(NewsReady.com) – At the end of December, eight New York City hospitals received notices warning them of an impending nursing strike. The healthcare workers were still not happy with the offer presented to them after negotiating for months. Most of the hospitals reached an agreement before the deadline. However, the nurses union was not satisfied with the offers from two of the healthcare institutions. The strike began — but it ended just days later.
On January 9, nurses at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, totaling roughly 7,000 nurses, began their strike. Days later, on January 12, the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) released a statement announcing the strike was over. According to the union, the three-day strike ended after it reached tentative deals with Mount Sinai and Montefiore.
Nurses are heading back to work this morning! We were joined by @NYSAFLCIO Pres. Cilento and @GovHochul to celebrate our tentative agreements and greet nurses as we head back to keep NYC safe and healthy! pic.twitter.com/A5QUMFk37G
— NYSNA (@nynurses) January 12, 2023
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans called the agreement “a historic victory” for the city’s nurses. She applauded the healthcare workers for doing so much over the last three years and called them “heroes.” The agreement reached allows for “wall-to-wall safe staffing ratios” for inpatient units, ensuring enough nurses will be on hand to care for all patients. That begins immediately, the NYSNA stated.
Nurses originally went on strike after complaining about chronic understaffing that they believed was putting patients at risk. When an agreement was not reached prior to the walk-out, the union released a statement on Twitter slamming the hospitals for refusing to fix the issue.
Incredible first day of #NYCNurseStrike! Thank you to all the nurses, community members and local leaders supporting our fight for safe staffing and better patient care!
Can’t stop, won’t stop until we get a fair contract! pic.twitter.com/M9Joi5D7ON
— NYSNA (@nynurses) January 10, 2023
Montefiore Medical Center released a statement after reaching the tentative agreement, celebrating the end of the strike. The press release stated the hospital’s exclusive focus was on making sure the nurses had the “best possible working environment.”
Mount Sinai released a short message on Twitter saying the hospital was happy the strike was over.
Update on the NYSNA Negotiations at The Mount Sinai Hospital:
The strike is over and we have an agreement. Thank you, Mount Sinai team, for your unwavering dedication to world-class patient care. pic.twitter.com/zztOqooexQ
— Mount Sinai Health System (@MountSinaiNYC) January 12, 2023
Nurses will have to vote to ratify the new contracts.
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