Tuesday, Jan. 20, marks the 20th day of Zohran Mamdani’s term as mayor. amNewYork is following Mamdani around his first 100 days in office as we closely track his progress on fulfilling campaign promises, appointing key leaders to government posts, and managing the city’s finances. Here’s a summary of what the mayor did today.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders joined striking nurses on the picket line in the bitter cold outside Manhattan’s Mount Sinai West on Tuesday morning as the largest nursing strike in New York City history entered its ninth day.
Hizzoner and Sanders joined the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), the union representing nearly 15,000 striking nurses across the city, at Mount Sinai West at 1000 10th Ave. in biting arctic temperatures to make their voices heard. The crowd braved real-feel temperatures of 5° F to turn up the heat on hospital executives after negotiations broke down last week.
Mount Sinai is one of three hospital groups involved in the strike along with Montefiore and New York-Presbyterian. Negotiations between NYSNA and New York-Presbyterian and Mount Sinai were revived last week, but the talks stalled on Friday, keeping nurses back on the picket line.
Labor: Mamdani seeks ‘fair contract’ for nurses
Mamdani, who joined nurses on the first day of the strike last week, said the ongoing strike is about “safe working conditions.”
“This is about a fair contract. This is about dignity,” Mamdani said. “Wherever I go in New York City, I hear about the plight of our nurses. … Now is your time of need, where we can ensure that this is a city you don’t just work in, but a city you can also live in.”
Mamdani further asserted that the ongoing strike is “not about compensation,” but rather seeks to “recognize the worth of every single nurse in New York City.”
NYSNA has called on hospitals to agree to its demands for safe staffing ratios, protections against workplace violence, and no cuts to healthcare benefits.
Although NYSNA and elected officials contend that the strike is not about a pay increase, hospital executives have argued that the demands would amount to a significant pay increase.
The three hospital groups involved in the strike have described NYSNA’s demands as “unreasonable,” with Montefiore stating Monday that the union’s demands were “reckless” and likely to cost $3.6 billion.
Mount Sinai CEO Brendan Carr said Monday that a “near-term path to an agreement is very unlikely” after negotiations broke down last week, adding that no new meetings are currently scheduled.
New York-Presbyterian, meanwhile, said NYSNA’s demands equate to an approximate 25% pay increase, which the hospital group said would amount to a more than $2 billion incremental increase over the next three years.
“NYSNA’s demands ignore the economic realities of healthcare in New York City and the country,” a New York-Presbyterian official told amNewYork.
Sanders, however, said New York-Presbyterian is currently paying its CEO, Steven Corwin, an annual salary of $26 million and that the hospital group could afford to meet NYSNA’s demands. Similarly, he said, Montefiore and Mount Sinai are paying their CEOS millions of dollars in annual salaries.
“Don’t tell me you can’t treat nurses with dignity when you’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars on traveling nurses,” Sanders said. “People in this country are sick and tired of greed. They’re tired of drug companies ripping us off, of insurance companies ripping us off, and of hospital executives getting huge salaries.”
Mount Sinai said last week that it has hired 1,400 “qualified and specialized” nurses to replace union nurses for the duration of the strike. Carr said the hospital group has performed numerous organ transplants and cardiac surgeries despite ongoing staff disruptions and forecasted that striking nurses’ return to work will likely be delayed by several days or weeks due to existing staffing commitments.
“These are difficult truths, but decisions that have been made in the interest of ensuring the Health System’s operational and financial health,” Carr said Monday. “We would very much like to have our nursing partners back at the bedside as soon as possible.”
New York-Presbyterian accused NYSNA of attempting to “cause disruption” through the strike but said its hospitals continue to accept new patients.
On Tuesday, Mamdani called on all parties to return to the bargaining table, stating that nurses had gone on strike as a “last resort” and would prefer to return to work if their conditions are met.
“When we see a strike, people forget that that is not where workers want to be. A strike is an act of last resort. Workers want to be back at work,” Mamdani said to huge cheers. “I call on every side to come back to the negotiating table.”
Mamdani, however, said he would stand by striking nurses no matter how long it takes.
“No matter what day it is, we will be here with you,” Mamdani said.
New York-Presbyterian officials said the hospital group is working with mediators to schedule the next bargaining session.
