New York City nurses marked the fourth week of their strike Monday, planning to take their demands directly to the state as negotiations with hospital leaders continue without a deal.
Nurses are expected to march later Monday morning from Grand Central Terminal to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Midtown office, urging the governor to pressure hospital executives to reach an agreement.
What You Need To Know
The nurses strike entered its fourth week Monday, involving nearly 15,000 nurses citywide
Nurses plan to march to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Midtown office to push for a fair contract
Hospital systems and the nurses union say some progress has been made in negotiations, but no deal has been reached
The strike began Jan. 12 and has grown into the largest nurses strike in New York City history.
Nearly 15,000 nurses from Mount Sinai, NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore have been on picket lines, pushing for protections against workplace violence, safe staffing ratios and improved health care benefits.
Over the weekend, both hospital management and the nurses union issued statements signaling movement at the bargaining table.
In a joint statement, the hospital systems said they had presented an economic proposal aimed at ending the strike.
“We made a fair, reasonable, and responsible economic proposal that provides annual wage increases and continues generous healthcare and pension benefits,” the hospitals said.
They added the proposal operates “under an economic structure that works for all of the parties and the safety-net hospitals that are tied to our economic terms.”
“We are now assessing the rest of the union’s proposals so that we can respond with a comprehensive settlement offer in order to end the strike and bring our nurses back,” the statement read.
The New York State Nurses Association also described negotiations as productive but said safety concerns remain nonnegotiable.
“We streamlined and revised our proposals in an effort to bring hospital executives back to the table to negotiate in good faith and settle fair contracts as quickly as possible that get nurses back to work to care for New York City,” the union said, adding it would not “cut corners on nurse and patient safety.”
Meanwhile, the union said nurses at The Brooklyn Hospital Center — part of the Mount Sinai system — plan to hold a speak-out this morning, claiming the hospital has not paid their health or pension benefits since October. Nurses at that hospital had reached a tentative agreement earlier this month and avoided joining the strike.
NY1 reached out to Mount Sinai for comment on those claims but had not heard back as of Monday morning.