Nurses return to work at two New York hospitals as strike ends after deal on pay hike
Striking nurses return to work after reaching agreements with two hospitals in New York.
The three-day strikes of thousands of nurses came to an end on Thursday as they returned to work after finalising a tentative contract agreement with two hospitals, which included pay raise and better working conditions, announced the union officials on Thursday.
The tentative agreements finalised between Montefiore Medical Centre in the Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan includes 19% increase in wages. After the strikes ended, nurses resumed their work at the two hospitals on Thursday. Just before dawn, the nurses were greeted by Governor Kathy Hochul at Mount Sinai.
On Monday, the nurses staged a walkout after they failed to reach negotiations with Montefiore Medical Centre in the Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. Each hospital has more than 1,000 beds and around 3,500 or more nurses, who are associated with New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA).
The union emphasised staffing levels as a major concern as nurses complained about working overtime and handling twice the number of patients they should look at and being forced to skip meals and not even take bathroom breaks.
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The union stated that the agreements reached with the two hospitals include enforceable, concrete staffing ratios. The agreement signed with Montefiore includes community health improvements as well as nurse-student partnerships so that local nurses can be recruited from the Bronx.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, in a statement, said, “Through our unity and by putting it all on the line, we won enforceable safe staffing ratios at both Montefiore and Mount Sinai where nurses went on strike for patient care.”
“Today, we can return to work with our heads held high, knowing that our victory means safer care for our patients and more sustainable jobs for our profession,” she added.
The non-profit hospitals, which are privately owned, said they are facing a massive nursing shortage which was increased by the pandemic.
In a statement, Montefiore said, “Our bargaining team has been working around the clock with NYSNA’s leadership to come to an agreement. From the outset, we came to the table committed to bargaining in good faith and addressing the issues that were priorities for our nursing staff.”
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The hospital stated that it is working to ensure that nurses get “the best possible working environment, with significant wage and benefit enhancements” by finalising the deal with the union.
“We know this strike impacted everyone — not just our nurses — and we were committed to coming to a resolution as soon as possible to minimise disruption to patient care,” stated the hospital.
Mount Sinai posted on its website stating that it was pleased to finalise a tentative agreement with the nurses’ union.
Deals were also finalised between various private hospitals and the union in New York, as the deadline of the strike loomed. The agreement included increasing the wage by 19% in three years.
(With inputs from agencies)