Officials reported Thursday that two New York City hospitals have reached a tentative contract agreement with thousands of striking nurses, ending this week’s patient care disruption.
The New York State Nurses Association-represented nurses left Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx early Monday after negotiations with management failed. Each has 1,000+ beds and 3,500+ union, nurses.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul greeted returning nurses at Mount Sinai Thursday morning.
“They’ll earn a well-deserved 19% salary raise here,” Democratic Hochul said of the three-year pact. Better benefits, higher compensation for those with higher education, and again, a working atmosphere that lets them focus on patient care.”
The union says nurses who worked through the coronavirus pandemic are overworked because there are too many positions. Nurses report working extra, taking twice as many patients, and skipping meals and restroom breaks.
The union stated both institutions’ contracts have enforceable staffing ratios. The union said the Montefiore accord featured community health enhancements and nurse-student partnerships to attract Bronx nurses.
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“Through our solidarity and by putting it all on the line, we secured enforceable safe staffing ratios at both Montefiore and Mount Sinai when nurses went on strike for patient care,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans stated.
“Today, we can return to work with our heads held high, knowing that our triumph means safer patient care and more sustainable jobs for our profession.”
Private, nonprofit hospitals believe the pandemic exacerbated a nursing shortage.
“Our negotiation team has been working around the clock with NYSNA’s leadership to come to an agreement,” Montefiore added. “We bargained in good faith and addressed our nurse staff’s priorities from the start.”
The union pact gave nurses “the finest possible working environment, with considerable compensation and benefit gains,” the hospital claimed.
“We know this strike impacted everyone—not just our nurses—and we were dedicated to coming to a resolution as soon as possible to minimize disruption to patient care,” the hospital added.
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Mount Sinai said it was glad to have achieved a tentative deal and end the strike.
Our proposal is identical to NYSNA’s with eight additional NYC institutions. Mount Sinai Health System called it fair, responsible, and patient-centered.
As the strike deadline approached, several city private hospitals made agreements with the union. Three-year raises of 19% were included.
Before the strike, Mount Sinai and Montefiore offered similar pay raises.
