A second day of strikes across the city as nurses demand increased staffing, better wages and stronger workplace protections.
What You Need To Know
Nurses are calling for increased staffing, better wages and stronger workplace protections
A spokesperson for Montefiore says the New York State Nurses Association leadership continues “to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases”
Mount Sinai said it fired three nurses for allegedly sabotaging emergency preparedness drills ahead of the strike
“Take care of the community. That’s all we want. We want you to take care of our community,” Vanessa Welvon, who’s worked as a registered nurse at Montefiore Hospital for more than three decades, said.
Welvon was among dozens of nurses who joined the picket line outside Montefiore in the Bronx on Tuesday after contract negotiations failed with hospital leadership.
Nearly 15,000 nurses are participating in strikes outside hospitals within the Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian systems.
“We are out here for our patients. We’re out here because the patients deserve dignified care. The patients deserve to be cared for. The patients are in the emergency rooms, they’re overcrowded, they have to stay there for days and days on end. And when they’re finally moved upstairs, they’re moved to hallway beds. That’s not fair,” Welvon said.
Nurses at Montefiore are calling for equitable care for their patients, who are predominantly Black and Latino. They claim the hospital has long been overlooked and underserved.
“These are Black and brown patients in our community. We are their voice. They cannot speak for themselves. A lot of us were raised here. We go to school here. We go to the same grocery store. Our kids go to the same schools. And I feel like it is our responsibility to advocate for these patients who can’t speak for themselves,” Ana Davis, who has worked at Montefiore for 20 years, said.
A spokesperson for Montefiore says the New York State Nurses Association leadership continues “to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases.”
“This is not about money. This is about the care. We cannot provide the kind of care that the patient needs, then we become a part of the problem. We’re not a part of the problem. We’re a part of the solution,” Davis said.
Meanwhile, Mount Sinai said it fired three nurses for allegedly sabotaging emergency preparedness drills ahead of the strike. A hospital spokesperson says the nurses deliberately hid supplies from replacement nurses who were in training.
The nurses union calls the firings illegal and says the hospital didn’t follow the disciplinary process.
Spokespeople for all three hospital systems say they will remain open during the strike and are ready to keep negotiating a fair contract with union leadership.