The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) has reached a tentative contract agreement with NewYork-Presbyterian, signaling a potential end to the longest nurses strike in New York City history.<\/p>\n
The two sides started bargaining<\/a> at 11 a.m. Thursday. Just after midnight, there was an announcement of a tentative deal.<\/p>\n This is the second tentative settlement after nurses overwhelmingly\u00a0voted down a proposal<\/a>\u00a0last week. Nurses still have to vote to ratify the deal.<\/p>\n Why NYC nurses went on strike<\/p>\n About 15,000 nurses from several NewYork-Presbyterian, Mount Sinai and Montefiore hospitals began their strike back on Jan. 12<\/a> after contract negotiations with the privately run hospitals failed<\/a>.<\/p>\n The union said nurses were fighting for<\/a> pay raises, health care coverage, safe staffing levels and protections from workplace violence.<\/p>\n Nurses walked the picket line for over four weeks, at times in frigid temperatures<\/a>.<\/p>\n The hospitals brought in temporary travel nurses to ensure there was no disruption to patient care, and reported that some nurses did cross the picket line and continued to work.<\/p>\n Partial end to NYC nurses strike<\/p>\n On Feb. 9, NYSNA reached a tentative contract agreement with the three hospital systems<\/a>, and on Feb. 10, Mount Sinai and Montefiore nurses voted to ratify the contracts, ending the strike for about 10,500 nurses.<\/p>\n NewYork-Presbyterian nurses, however, voted to reject their tentative agreement and mediator’s proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mount Sinai and Montefiore nurses began returning to work on Feb. 14<\/a>, while more than 4,200 nurses from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital continued to strike into a fifth week. <\/p>\n