NYC nurses strike enters day 5: What to know going into the weekend
NEW YORK - New York City’s largest nurses strike in history entered its fifth day Friday, heading into the weekend with no agreement reached despite renewed negotiations and federal mediation.
SKIP TO: What they're saying | Negotiations
What we know:
The strike began early Monday morning, when an estimated 15,000 nurses walked off the job at hospitals within the Mount Sinai, Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian systems. Nurses remain on picket lines as both sides returned to the bargaining table following an initial negotiating session Thursday night.
Leaders of the New York State Nurses Association were expected to meet again Friday with hospital management, this time with the help of a federal mediator, after talks failed to produce a deal earlier in the week.
Hospitals say proposals 'remain unreasonable'
What they're saying:
NewYork-Presbyterian said late Thursday that negotiations lasted several hours and focused primarily on staffing levels.
In a statement, the hospital said the union’s proposals "remain unreasonable" and that the two sides are still far apart, though it said management remains committed to bargaining in good faith. Future talks will be scheduled through the mediator, the hospital said.
All three hospital systems say their hospitals and emergency departments remain open and are operating normally.
Tensions rise
NEW YORK, US - JANUARY 11: Nurses at two of New York City's biggest hospitals are on the third day of their strike over contract negotiations on January 11, 2022. (Photo by Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Tensions between hospital management and nurses have remained high throughout the week. The nurses union has accused Mount Sinai of union busting after the hospital fired three nurses shortly before the strike began. Mount Sinai has said the nurses were terminated for interfering with patient safety, an allegation the nurses deny.
The union says nurses are striking over pay, staffing levels, fully funded health benefits and protections from workplace violence, as well as concerns about job security and the increasing use of artificial intelligence in health care. Hospital officials have repeatedly described the union’s demands as unrealistic.
Latest on the negotiations
The president of the New York State Nurses Association said negotiations remain stalled with Mount Sinai’s Morningside and West campuses, which negotiate under a separate contract. She accused those facilities of refusing to return to the bargaining table.
Mount Sinai says it has brought in about 1,400 traveling nurses to help maintain staffing during the strike. Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian have also relied on temporary staff.
When will the strike end?
State health officials continue to monitor the situation, and city emergency management officials say they are prepared to move patients if necessary.
With mediation now underway, it remains unclear whether the strike will extend beyond the weekend.
The Source: This report is based on information from the NYSNA.