NYC Nurses Strike Ends: 7,000 Return to Work Today as Union Announces ‘Historic Victory’

More than 7,000 nurses at two of New York’s largest hospitals are returning to work after tentative agreements were reached overnight aimed at reaching a key union stumbling block, improving staffing, ending a three-day strike that disrupted the care of thousands of patients. announced by the parties.

Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and Mount Sinai’s main campus on the east side of Manhattan reached immediate return-to-work arrangements, allowing thousands of nurses to return to bed on Thursday, providing critical care to patients on the front lines and giving new assurances to their families and friends.

At Mount Sinai, nurses will return to the hospital at 7 a.m. after winning a full safe staffing ratio for all inpatient departments with firm enforcement to ensure there are always enough nurses at the bedside to provide safe patient care, the union said. The new staffing ratios go into effect immediately, in what the New York State Nurses Association called a historic breakthrough for the hospital, which it says has refused to honor the ratios nurses have been demanding for decades.

Montefiore nurses will also return to work Thursday after winning new safe staffing ratios in the emergency department, with new staffing language and financial penalties for not meeting safe staffing levels across all departments. The nurses also pushed for improved public health and nurse-student partnerships to hire local Bronx nurses to stay union nurses in Montefiore for the long term, NYSNA said.

This pre-deal came first: Montefiore announced a pre-deal on a contract that includes a 19.1% pay increase, more than 170 new nursing positions, and additional resources dedicated to hiring and retaining in addition to maintaining “excellent” fully paid benefits. the hospital said. The new contract will be ratified next week.

“We have come into these talks with great respect for our nurses and with proposals that reflect their priorities in terms of pay, benefits, safety and staffing,” Montefiore Medicine president and CEO Dr. Philip Ozua said in a statement. “We are grateful for the dedication and dedication of our nurses who have worked under very difficult conditions over the past few years.”

The deal also includes the retention of fully funded health care for eligible nurses and lifetime health insurance for eligible retired nurses; $5 an hour increase in tutor and nurse wages over standard wages; increasing the number of nurses with floating pools in emergency departments; and continuing to significantly expand the nursing education infrastructure in emergency departments.

In Montefiore and Mount Sinai, the third day of the nurses’ strike continues. Gus Rosendale reports.

Montefiore and Mount Sinai were the latest in a group of hospitals with contracts that expired at the same time on Monday.

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans called the deals a “historic victory” for nurses in New York and across the country.

“NYSNA nurses have been doing the impossible saving lives day and night throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and now we’ve shown once again that nothing is impossible for nurse heroes,” Hagan said. “Thanks to our unity and putting everything on the line, we achieved a mandatory safe ratio of staff both in Montefiore and at Mount Sinai, where nurses went on strike demanding patient care. Today, we can return to work with our heads held high, knowing that our wins mean safer care for our patients and more stable jobs for our profession.”

Nurses at Wyckoff Hospital also struck a preliminary deal overnight and withdrew their 10-day strike notice, NYSNA said.