Mount Sinai spokeswoman Lucia Lee said the union walked out of negotiations shortly after 1 a.m. Representatives from both hospitals said the union rejected the same nearly 20-percent wage increase proposal that nurses at peer institutions accepted in previous bargaining talks.
New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) in a statement urged all parties to “remain at the bargaining table for however long it takes to reach a voluntary agreement.”
Nursing unions across the country have pushed for staffing improvements since the start of the pandemic, citing burnout they contend has depleted patient care capabilities and placed health care professionals in harm’s way.
More than 400 nurses walked off the job at a Chicago hospital on Jan. 3, for a three-day strike after layoffs exacerbated staffing shortages. Nurses in Oakland and Berkeley, Calif., held a five-day strike beginning Christmas Eve. Another 400 health care workers — including nursing assistants, surgical technicians, pharmacists, dietitians and lab assistants — launched a five-day strike in Marina del Rey, Calif., on Dec. 12, over similar concerns.
New York nurses were able to reach agreements with seven other hospitals around a common bargaining framework. Nurses will get close to 20-percent salary increases over three years, and the hospitals agreed to improved staffing standards.
“Since [New York City] nurses started negotiating our contracts four months ago, we have said our number one issue is the crisis of chronic understaffing that harms patient care,” New York State Nurses Association President Nancy Hagans told reporters Friday. “Safe staffing is about having enough nurses to deliver safe, quality care to every patient. It is the issue that our employers have ignored, made excuses about, and fought against us on.”
Montefiore in statement said nurses “decided to walk away from the bedsides of the patients” in the strike, and said the work stoppage “will spark fear and uncertainty across our community.”
“Our first priority is the safety of our patients. We’re prepared to minimize disruption, and we encourage Mount Sinai nurses to continue providing the world-class care they’re known for, in spite of NYSNA’s strike,” Lee, the Mount Sinai spokeswoman, said in a statement.
The union in a post on Twitter said patients going to either hospital system “is NOT crossing our strike line.” It invited patients to join demonstrations after receiving care.