did not picket on Saturday and Sunday due to freezing, single-digit temperatures and the city’s Code Blue alert.
Nearly 15,000 unionized nurses from NYSNA were striking over salaries, better staffing ratios, protections against workplace violence, and improved benefits.
The affected hospitals and their emergency rooms remain open with the help of agency nurses and the NYS Department of Health. Both hospital management and NYSNA urge New Yorkers to seek hospital care if needed.
