Nurses At 3 NYC Hospitals Threaten Strike For Safe Staffing

EAST HARLEM, NY — Nurses working at three of New York City's largest hospital systems announced their intention to strike Monday following dozens of unfruitful bargaining sessions between nurses union representatives and hospital executives.

Nurses at the Mt. Sinai, NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore hospital systems will go on strike April 2 if hospital executives and the NY State Nurses Association cannot come to an agreement on a new contract that provides adequate funding for the hiring of new nurses and ensures safe staffing levels, union officials announced during a Monday rally in front of East Harlem's Mt. Sinai Hospital.

More than 10,000 registered nurses are employed by the three hospital systems, according to the union. While 10,000 may seem like a large number, New York City's hospitals are in the midst of a "staffing crisis" with some nurses responsible for caring for as many as 19 patients at once, union officials said.

Nurses don't want to go on strike but have negotiating with hospitals 30 times without any progress being made on nurses' demands, Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, the RN President of the NY State Nurses Association, said Monday.

"Let me be perfectly clear, we do not want to go on strike. But we are here, we are strong and we are saying we will do whatever we have to do to protect our patients," Sheridan-Gonzalez said.

"We know what we need to take care of our patients. They don't!"

Sheridan-Gonzalez also decried the "vicious, corporate business model" of the healthcare system and the highly-paid hospital executives who make millions while claiming there's not enough money to hire more nurses.

New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said Monday that nurses shouldn't have to chose between "sitting with an incubated child or hang blood, or run to the ICU or be in the emergency room with unsafe staffing ratios."

"Call it whatever you want, we need more nurses in this contract," Johnson said.

The council speaker pledged the NY State Nurses Association the support of the council and cited a bill passed by the body in June that calls on the state legislature to mandate safer staffing ratios statewide.

Legislation is currently being considered by the State Assembly and State Senate that would set mandatory nurse to patient ratios at hospitals in New York state. The legislation, known as the "Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act" would allow no more than six patients per nurse in certain areas of the hospital and require stricter ratios such as one patient per nurse in areas such as operating rooms and trauma emergency facilities.