PARK SLOPE — NURSES AT NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in Park Slope voted on Friday to overwhelmingly ratify a new three-year contract, according to a release from their union, the New York State Nurses Association.
Nurses there have been fighting for months for a contract providing “safe staffing” standards, plus protections against workplace violence, including improvements to emergency response teams and weapon detection systems. This issue rose to the fore after an active-shooter incident in January. NYSNA members at the hospital have also reported being harassed, groped and assaulted while at work.
Under the terms of the contract, hospitals are prohibited from rejecting arbitrators, which delays the grievance process. Also included are safeguards against artificial intelligence, including provisions to protect registered nurse clinical judgement; and annual wage increases of 4% across the life of the contract.
NYSNA members’ previous contract with NYP-Brooklyn Methodist expired on April 30.
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