NURSES STRIKE: Negotiations resume with major hospital networks for the first time since walkout started

The nurses’ strike marched into its fifth day after entering negotiations last night with three major New York City hospital systems, which refused to meet contract demands of nurses, for the first time since the strike began on Monday.

The New York State Nurses Association — which represents over 42,000 nurses, 15,000 of which are currently on strike — claimed hospital security initially turned NYSNA members away but eventually allowed 70 members to observe negotiations, which continued past midnight.

While NYSNA put forward a revised set of proposals, the union said hospital executives rejected them without offering a counter proposal.

It said “very little progress” was made towards settling a fair contract, but it is meeting with mediators and management at Mount Sinai Hospital, as well the Morningside and West campuses, today.

“It takes two to negotiate,” said NYSNA President Nancy Hagans. “NYSNA nurses respect the mediators and are ready and willing to come to the bargaining table when they call. We urge hospital executives to do the same. Hospitals are willing to keep frontline nurses out in the cold instead of at the bedsides of our patients where we want to be.”

As negotiations continue, Mount Sinai said it would continue to make progress toward getting our hospitals operating at full capacity. It extended its contracts with agency nurses and onboarding an additional complement of agency nurses focused on specialty areas to speed up the process.

Brendan Carr, chief executive officer of Mount Sinai, said he met with teams from the hospital’s Finance and Digital and Technology Partners yesterday, and he plans on meeting with the Human Resources team today. “These teams have worked incredibly hard to rapidly onboard a large number of new employees over the last few weeks, and although much of their work may not always be visible on the front lines, they are incredibly important to our mission,” he said.

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said if safety-net hospitals were able to meet nurses’ contract demands, the wealthiest hospitals in the city should be able to, as well.Cindy Schultz for New York State Nurses Association

Strike notices were initially delivered on Jan. 2 after their contract negotiations expired on Dec. 31. While NYSNA rescinded some of their strike notices after seven safety-net hospitals reached tentative agreements on certain contract demands — safe staffing, protections against workplace violence, and no cuts to healthcare and pensions — the Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian hospital systems refused to budge.

“If struggling safety-net hospitals can figure out how to fund our health benefits, safely staff our hospitals and protect nurses from workplace violence, then the richest hospitals can figure it out, too,” Hagans said. “Instead of investing millions in fighting their own nurses, hospital executives need to do the right thing and work with us to improve safety.”

On the other hand, Mount Sinai claimed union nurses are “harassing” and “intimidating” nurses that cross the picket line and attend their regularly-scheduled shifts.

The hospital said on Tuesday that 20% of nurses showed up for work on Monday despite the strike, and it has temporarily employed 1,400 “qualified and specialized” nurses to replace union nurses for the duration of the strike.

Mount Sinai hospital claimed union nurses were “intimidating” and “harassing” nurses that crossed their picket line to work their regularly scheduled shifts.File photo

Mount Sinai announced on Tuesday that it terminated three nurses ahead of the strike, claiming they were “interfering with patient safety by deliberately sabotaging our emergency preparedness drills.”

According to the statement from the hospital, the nurses were hiding supplies from agency nurses, who are working on short-term contracts and are not part of the union, while they were training.

“Now NYSNA leaders are threatening and intimidating nurses who have decided to join their teams caring for patients,” a Wednesday statement from Mount Sinai said. “This behavior is unacceptable, and we are offering resources to support nurses who chose to come to work.”

However, NYSNA claims the hospitals are slandering the union and lying to the media in retaliation of union nurses that are fighting for a fair contract. The union denied that the three Mount Sinai nurses, two of whom it noted were new mothers, interfered with any of the travel nurses’ training.

“With a looming strike deadline, management tried to scapegoat nurses, citing false claims about their interference with the expensive travel nurses hired to replace them,” a statement from the union said yesterday. “[The hospitals] have waged war against union nurses; retaliating against nurses, slandering nurses, and even terminating nurses in attempts to intimidate them. NYSNA nurses are demanding that hospital executives reverse the unlawful disciplines and terminations and come back to the bargaining table to make real progress.”

NYSNA has received the support of numerous labor organizations and elected officials including Mayor Zohran Mamdani, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and the borough presidents from Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx.

“Nurses show up in our darkest moments,” Mamdani wrote on X on Monday. “9/11. The pandemic. Every illness and emergency. Their worth is not negotiable. Fair pay, safe conditions, dignity now. NYC stands with nurses and demands good faith bargaining for justice and care for all.”

NYSNA noted that many New Yorkers are facing an affordability crisis, but alleged that the wealthiest private hospitals charged patients nearly 4 times what it actually costs to provide care in 2023.

According to a report by Empire Center for Public Policy, analysis found that six of the city’s biggest not-for-profit hospital systems — NewYork-Presbyterian, NYU Langone, Northwell, Mount Sinai, Montefiore and Maimonides — charged dramatically more for common procedures than hospitals owned by the city or by major medical centers in Boston.

Empire Center also pointed to a 2022 report by the 32BJ Health Fund, which determined that hospital charges are the “leading driver” of soaring health costs for its members.

NYSNA pointed to record profits earned by the three hospital systems, as well as a July report by the New York Times that NewYork-Presbyterian is under investigation for colluding with insurance companies to keep healthcare prices high at its facilities.Photo by Dean Moses

NYSNA also pointed out that NewYork-Presbyerian is under civil investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for colluding with insurance companies to keep prices high for New York City patients, as per reporting by the New York Times last July.

While the price of healthcare goes up, the union’s news release continued, so does executive pay at the largest private sector hospitals.

“Hospital executives are driving up the costs of care while crying they cannot afford to fund nurses’ healthcare,” said NYSNA Executive Director Pat Kane. “We’re calling out their bluff and are out here on the streets of New York because patients need to know too. Hospital executives are continuing to put their profits before the communities of New York and enough is enough.”

The city’s private hospitals have increased their executive compensation by millions and according to 990 tax filings published by ProPublica, the chief executive officers’ of all three hospital systems impacted by the strike increased their total compensation — including salaries, benefits, and perks — by over 54% from 2020 to 2023.

Mount Sinai is listed here, NewYork-Presbyterian is listed here, and Montefiore is listed here.

“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,” today’s NYSNA news release said.

It also noted that in 2024, NewYork-Presbyterian CEO Steve Corwin raked in $26.3 million in total compensation — which is 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,” the news release concluded.

Nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital said they welcomed LGBTQIA+ allies to the picket line this afternoon, which began at 2 p.m at Mount Sinai Hospital. It will feature performances by the Resistance Revival Chorus, Drag Show from Marti Gould and the Rude Mechanical Orchestra in solidarity with striking nurses.

Picket lines will continue at 7 a.m. throughout the weekend and every day for the duration of the strike at both Manhattan and Bronx hospital locations.Photo by Dean Moses

Strike lines will continue throughout the weekend beginning at 7 a.m. at the following locations:

Mount Sinai, Manhattan:

Mount Sinai Hospital, 1468 Madison Ave.

Mount Sinai Morningside, 1111 Amsterdam Ave.

Mount Sinai West, 1000 Tenth Ave.

Montefiore, Bronx:

Jack D. Weiler Campus, 1825 Eastchester Rd.

Henry & Lucy Moses Campus, 111 East 210th St.

Montefiore Hutchinson Medical Center, 1250 Waters Pl.

NewYork-Presbyterian, Manhattan:

NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, 5141 Broadway

CUIMC Milstein Hospital, 177 Fort Washington Ave.

CHONY Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, 3959 Broadway