Nurses’ Strike Threat In Brooklyn Ends With Tentative Hospital Agreements

BROOKLYN, NY — A potentially crippling nurses’ strike at seven Brooklyn and Staten Island hospitals was averted Wednesday after the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) reached tentative agreements with the facilities.

NYSNA nurses rescinded their 10-day strike notices following the deals, which address pay, healthcare benefits, and working conditions.

Flushing Hospital Medical Center, Maimonides Medical Center, One Brooklyn Health’s Interfaith Medical Center, One Brooklyn Health’s Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, and Richmond University Medical Center reported major progress in negotiations this week.

Tentative agreements include:

• Guaranteeing and fully funding healthcare benefits for nurses
• Stronger safe staffing and staffing enforcement with remedies
• Protections from workplace violence
• Protections for vulnerable patients
• Continuing pension plans with no cuts
• A model AI language to ensure patients always have a real nurse at the bedside

Under union rules, a strike would have required at least 10 days’ notice, but NYSNA leaders said the hospitals’ willingness to negotiate allowed nurses to avoid a walkout.

In a statement, the union emphasized that the agreements reflect its commitment to fair staffing and patient safety, while stressing that nurses remain prepared to take further action if necessary.

"Our safety-net hospitals are taking significant steps toward settling fiscally responsible contracts that protect nurses and patients, while rich private hospitals like Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and NewYork-Presbyterian continue to throw away hundreds of millions of dollars to fight against frontline nurses," NYSNA President and Maimonides nurse Nancy Hagans said.

While the deals called off strike plans at the seven safety-net hospitals, nurses at several other New York City hospitals and three Northwell Health facilities on Long Island are still set to strike on Jan. 12 if contract talks fail — a move that could trigger the largest nurses’ strike in city history if agreements to protect patient and nurse safety are not reached.

The strike threat comes amid an ongoing flu surge, and the union argues hospital executives have not done enough to negotiate fair contracts that protect vulnerable New Yorkers.

Key sticking points include management’s refusal to guarantee healthcare benefits for frontline nurses, attempts to roll back safe staffing standards won during strikes at two major hospitals three years ago, and the lack of protections against workplace violence, despite a recent active shooter incident at Mount Sinai Hospital.

NYSNA has also accused management of threatening nurses who speak out about safety, interfering with union activities, and hiring traveling nurses to replace or intimidate staff, prompting the union to file unfair labor practice complaints.

Earlier this week, nearly 30 community-based organizations sent a letter of solidarity to NYSNA nurses, urging hospitals to “commit to a fair contract” and arguing that meeting nurses’ demands would offer a pathway to protecting the health and safety of local communities.

In Brooklyn, although final contracts are not yet settled, NYSNA nurses will continue daily bargaining with management at the five safety-net facilities this week, with the goal of reaching agreements by Friday before union members vote on whether to ratify the contracts.

"The safety-net hospitals that care for New York City’s most vulnerable patients are doing the right thing by guaranteeing healthcare benefits for nurses and agreeing to stronger safe staffing standards and protections from workplace violence," Hagans added. "New York City’s wealthiest hospitals should follow their lead."