Photographer: Yuki Iwamura\/AP Photo <\/p>\n
(Bloomberg) — Thousands of nurses at three major hospitals in New York City began to strike on Monday, amid a severe flu season and broader pressures on the US health-care system.<\/p>\n
The walkout impacts roughly 15,000 nurses at hospitals including Mount Sinai Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian in Manhattan as well as Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected to join nurses on the picket line in Washington Heights on Monday.<\/p>\n
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A labor dispute is at the center of the conflict, with workers represented by New York State Nursing Association arguing that hospital management is threatening to cull benefits, the union said in a statement. Hospital management at all three systems said the decision to walk out is \u201creckless,\u201d in a statement prior to the strike.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Mount Sinai Health System said it has readied 1,400 qualified and specialized nurses and is \u201cprepared to continue to provide safe patient care for as long as this strike lasts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Health-care systems across the US are under pressure after President Donald Trump\u2019s signature economic package cut about $1 trillion in funding to Medicaid, the public health-insurance program for low-income and disabled people and lawmakers remain deadlocked over whether to extend subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. Labor is often the largest cost for a hospital system, accounting for nearly 50% of expenses.<\/p>\n
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she has been in regular communication with the NYSNA and hospital leadership. Though progress has been made, she issued an executive order allowing the systems to access resources to maintain patient care, her office said in a statement on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the strike, Mamdani said New York City was \u201cprepared for any and all scenarios.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo New Yorker should have to fear losing access to health care \u2014 and no nurse should be asked to accept less pay, fewer benefits or less dignity for doing lifesaving work,\u201d he said in a late Sunday statement on X. \u201cOur nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nursing union said it wants safer staffing levels, better health benefits and more workplace security measures after several recent incidents. Earlier this week, a man holding a sharp object barricaded himself in a room at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. A gunman also walked into a Mount Sinai office in November.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew York City\u2019s wealthiest hospitals including Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian, where there have been recent incidents of violence, need to do the right thing and settle fair contracts that keep nurses and patients safe,\u201d Nancy Hagans, president of the nurses union, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s strike comes three years after a similar labor dispute ended in a historic contract.<\/p>\n
–With assistance from Nacha Cattan.<\/p>\n
(Updates with statements from Mount Sinai, and New York City mayor.)<\/p>\n
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