Nearly 9,000 nurses threaten to go on strike at four major NYC hospitals if they don’t agree on salaries and staffing by Monday morning
New York City (WABC) — About 9,000 nurses from four New York City hospitals could hit the picket line earlier this week.
They are fighting for better wages and staffing, and many nurses will go on strike if no agreement is reached by 6 a.m. Monday.
The biggest problem with the impending strike is the poor nurse-to-patient ratio.
Hospitals that may be affected by the strike include Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Morningside, Mount Sinai West and Montefiore if no new contracts are signed by the deadline.
The union says Montefiore’s emergency department is extremely busy and simply has too few nurses.
Emergency room nurses complain of having to tend to patients in hallways, and areas with more than 30 beds remain empty, in part because of staffing levels.
“When we can’t get primary care, they’re coming to our emergency rooms, causing overcrowding,” said Montefiore nurse Jonilla Delaunay Florian. It can be used to be taken out of the hallway and put into bed like anyone else.”
The New York State Nursing Association will provide an update on Sunday at 11:30 am.
Association president Nancy Hagans said the remaining hospitals, with the exception of the main campus at Mount Sinai, are in negotiations.
Mount Sinai began moving vulnerable patients, including vulnerable newborns in intensive care, during this looming strike. Other strike contingency plans include canceling non-emergency procedures.
in an internal memo, Mount Sinai informed staff of “aggressive plans” in response to the threat of a strike. This includes “bypassing most of the ambulances”, “canceling some elective surgeries…performing emergency surgeries only”, and “starting to move patients”. They have been transferred to other hospitals and “we are working to discharge an adequate number of patients safely.”
Dr. Francis Cartwright is Chief Nursing Officer at Mount Sinai.
“Talk about vulnerable patients, defenseless little babies,” Cartwright said. must be erected
Nurses are being offered a pay raise of nearly 20%, but they also want their staff to improve.
“Right now we are negotiating safe patient-to-nurse ratios at other hospitals, including Mount Sinai,” Hagans said. I strongly urge you to negotiate with your Master.
Officials at Mount Sinai’s main campus declined talks on Thursday night, according to the nurses union.
Negotiations at Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai Morningside took place Friday afternoon and early evening. Officials at Mount Sinai Hospital’s main her campus hope Saturday morning’s talks with nurses will lead to some agreements.
Mount Sinai has proposed an 18% wage increase for nurses over the next three years, according to an internal memo shared Thursday night. Over the next three years she will increase by 7%, 6%, 5% and year by year she will increase to 19.1%.
The hospital believes it is similar to the price increases previously agreed by nurses in negotiations with New York-Presbyterian. But Mount His Sinai management left at midnight and canceled Friday’s negotiating session, Mr Hagans said.
Similarly, Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx not only proposed an 18% wage increase, but said it “fully funded lifelong care and significantly increased its emergency department registered nurses.”
Commenting on the situation Friday morning, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she played a “very important role” in negotiations and was in “constant conversations” with hospitals and unions.
“I fully expect this to be resolved as there is no alternative,” she said. “We have to take care of the people of New York.”
The New York State Nurses Association has clarified that a key bargaining point around key staffing issues is the implementation of staffing ratios.
New York Presbyterian Church contractual provisions require that staff-to-patient ratios be enforced by mediators rather than making non-mandatory recommendations on staffing levels.
The union announced Thursday an agreement with Maimonides Health and the University of Richmond Medical Center.
Also read: New York mayor calls out de Blasio for criticism of team management
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https://abc7ny.com/nurses-hospital-strike-nyc/12674802/ Nearly 9,000 nurses threaten to go on strike at four major NYC hospitals if they don’t agree on salaries and staffing by Monday morning
