New York, N.Y. – On Monday, Dec. 22, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) nurses announce a strike authorization for 12 New York City private sector hospitals whose contracts expire on Dec. 31, 2025.
New York City nurses are demanding that hospitals do their part to protect safe patient care. This includes a fair contract that ensures enforceable safe staffing, protections for vulnerable patients, health and safety and workplace violence protections, safeguards on the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare, and fair wages and benefits to recruit and retain nurses. Instead of agreeing to fair contracts that protect safe patient care, hospitals have responded to nurses’ demands with avoidance and delays. Employers have yet to make serious economic counterproposals, and some have proposed givebacks that would harm nurses’ ability to deliver safe patient care.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “We became nurses because we care about our patients deeply and do not take striking lightly. It is always a last resort. But it’s shameful that instead of trying to protect care and settle a fair contract, hospitals are dragging their feet and making proposals that would seriously erode care in this city. They should be trying to work with frontline nurses right now, not fighting against us. It’s shameful that they would try to hold healthcare coverage hostage for the nurses who care for this city’s communities.”
Some hospitals have retaliated against nurses speaking out for a fair contract and improved working conditions. After an active shooter event brought safety issues at Mount Sinai into the public eye, Mount Sinai disciplined three outspoken nurses and has yet to rescind these disciplines or agree to concrete safety proposals. Nurses experience some of the highest rates of injury and workplace violence.
“Nurses are on the front lines of protecting public health in New York City every single day,” said New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO President Brendan Griffith. “By voting to authorize a strike, NYSNA nurses are making clear that safe patient care can’t be delayed, negotiated away, or treated as optional. When hospitals drag out negotiations, fail to address workplace safety, or refuse to invest in staffing, it’s working people and their families who pay the price. Hospital executives have a responsibility to bargain in good faith and reach a fair contract that ensures safe staffing, protects healthcare benefits, and provides safe working conditions for nurses who care for our communities. The New York City Labor Movement stands with these nurses as they fight for a healthcare system that works for working people and puts patients first.”
New Yorkers currently face a healthcare affordability crisis. Hospital prices in New York have increased at a rate significantly faster than the national average, despite the city’s efforts to rein in costs. Between 2017 and 2021, healthcare costs nationwide rose by 14%; in New York, they rose by over 18%. These increases have not coincided with commensurate investments in patient care as revenue per patient is rising. For example, between 2011 and 2022, at New York-Presbyterian, the operating profit per adjusted discharge nearly doubled, rising from $3,780 to $6,854. While prices in healthcare go up, so does executive pay at the largest private sector hospitals. In 2023, New York-Presbyterian CEO Steve Corwin raked in $14.6 million in total compensation — that’s over $1.2 million per month, and $40,000 per day.
Nurses at the following 12 hospitals voted overwhelmingly to authorize strikes: BronxCare Health System, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Flushing Hospital Medical Center, Interfaith Medical Center / One Brooklyn Health, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center / One Brooklyn Health, Maimonides Medical Center, Montefiore Medical Center, Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West, New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia University Medical Center, Richmond University Medical Center, and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center.
The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country’s largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members nationwide.
