NYC Nurses Strike Ends As Deal Struck After Nearly 4 Days

NEW YORK CITY — Roughly 7,000 nurses ended a days-long strike Thursday after union leaders claimed victory over two major New York City hospital systems.

Union representatives struck tentative deals with Montefiore Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital executives in the dead of night, the New York State Nurses Association declared.

The deals address nurses' concerns over safe staffing ratios, according to the union. For Adriel Ng — a 28-year-old Mount Sinai nurse — the deal represented "overwhelming relief and victory."

"I’m glad to have it over with and wonder what changes will tangibly be put into effect," she told Patch.

Ng said she spent Thursday morning checking in on coworkers who returned to their schedules shifts, as well as awaiting details on the agreement.

Union leaders said the deals guarantee enforceable safe staffing ratios — a major concern for the hospitals' nurses, who spent nearly four days on the picket lines.

All inpatient units at Mount Sinai will have enough nurses at bedsides, rather than on paper, union leaders said. Montefiore's emergency department will have safe staffing ratios enforced by financial penalties if the number of nurses fall short, according to the union.

Montefiore hospital representatives said the deal included a wage increase for nurses.

“We are pleased to offer a 19% wage increase, benefits that match or exceed those of our peer institutions, more than 170 new nursing positions and a generous plan to address recruitment and retention," said Philip Ozuah, the hospital's president and CEO, in a statement.

Another tentative deal was struck at Wyckoff Hospital that will avert a potential strike, union leaders said.

The deals are a historic victory, said Nancy Hagans, president of the New York State Nurses Association.

"Through our unity and by putting it all on the line, we won enforceable safe staffing ratios at both Montefiore and Mount Sinai where nurses went on strike for patient care," she said in a statement.

"Today, we can return to work with our heads held high, knowing that our victory means safer care for our patients and more sustainable jobs for our profession."

Patch writer Peter Senzamici contributed to this report.