Nearly 15,000 nurses are on strike Monday at three of New York's major private hospitals to protest their working conditions, particularly in terms of safety and social benefits, according to their union.
"After months of negotiations," their employers "refuse to make significant progress" in "ensuring adequate staffing, fully funding nurses' health benefits, and protecting them from workplace violence," the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) said in a statement.
This strike is the most important for this profession in the city's history, the union asserts.
In a decree signed Friday, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul stated that this social movement, occurring at the peak of winter illnesses, risked having "an impact on the availability and delivery of care, thus threatening public health."
To protect themselves, the three hospital groups involved released or transferred patients, cancelled some surgical procedures and resorted to temporary recruitment.
“With 1,400 qualified and specialized nurses, we are ready to continue providing patient care throughout this strike,” the Mount Sinai group promised in a statement Monday. Regarding NYSNA’s demands, it deemed them “extreme” and added that it “cannot accept them.”
New York's new mayor, Democrat Zohran Mamdani, came to show his support for the strikers at a press conference in the morning.
"We see the work you are doing, we believe that this work deserves to be recognized and we stand with you in this struggle," he said, calling on the parties to "immediately return to the negotiating table and to negotiate in good faith."
In January 2023, some 7,000 nurses went on strike for three days, eventually obtaining measures against staff shortages.
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