New York City’s major private hospital nurses’ labor negotiations have reached an impasse, with nearly 16,000 nurses threatening to launch a strike as early as next Monday, January 12. The city government has begun emergency preparations for potential disruptions in medical services.
The New York City Emergency Management Office stated that they are coordinating with the entire hospital system in the city, and if the strike occurs, they will assist in patient transfers or diversions to ensure the stability of overall medical services.
The hospitals that may initiate the strike include Mount Sinai Hospitals in Manhattan and West, Sinai Morning Side Hospital, New York Presbyterian Hospital, and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. If nurses from these hospitals go on a full strike, it would become the largest nurse strike action in the history of New York City.
The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), representing the nurses, indicated that there are significant differences between labor and management on issues such as salary, benefits, staffing levels, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). The previous contract for the hospital nurses expired on December 31st last year.
However, the union also announced that progress has been made in negotiations with seven other hospitals, leading to the withdrawal of the planned strike notice.
In anticipation of a potential strike, Lucia Lee, a spokesperson for the Mount Sinai Health System, stated that the hospital system continues negotiations with the union while also preparing contingencies, including hiring external nursing staff, conducting workforce interruption drills, and integrating temporary staff into daily operations.
According to Mount Sinai Hospital, if all of the union’s demands are met, it would increase nurses’ average annual salary by over $100,000, but the union responded that this was an initial negotiation condition, not the latest version.
This is not the first time in recent years that a large-scale nurse strike has occurred. In January 2023, Mount Sinai Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center saw over 7,000 nurses going on strike for three days, significantly impacting the healthcare system.
Currently, both the city government and hospitals have stated they will continue monitoring the situation closely to ensure that essential medical services are maintained even in the event of a strike.