NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s largest nursing strike in decades may be on the verge of ending after a union representing more than 4,000 nurses in the NewYork-Presbyterian hospital system reached a tentative contract agreement with management early Friday.
The nurses’ union, the New York State Nurses Association, and NewYork-Presbyterian both said their negotiators have reached a tentative deal. The union said provisions include raises topping 12% over three years, staffing improvements and, for the first time, safeguards on the use of artificial intelligence.
Union members were to vote Friday and Saturday on the proposed contract. If it’s ratified, the nurses will return to work next week at the last of three major private hospital systems hit by the more than monthlong walkout.
The roughly 4,200 nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian had picketed during bitterly cold temperatures in what their union said was the largest and longest nurse walkout in the city’s history. Union President Nancy Hagans said the nurses “showed this city that they won’t make any compromises to patient care.”
“The wins of our private-sector nurses will improve care for patients, and their perseverance and endurance have shown people worldwide the power of NYSNA nurses,” she added.
The hospital system said in a statement that it was pleased about a tentative settlement “that reflects our tremendous respect for our nurses.”
The strike began Jan. 12 and initially involved NewYork-Presbyterian, Mount Sinai and Montefiore. About 10,500 Montefiore and Mount Sinai nurses ratified new three-year contracts on Feb. 11.
The union said those deals also included pay raises of more than 12% over three years, staffing increases, artificial intelligence protections, no cuts or cost increases on health benefits, more safeguards against workplace violence, and other gains.
NewYork-Presbyterian nurses at that point rejected a similar proposal advanced by mediators.
The union said the new tentative agreement also preserves health benefits and includes workplace safety protections; details weren’t immediately released. In any event, comparisons between hospitals’ nursing contracts are complicated because facilities may have different units and other specifics.
The strike prompted the hospitals to hire legions of temporary nurses to fill in staffing gaps during a demanding flu season, raising concerns among some of the hospital system’s most vulnerable patients and their families.
During a bumpy, contentious negotiation, hospitals complained the union’s demands were unreasonable and exorbitant. Nurses countered that top hospital executives make millions of dollars a year while saddling nurses with unmanageable workloads.
An arbitrator this month awarded nearly $400,000 to some nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian’s Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital for having to work while short-staffed in 2023 and 2024, the union said, heralding the decision as evidence of the problems that prompted the strike. NewYork-Presbyterian responded that “safe staffing is always a priority” and that it has hired hundreds of nurses in the last three years.
The strike did not affect every hospital in the NewYork-Presbyterian, Mount Sinai and Montefiore systems, and nurses at city-run hospitals weren’t involved. Other private hospitals reached last-minute deals with the union.
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Associated Press writer Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton, New Jersey, contributed.
