New York City nurses reach tentative agreement with hospitals, will return to work Thursday morning

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — Nurses at Montefiore and Mount Sinai have reached tentative agreements with the hospital and will return to work Thursday.

The New York State Nurses Association was on strike since Monday, demanding better pay and nurse to patient ratio.

“This is a historic victory for New York City nurses and for nurses across the country. NYSNA nurses have done the impossible, saving lives night and day, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and now we’ve again shown that nothing is impossible for nurse heroes. Through our unity and by putting it all on the line, we won enforceable safe staffing ratios at both Montefiore and Mount Sinai where nurses went on strike for patient care,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said.

Mount Sinai sent out a short statement saying in part, “Our proposed agreement is similar to those between NYSNA and eight other New York City hospitals. It is fair and responsible, and it puts patients first.”

Nurses say that with this agreement, there will always be enough nurses at the bedside to provide safe patient care, not just on paper. New staffing ratios take effect immediately.

According to the nurses, there are more than 500 open positions are Mount Sinai alone.

Meanwhile at Montefiore, their agreement includes a 19 percent raise and 170 nursing positions, an increase in what’s called float pool nurses. This will add more registered nurses and nurse practitioners to the emergency departments.

Nurses also won nursing student partnerships to recruit local Bronx nurses to stay as union nurses at Montefiore for the long-run.

“This is a historic victory for New York City nurses and for nurses across the country. NYSNA nurses have done the impossible, saving lives night and day, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and now we’ve again shown that nothing is impossible for nurse heroes. Through our unity and by putting it all on the line, we won enforceable safe staffing ratios at both Montefiore and Mount Sinai where nurses went on strike for patient care,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said.

Both facilities have agreed to immediate return-to-work agreements so nurses will be back at the bedside with patients today.

Nurses at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, who had been threatening to strike starting January 17, also reached a tentative deal and withdrew their 10-day strike notice.

Had a tentative agreement not been reached today, Mount Sinai had traveling nurses in the city who would have been ready to start.

As many as 3,500 nurses at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and about 3,600 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan walked off the job Monday after last-minute talks to prevent the strike broke down.

“We love our job. We want to take care of our patients. But we just want to do it safely and in a humane way, where we feel appreciated,” one nurse said.

Earlier this week, the union announced that Flushing Hospital Medical Center, Richmond University Medical Center, and BronxCare all approved their contracts.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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