FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023
Contact: Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org | 646-853-4489
Eliza M. Bates | eliza.bates@nysna.org |646-285-8491
After 3 days on strike for safe staffing, nurses at both hospitals to return to work on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023
7K NYSNA RNs flexed power and won enforceable safe staffing ratios in tentative deals reached in late hours of the night
Strike averted at Wyckoff as nurses there also reach tentative deal
New York, NY—New York City nurses strike for safe staffing to end this morning in historic victory as tentative deals were reached with both Montefiore Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital. Nurses won concrete enforceable safe staffing ratios in both deals and will be back on the job starting this morning.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN released the following statement:
“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. Today, we can return to work with our heads held high, knowing that our victory means safer care for our patients and more sustainable jobs for our profession.”
Mount Sinai nurses will walk back into the hospital this morning at 7 AM after winning wall-to-wall safe staffing ratios for all inpatient units with firm enforcement so that there will always be enough nurses at the bedside to provide safe patient care, not just on paper. New staffing ratios take effect immediately in a historic breakthrough for hospitals that refused to consider ratios that nurses have been demanding for decades.
At Montefiore, nurses will also return to work this morning after winning new safe staffing ratios in the Emergency Department, with new staffing language and financial penalties for failing to comply with safe staffing levels in all units. Nurses also won community health improvements and nurse-student partnerships to recruit local Bronx nurses to stay as union nurses at Montefiore for the long run.
Both facilities have agreed to immediate return-to-work agreements so nurses will be back at the bedside with patients today.
Nurses at Wyckoff hospital also reached a tentative deal in the night and withdrew their 10-day strike notice.
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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. For more information, visit nysna.org.
