Striking nurses and hospital management returned to the bargaining table on Tuesday, with hopes to end the largest nurses strike in NYC history.
The talks follow a major milestone in the strike when the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) said over the weekend that Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian hospital systems agreed to keep the caretakers’ health insurance in place—one of the key sticking points in the labor standoff.
Both hospitals told amNewYork that management never proposed reducing healthcare for the nurses.
NYSNA said it won the battle on healthcare coverage but will address other priorities, including better protections for patient and nurse safety, when contract talks continue on Jan. 27.
“Nurses overcame a major hurdle in protecting their healthcare benefits after hospitals threatened to cut care for frontline nurses and our families,” said Nancy Hagans, RN, NYSNA president. “This victory is a vital step toward settling fair contracts, but our fight is not over yet. Safe staffing and protections from workplace violence remain our outstanding priorities.”
Nurses back on picket line after the winter storm
Meanwhile, the nurses resumed picketing outside the affected hospitals on Tuesday morning after a brutal winter snowstorm kept them inside on Sunday and Monday.
“We will be out in the cold every day for as long as it takes, along with our allies and community, until we make sure that every nurse is safe in their workplace and every patient is able to receive the quality care they deserve, no matter what zip code they live in,” Hagans said.
Nearly 15,000 nurses from Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian in Manhattan and Montefiore in the Bronx have been on strike since Jan. 12, demanding better pay, more staff and improved workplace conditions.
Hospital management has called some of NYSNA’s demands “unreasonable,” but has said it remains committed to the bargaining process.
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
