Negotiators for major New York City hospital systems and the state nurses union will return to the bargaining table Friday as the city’s largest nurses strike enters its fifth day.
Montefiore and Mount Sinai Health are expected to hold bargaining sessions with the New York State Nurses Association for the first time since the strike started, but NewYork-Presbyterian is not expected to meet today.
A late-night bargaining session
NYSNA and NewYork-Presbyterian met with a mediator for hours last night, marking the very first round of negotiations since roughly 15,000 nurses started picketing Monday, but they failed to make enough progress to reach a deal.
The hospital said the late-night discussions focused on staffing and that NYSNA’s proposals remain unreasonable, adding future meetings will be scheduled through a mediator.
Striking nurses demonstrate outside Mt. Sinai Hospital on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026.
Richard Drew / AP
The striking nurses have been getting support from other city unions, including the Uniformed Firefighters Association, which represents FDNY members, who joined picket lines Thursday.
5 hospitals involved in negotiations
NYSNA has been accusing the three hospital systems of refusing to improve staffing levels, health care benefits and workplace safety at five hospitals:
- The Mount Sinai Hospital, Manhattan
- Mount Sinai Morningside, Manhattan
- Mount Sinai West, Manhattan
- NewYork-Presbyterian, Manhattan
- Montefiore Einstein, the Bronx.
Montefiore said it has rolled out several key programs to keep nurses safe at work, including widespread deployment of weapons detection capabilities, paying for round-the-clock armed NYPD members and issuing nurses wearable panic buttons.
NewYork-Presbyterian also said it is committed to safe staffing and added that the hospital has the best staffing ratios in the city.
Mount Sinai CEO accuses union of bullying and intimidation
Mount Sinai Health System said in a statement the union’s proposals “would cost $1.6 billion over three years just at The Mount Sinai Hospital, raising average nurse pay to close to $250,000.”
“This hospital makes a good profit off of its patients. It should actually take care of the people that’s taking care of its patients,” said Michel Ng, a nurse a Mount Sinai West.
Dr. Brendan Carr, CEO of Mount Sinai Health, accused the nurses union of harassing and intimidating nurses who are not participating in the strike.
“Bullying, intimidating and threatening devalues nurses, undermines our culture and is not consistent with our values at Mount Sinai. You deserve better,” Carr said in a video statement.
Picketing nurses said they’ve only been trying to communicate with and educate their colleagues on the pros and cons of the strike.
Mount Sinai Health said 23% of its nurses have returned to work since the strike started Monday.
contributed to this report.
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