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Nearly 16,000 nurses in New York City are set to strike on Monday amid a battle over pay during contract negotiations.
The action, due to take place across five large hospitals, is being organized by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), which is demanding the hospitals put patients over profit.
The hospitals insist they continue to bargain in good faith, and have accused the union of trying to disrupt patient care.
CEO compensation at three hospitals – Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and New York Presbyterian – is nearly 12,000 times more than that of the average nurse, according to the union.
Nancy Hagans, president of NYSNA, who has worked at Maimonides medical center in Brooklyn for over 30 years, told the Guardian that the hospitals are pushing to scale back safe staffing ratios, refusing to guarantee healthcare benefit coverage for nurses, and declining to address workplace safety issues.
Three of the major hospitals involved in contract negotiations have $1.6bn cash or cash equivalent on hand, according to the union, which said they have already started hiring travel nurses to replace those striking in preparation for a strike.
“What we are asking them is to take those millions and invest it into the community so we could continue to work to care for our patients, invest it into staffing, invest those millions into our medical coverage so we could come to work,” said Hagans. “We’re not taking this lightly. We’re not asking to strike. Management is the one who’s telling us that we need to strike. They are the ones putting us on the picket line.”
She cited safety issues that stem from a drastic increase of assaults on healthcare workers since the Covid-19 pandemic, and an active shooter incident at Mount Sinai last November, where three nurses were reportedly disciplined for speaking out afterwards.
“The large, wealthy hospitals are much better off financially than they were three years ago, but yet they’re asking for takeaways,” claimed Hagans. “They told us to choose between our wages or keeping our healthcare and safe staffing, because we cannot have it all. The safety of a patient should never be a bargaining chip. Nurses will not cut corners on patients and their safety. Nurses are just demanding that New York City private hospitals put patients over profit.”
Nurses represented by NYSNA issued 10-day strike notices on 2 January at a string of New York hospitals. On Tuesday, seven of the smaller hospitals moved forward in contract negotiations, with the union rescinding their strike notice.
About 1,000 nurses at three Northwell hospitals in Long Island have also issued strike notices.
“Our nurses have been at the bargaining table since September 2025 with little to no movement,” said Simone Way, a member of the NYSNA executive committee, and a nurse at Mount Sinai Morningside hospital. “Even though we started this process in September, there have been committees in the hospital having these same discussions on staffing since January 2025, so it’s no surprise to our management the things nurses feel we need.”
Way also criticized hospital management’s efforts to blame the strike on nurses, claiming they are putting patients at risk and asking for too much. “They do have the money, but they don’t appear to be willing to invest that money in their nurses or into the ability for us to provide the best care humanly possible to our patients,” she said.
Mount Sinai denied retaliation claims against nurses following November’s active-shooter incident, and denied attempting to take away healthcare benefits for nurses. A spokesperson said: “We are continuing to bargain in good faith in the hopes of reaching an agreement that is fair, reasonable, and responsible, but unfortunately just a week before a potential strike NYSNA has refused to move off of its extreme economic proposals that demand hospitals like ours spend billions of dollars on increased nursing compensation and additional hires.”
They claimed “most of the union’s claims about bargaining are untrue”, and confirmed that the hospital is taking steps to prepare in case of a strike.
New York Presbyterian blamed the union for not budging on wages. “NYSNA’s threatened strike is intended to disrupt patient care across the city,” a spokesperson said. “We have taken the necessary steps to ensure that our patients will continue to receive safe, exceptional care. We will always meet our fundamental obligation to the communities we serve.”
Montefiore did not respond to requests for comment.
