New York City nurses at three major medical centers, citing slack progress in contract talks with hospitals, are going on strike Monday, their union said Sunday.
Nearly 15,000 nurses will walk off the job at medical centers in Manhattan and the Bronx operated by Mount Sinai, Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian, the New York State Nurses Association said.
“Unfortunately, greedy hospital executives have decided to put profits above safe patient care and force nurses out on strike when we would rather be at the bedsides of our patients,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said in a late-night statement.
In a briefing earlier Sunday, Hagans said, “Although we are willing to negotiate on salaries, they have failed to deliver meaningful counter proposals and are still threatening healthcare cuts for frontline nurses.” She added that nurses were “ready to bargain all day and night to avoid a strike tomorrow.”
But in a memo to employees Sunday afternoon, Mount Sinai CEO Dr. Brendan Carr said there was still a long list of items left to negotiate and "a labor disruption continues to appear to be very likely." The nurses’ prior agreements expired Dec. 31.
Angela Karafazli, a spokesperson for NewYork-Presbyterian, said during the last two days of “all-day” negotiating sessions, non-economic proposals were exchanged and a tentative agreement on one point was reached. She said NYSNA “refused” to respond to the hospital’s latest economic proposals.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani weighed in on the dispute publicly for the first time Sunday evening.
“The safety and wellbeing of this city is my top priority and ensuring New Yorkers have the care they need is critical, especially during flu season,” Mamdani said in a post on X, adding that his administration is closely monitoring the situation.
Mamdani, who was endorsed by NYSNA, also nodded to workers’ rights.
“No New Yorker should have to fear losing access to health care — and no nurse should be asked to accept less pay, fewer benefits or less dignity for doing lifesaving work,” Mamdani added. He urged the parties to remain at the table to “reach a deal that both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”
Representatives of the hospitals have denied they are trying to cut health benefits or roll back staffing protections, as the nurses’ union charges. And they have touted the security precautions they are already taking to protect staff and patients from violent incidents.
Hospitals have also characterized nurses’ salary asks as out of touch, especially in light of anticipated federal cuts to health care funding.
For Mount Sinai and Montefiore, this will be the second nurses strike in three years, following a three-day walkout in January 2023 — and the Nurses Association says this one will be the largest strike by nurses in city history.
“This could jeopardize the lives of thousands of New Yorkers and patients and I am strongly encouraging everyone to stay at the table, both sides, management and the nurses, until this is resolved,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday.
Hochul issued an executive order Friday declaring a disaster emergency in counties where the nurses are expected to strike. The order allows doctors, nurses and other clinicians who are licensed in other states and Canada to practice in New York.
Here’s what New Yorkers need to know as the strike threat looms.
When and where are nurses planning to strike?
Nurses are planning to walk out and hold rallies at multiple Mount Sinai locations starting at 6 a.m. and at hospitals operated by NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center starting at 7 a.m.
Strike Locations:
- Mount Sinai Hospital, Morningside and West
- NewYork-Presbyterian’s Allen Hospital, Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center
- Montefiore Medical Center’s Jack D. Weiler Hospital, Henry and Lucy Moses campus, Hutchinson campus and the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore
How are hospitals and the city preparing to keep patients safe?
Nurses strikes can pose a risk for patients. A study of nurses strikes in New York state between 1984 and 2004 found that the walkouts increased patient mortality rates. Following the last strike in 2023, the state initiated an investigation into the death of an infant in Mount Sinai’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that was first reported by Gothamist.
Hospital representatives and city and state officials say they are working to maintain services and keep patients safe.
The Office of Emergency Management says it will monitor hospital capacity and help the affected hospitals divert or transfer patients to other facilities as needed. Mamdani said he is also coordinating with the Fire Department and the city’s public hospital system.
Hochul said Sunday evening she will have state Department of Health staff onsite at the affected hospitals for the duration of the strike to oversee operations.
In a joint statement issued Thursday, the three hospital systems said, “A strike will pose challenges for sure, but our institutions will do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions to the delivery of the safe, high-quality care we are known for.”
That means bringing in outside staff. Mount Sinai has brought in more than 1,400 outside nurses in preparation for the strike, Carr said in his memo Sunday.
He added that patients were being assessed to determine if they could be discharged and some appointments and operations were being rescheduled.
Karafazli of NewYork-Presbyterian said all hospitals and emergency departments are open and that patients’ care teams will contact them directly if there are any changes to upcoming appointments or procedures.
NYSNA says it has filed unfair labor practice charges against Mount Sinai for making union nurses train their replacements.
Joe Solomonese, a spokesperson for Montefiore, said management is preparing for “what we anticipate could be a multi-week strike.” Montefiore maintains that its services will not be significantly impacted.
Where do negotiations stand?
The Nurses Association said on Sunday there were still major sticking points in contract negotiations.
Union officials have praised smaller hospitals with less revenue for settling contracts, while calling out “wealthy” Montefiore, NewYork-Presbyterian and Mount Sinai for not bargaining in good faith.
In addition to being at a standstill over salaries, nurses say management at the hospitals are trying to cut health benefits and roll back the staffing rules they won in previous contracts.
Nurses are also demanding additional safety protocols at hospitals to protect patients and staff from violence, including measures such as panic buttons and metal detectors. Nurses doubled down on those demands after the NYPD shot a man at New York-Presbyterian Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn Thursday who was allegedly threatening patients and staff.
Hospitals deny that they’re trying to cut nurses’ benefits and say they have worked to reduce staff vacancies in recent years and have robust security measures in place.
“We have proposed significant wage increases that keep our nurses among the highest paid in the region, enhancements to their already outstanding benefits, and new strategies that demonstrate our shared commitment to safe staffing,” NewYork-Presbyterian said in a statement.
In a memo sent to nurses in late December, which was shared with Gothamist, Maureen Scanlan, Montefiore’s chief nurse executive, said nurses get premium-free health insurance and have no copays within the Montefiore network. She added that Montefiore is committed to “continued, unchanged care.”
Hospitals have characterized nurses’ salary and benefit demands as out of touch, given looming federal health care cuts — but the Nurses Association says these large hospital systems can afford them.
Smaller hospitals that have already reached tentative deals with the union have agreed to match whatever salary increases are ultimately agreed to with Mount Sinai, Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian.
This story was updated with additional comment.
