There’s a tentative deal to end the longest and largest nurses strike in New York City history after four weeks.
The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) says it has reached a tentative contract agreement with Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside, Mount Sinai West and Montefiore Einstein hospitals. NewYork-Presbyterian said it too had accepted a proposal.
The union still has to hold a vote to ratify the deal. That vote is set to take place this week, and if approved, nurses will return to work at those hospitals on Saturday.
NYSNA says the tentative agreement includes safe staffing standards, protects nurse health benefits, addresses workplace violence concerns and more.
“Nearly 15,000 NYSNA members held the line”
“For four weeks, nearly 15,000 NYSNA members held the line in the cold and in the snow for safe patient care. Now, nurses at Montefiore and Mount Sinai systems are heading back to the bedside with our heads held high after winning fair tentative contracts that maintain enforceable safe staffing ratios, improve protections from workplace violence, and maintain health benefits with no additional out-of-pocket costs for frontline nurses,” NYSNA president Nancy Hagans said.
“I’m so proud of the resilience and strength of NYSNA nurses. They have shown that when we fight, we win. Nurses sacrificed their own pay and healthcare while on strike to defend patient care for all of New York. We helped galvanize a movement for worker and healthcare justice that reached beyond New York City,” NYSNA executive director Pat Kane said.
Strike started on Jan. 12
Those 15,000 nurses walked off the job on Jan. 12 after contract negotiations with the privately run hospitals failed. NYSNA leadership said it was fighting for pay raises, health care coverage, safe staffing levels and protections from workplace violence.
On Jan. 25, NYSNA announced it had reached an agreement to maintain health care benefits with Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian, but the strike stretched into a third week as negotiations on other matters continued.
Nurses walked the picket lines outside hospitals for more than 25 days, braving frigid temperatures at times.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders both joined the nurses on Day 9 of the strike to voice their support and encourage a resolution. Gov. Kathy Hochul also urged the union and the hospitals to return to the negotiating table.
Hospitals brought in temporary travel nurses to continue patient care, and some nurses crossed the picket line early on to report to work.
The last nurses strike in the city was back in 2023, when roughly 7,000 nurses walked off the job. That strike came to an end after three days.
Stay with CBS News New York for the latest on this developing story.
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