The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) has canceled its planned strikes at five safety-net hospitals in Brooklyn and Staten Island. On Jan. 6, the union said it had made progress negotiating fair contracts with these hospitals and, as a result, was withdrawing its 10-day pre-strike notices.
These hospitals – Interfaith Medical Center, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, Maimonides Medical Center, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, and Richmond University Medical Center – are mandated to provide care to all patients, regardless of their ability to pay; they primarily serve the uninsured and Medicaid recipients.
The NYSNA said it withdrew the potential strike by some 4,000 nurses at these safety-net facilities, even though final contracts have not yet been signed. The union said that after reaching preliminary agreements with management, the strike could be called off. The agreements with the facilities offer nurses comprehensive healthcare coverage; better, enforceable staffing ratios; enhanced workplace safety; protections for vulnerable patients; preservation of ongoing pension plans without reductions; and the development of a model AI language system to guarantee that patients are consistently attended to by a qualified nurse at their bedside.
“NYSNA nurses will be bargaining with management at these five safety-net facilities every day this week,” a statement from the union said, “with the mutual goal of settling their contracts by Friday, after which NYSNA membership would vote on whether to ratify their contracts.”
That vote would be for the same proposed arrangements NYSNA is trying to get at seven private hospitals, where 16,700 nurses are still planning to go on strike starting January 12.
Still, contract agreements have not been reached with private hospitals like Montefiore Medical Center, Mount Sinai, and New York-Presbyterian. During a press briefing on Wednesday, Jan. 7, NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said these hospitals are holding out because they want to challenge the contract agreements they made with the union three years ago.
Hagans claimed private hospitals have been paying hundreds of millions to spy on and try to intimidate their nurses. She said the union has filed unfair labor practice charges against Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and New York-Presbyterian for violating labor law.
“The charges include spying on nurses, threatening nurses with job loss, coercing nurses to train temporary replacements during the strike, and retaliating against frontline nurses for speaking out about workplace violence after the recent active shooter incident and for protected union activities,” Hagans explained during a press briefing. “These wealthy private hospitals seem to have little interest in settling a fair contract. Instead, they seem to be trying to force nurses out on strike. “We call this union busting,” Hagans continued. “That’s what we’re calling it, and it is disgusting. Presbyterian, Montefiore, and Mount Sinai, three of New York City’s wealthiest private hospitals, claimed that they cannot afford to settle a fair union contract that keeps nurses and patients safe, but they seem to have cash on hand to fight their own workers.”
But the private hospitals are countering NYSNA’s assertions. A source close to the negotiations at Montefiore Medical Center said NYSNA leadership’s claim that nurses’ healthcare benefits are threatened is false. They said that Montefiore has stated from the beginning that existing healthcare coverage will not change. In copies of an email sent to NYSNA nurses, a hospital supervisor wrote, “[Y]our existing healthcare coverage will stay exactly as it is. And you have it in writing.”
At Mount Sinai, management claims that NYSNA doesn’t have the full support of nurses working at its hospital. “We already have heard from many nurses that they disagree with NYSNA leadership potentially forcing them to walk away from patients’ bedsides,” the hospital said in a statement. “Some nurses have already asked if they don’t have to strike or if they can get paid, keep their benefits, and stay with their patients during a strike. We have provided them with operational information and will do the same for any nurse who wants to continue working.”
“NYSNA leadership’s reckless and irresponsible demands totaling $3.6 billion, including a nearly 40% wage increase, clearly put patients at risk,” said Joe Solmonese, Montefiore Medical Center’s senior vice president of strategic communications. “We are resolute in devoting whatever resources are necessary to safe and seamless care for our community.”