»After three days, the nursing strike at two major NYC hospitals is over«
The three-day nursing strike that delayed patient care at two of the top hospitals in New York City has ended.
Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital in upper Manhattan both announced on Thursday morning that they had reached tentative deals with the New York State Nurses Association. Shortly thereafter, the union concurred. It termed the agreements “historic.”
To deal with the walkout of as many as 7,100 nurses, both hospitals postponed non-emergency surgeries, diverted ambulances to other medical facilities, hired temporary personnel, and assigned administrators with nursing experience to work in wards.
The union stated that it was compelled to take the extreme action of a strike due to the significant understaffing that left nurses caring for too many patients.
However, it was announced early on Thursday that nurses “won concrete enforceable safe staffing ratios in both deals and will be back on the job starting this morning.”
President of the union Nancy Hagans, a registered nurse herself, stated in a statement that, “This is a historic victory for nurses in New York City and around the nation. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, NYSNA nurses saved lives at all hours of the night and day, proving once again that nothing is impossible for nurse heroes. Through our solidarity and willingness to put everything on the line, we were able to secure safe staffing ratios at both Montefiore and Mount Sinai, where nurses went on strike to improve patient care.”
Montefiore and Mount Sinai were the final hospitals whose nursing contracts ended at the same time. The union first warned that it would strike at all hospitals simultaneously, but as the Monday strike deadline approached, the other hospitals reached agreements. All three proposals involve raises of 7%, 6%, and 5% for the following three years.
Montefiore said its arrangement calls for similar rises.
On the picket lines, nurses emphasized that staffing levels were a greater concern than salary. In the spring of 2020, when New York City was a hotspot for COVID-19 deaths, the city’s nurses were lauded as heroes. Poor staffing levels, which have been a concern for years, have been cited as the cause of their exhaustion.
“Remember, even prior to (the) pandemic we’re already short of staff,” said Mount Sinai nurse Nagie Pamphil.
Thursday morning, Montefiore said that it had agreed to add more than 170 nurses.
Mount Sinai’s administration stated that the union’s emphasis on nurse-to-patient ratios “ignores the progress we have made to attract and hire more new nurses, despite a global shortage of healthcare workers that is impacting hospitals across the country.”
»After three days, the nursing strike at two major NYC hospitals is over«