NEW YORK — Nurses at two of New York City’s largest hospitals went on strike Monday in a dispute over pay and staffing levels after a week of failed negotiations for a contract. new coin.
The rally was attended by about 3,500 nurses at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and about 3,600 nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. Patients may see interruptions in care such as going to the emergency room and giving birth.
The New York State Nurses Association, which represents the workers, said it was forced to take a drastic step because chronic staffing shortages forced it to care for too many patients.
Hundreds of nurses on strike chanted, waved signs and sang the chorus from Twisted Sister’s 1984 hit “We’re Not Gonna Take It” Monday morning outside Mount Sinai on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. .
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“We were just heroes two years ago,” said Warren Urquhart, a nurse at the transplant and oncology unit, referring to the height of the COVID-19 crisis. “We were on the front lines of the city when everything stopped. And now we need to stop so they can understand how much we mean to this hospital and to the patients.”
Nurse practitioner Juliet Escalon said, “We were called heroes – and now, is this how you treat heroes?”
The union said in a statement late Sunday, “Nurses do not want to go on strike. Bosses have pushed us to strike by refusing to take our proposals seriously to address the desperate crisis of unsafe staff harming our patients.”
Montefiore officials said in a statement Monday, “We remain committed to seamless and compassionate care, recognizing that the union leadership’s decision will cause fear and uncertainty. in our community.”
Mount Sinai officials said Monday, “Our first priority is patient safety. We are prepared to minimize disruption, and we encourage Mount Sinai nurses to continue providing the world-class care they are known for, despite the NYSNA strike.”
Hospitals planned to appoint managers and others not represented by the union to be in charge of the striking workers’ shifts.
Montefiore and Mount Sinai are getting ready for the march by transferring patients, transferring ambulances to other facilities, postponing non-emergency medical procedures, and arranging temporary staff.
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Governor Kathy Hochul urged the union and hospitals late Sunday to submit their dispute to binding arbitration.
Montefiore’s administration has said it is willing to let an arbitrator settle the contract “as a means of achieving a fair outcome.”
The union did not immediately accept the proposal. In a statement, it said Hochul, a Democrat, “should listen to the COVID nurse heroes on the front lines and respect our federally protected labor and collective bargaining rights. “
Montefiore and Mount Sinai were the last of the group of hospitals whose union contracts expired simultaneously. The Nurses Association had initially warned it would hit them all at once – a potential disaster even in a city with as many hospitals as New York.
But one by one, the other hospitals reached an agreement with the union as the deadline approached.
Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital approved a deal on Saturday that will give them pay increases of 7%, 6% and 5% over the next three years while also increasing staffing levels. That deal, which includes 4,000 nurses, is seen as a template for negotiations with other hospital systems.
Nurses at two facilities in the Mount Sinai system also temporarily agreed to contract on Sunday. But talks continue at the system’s flagship hospital on Manhattan’s East Side.
The Mount Sinai government said in a statement that the union’s focus on staff-to-patient ratios “ignores the progress we’ve made in attracting and hiring new nurses, despite the situation.” Global medical staff shortages are affecting hospitals across the country.”
