New York City nurses strike outside Mount Sinai Hospital
More than 7,000 nurses at two New York City hospitals began a walkout at 6 a.m. Monday after contract negotiations broke down overnight. (@ashleymac02 / POLITICALLY+ /TMX)
New York City nurses are heard demanding "no more patients in hallways" on the picketing line outside two major hospitals as their strike enters a third day Wednesday.
The New York State Nurses Association, a union representing some 40,000 members across the state, said Wednesday that nurses at Montefiore Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan "will be back on the picket lines from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and every day until agreements can be reached."
More than 7,000 walked off the job Monday and Tuesday at the two major hospitals. Nurses took also decried the state of their emergency departments on social media, saying hallways are crowded with beds and staffers, causing what they describe as a fire hazard and threat to patient safety.
The union condemned unsafe patient-to-staffing ratios – providing the example of one nurse in the Montefiore Emergency Department who often cares for up to 20 patients and another neonatal intensive care unit nurse at Mt. Sinai who is often responsible for three to four very ill babies at once. Mount Sinai Main has about 3,000 nurses on staff and 500 vacancies.
Nurses shout slogans and hold signs during a nursing strike outside Mount Sinai Hospital on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
While New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other city officials voiced support for the nurses on strike, crediting them for remaining on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, the administration was forced to launch a "situation room" to monitor hospital operations in real-time and redirect ambulances if necessary.
New York Attorney General Letitia James joined the Mount Sinai picketing line Monday and reasserted the nurses’ stance that the strike was not about money, but safety.
A nursing strike that has disrupted patient care at two of New York City's largest hospitals has entered its second day Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Meanwhile, Mount Sinai Hospital ripped NYSNA for its "reckless behavior" in rejecting New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal for binding arbitration, forcing nurses to leave their patients’ bedsides. Temporary nurses were hired to help mitigate the walk-out. In a statement Monday, Mount Sinai Main said nursing union leadership had refused to accept the exact same 19.1% increased wage offer agreed to by eight other hospitals, including two other Mount Sinai campuses.
A protester shouts and holds a placard from inside a car during a nursing strike outside Mount Sinai Hospital on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
"The key sticking point in negotiations is making sure there are enough nurses at the bedside to safely care for patients," the union countered in a statement Wednesday. "Neither Mount Sinai nor Montefiore have agreed to nurses’ proposals to enforce safe staffing levels, even though nurses have been sounding the alarm about the crisis of understaffing that harms patient care."
A nursing union official said Tuesday Jan. 10, 2023, that progress was being made toward a possible settlement at one of the institutions. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
The union contends that hospital executives paid themselves millions in salaries and bonuses during the pandemic at the same time they hiked hospital prices. Top executives at NYC hospitals increased their compensation by 10% between 2019 and 2020, according to institutional cost reports from the state Department of Health.
Top executives' total compensation reportedly on average is $1.1 million.
Talks resumed late Tuesday at Mount Sinai Hospital, but no deal was reached. Both parties hadn’t returned to the table after bargaining broke down around 1 a.m. Monday. Meanwhile, bargaining has continued at Montefiore but still no tentative agreement has been reached by Wednesday morning.
As nurses walked the picket lines, Montefiore Medical Center and Mount Sinai Hospital postponed nonemergency surgeries, diverted ambulances and hired temporary staffers to cope with the walkout Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
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Meanwhile, NYSNA nurses at Mount Sinai Morningside and West approved a new contract by over 70 percent on Tuesday afternoon, according to the union. Before some weekend negotiations succeeded, Monday's strike was initially expected to incorporate another six hospitals, meaning it would have involved a total of more than 10,000 nurses.
Fox News’ Jeremy Copas contributed to this report.
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