Nurses at two New York City hospitals went on strike at 6 a.m. Monday after negotiations between the establishments and nurses’ union failed in a single day.
Though tentative deals had been reached in current days overlaying nurses at a number of space hospitals, roughly 7,100 nurses with the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) are on strike at The Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center within the Bronx.
Both hospitals launched statements forward of the 6 a.m. deadline saying that negotiations had failed in a single day.
“NYSNA leadership walked out of negotiations shortly after 1:00AM ET, refusing to accept the exact same 19.1 percent increased wage offer agreed to by eight other hospitals, including two other Mount Sinai Health System campuses, and disregarding the Governor’s solution to avoid a strike,” a Mount Sinai spokesperson stated in an announcement.
Montefiore’s negotiations failed simply hours later.
“Despite Montefiore’s offer of a 19.1% compounded wage increase – the same offer agreed to at the wealthiest of our peer institutions – and a commitment to create over 170 new nursing positions, and despite a call from Governor Hochul for arbitration, NYSNA’s leadership has decided to walk away from the bedsides of their patients,” the medical heart stated in an announcement.
In an announcement early Monday, NYSNA urged New Yorkers to not keep away from looking for care because the strike continues.
“To all of our patients, to all New Yorkers, we want to be absolutely clear: If you are sick, please do not delay getting medical care, regardless of whether we are on strike. Patients should seek hospital care immediately if they need it,” the assertion stated.
“We would rather be the ones providing that care, but our bosses have pushed us to be out here instead. We appreciate solidarity from our patients — but going into the hospital to get the care you need is NOT crossing our strike line. In fact, we invite you to come join us on the strike line after you’ve gotten the care you need. We are out here so we can provide better patient care to you!”
The union originally announced the potential strike for nurses at a number of of town’s largest personal hospitals in December.
Since then, agreements had been reached at Mount Sinai West, Mount Sinai Morningside, NewYork-Presbyterian, Maimonides Medical Center, Richmond University Medical Center and Flushing Hospital Medical Center, in accordance with NYSNA.
According to knowledge from the state’s Department of Health, Montefiore has the most important hospital mattress capability out of the two hospitals dealing with a strike Monday, with roughly 1,560 beds within the Bronx as of Jan. 5.
NYSNA represents over 42,000 members throughout the state, in accordance with the union.