The historic nurses strike continued into Day 23 on Tuesday, after the union says hospital management’s counterproposals failed to meet their contract demands during a bargaining session on Feb. 2.
The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) said it received revised proposals from hospital management at the Javits Center on Tuesday, but none of them addressed safe staffing concerns, a key sticking point in the ongoing standoff involving nearly 15,000 striking nurses.
The union singled out NewYork-Presbyterian, one of the three affected private hospital systems, for having safe staffing enforcement provisions that are “weaker” than those at other NYSNA hospitals in New York City.
“NewYork-Presbyterian, one of the richest hospitals in New York City and state, did not even make counter-proposals on workplace violence and other contract issues,” a NYSNA press release stated. “Although nurses significantly revised and moderated our proposals to expedite bargaining, the hospitals returned proposals that were inadequate and failed to offer a clear path to return nurses to work.”
NewYork-Presbyterian denied the claims that it did not make counterproposals.
“We did deliver a comprehensive proposal through the mediators yesterday [Feb. 2] that covers both economic and non-economic terms, which includes safe staffing and workplace violence,” a hospital spokesperson said. “We are waiting for NYSNA leadership to respond to our proposal.”
NYSNA president Nancy Hagans, RN, was outraged after the bargaining failed again on Monday.
“The same greedy hospital executives that have left nearly 15,000 frontline nurse heroes outside in the bitter cold for more than three weeks now insult us with unserious proposals that fail to address our key issues: safe staffing and protections from workplace violence,” she said.
Hagans added that the union also budged its wage proposal in hopes of coming to an agreement.
“But, instead of bargaining in good faith, the bosses at Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and NewYork-Presbyterian presented proposals today that show their disregard and disrespect for nurses and the patients we care for,” she said.
The nurses made some movement last week at Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian, when both hospitals agreed to maintain the nurses’ health benefits. Health benefits were another sticking point in the dispute. Healthcare benefits have not been on the bargaining table between Montefiore and the union.
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.
