The largest nursing strike in New York City could be nearing the end as thousands of nurses reached tentative agreements with some hospitals, according to the nurses’ union.
Approximately 10,500 members of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) reached agreements with Montefiore, Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Morningside and West, NYSNA said in an announcement on Monday morning
The nurses will hold ratification votes and, if the agreements are ratified, return to work at the end of the week, the union said in the announcement.
Largest nursing strike in New York City history begins amid stalled contract negotiations
Some 4,200 nurses are continuing to strike at NewYork-Presbyterian, with no agreement reached yet.
The nurses, who began striking on Jan. 12, said they were fighting over fair wages and compensation, safe staffing levels and workplace safety.
The union previously said hospitals have threatened to cut health care benefits for frontline nurses and to roll back safe staffing standards that were won by nurses in a strike two years ago.
“For four weeks, nearly 15,000 NYSNA members held the line in the cold and in the snow for safe patient care,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said a statement. “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.”
More than 31,000 nurses, health care workers strike at Kaiser Permanente, arguing for safe staffing levels, fair wages
The agreement includes increasing the number of nurses to improve patient care, protecting health benefits, protecting nurses from workplace violence and increasing salaries by more than 12% over the three-year contract.
“I’m so proud of the resilience and strength of NYSNA nurses,” Pat Keane, NYSNA executive director, said in a statement. “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.”
Several New York politicians, including New York State Attorney General Letitia James and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, came out in support of the striking nurses. Last month, Mandani called their fight a battle for dignity, fairness, and the future of the city’s health care system and who benefits from it.
NewYork-Presbyterian, the only hospital that has not yet reached an agreement with striking nurses, according to NYSNA, said in a statement on Monday that it is continuing to negotiate with the union.
“Early Sunday the mediators presented a comprehensive proposal to all parties. NewYork-Presbyterian accepted the proposal which includes the same wage increases for all three hospitals, as well as preserves the pension, maintains our nurses’ health benefits, and includes increased staffing levels,” the statement said.
“We look forward to bringing our nurses back to care for our patients,” the statement further said.
A spokesperson for NYSNA told ABC News that they cannot comment on how close they are to an agreement with the hospital.
