NEW YORK — Hundreds of NYSNA nurses from Health+Hospitals/Mayorals of New York City gathered to speak and march on H+H corporate headquarters on Wednesday as demands for health equity grow .
NYC H+H/Mayorals nurses care for the most vulnerable patients in the city and have been instrumental in saving lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. They serve a disproportionate number of uninsured and underinsured patients. However, New York City’s public hospitals have the least staff and resources, and their nurses are the lowest paid in the five boroughs.
“Our public sector nurses are under-resourced, understaffed and underpaid,” said NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN. “They do the same life-saving work as nurses in the private sector, but they are paid far less, and the pay disparity is only growing. We are all nurses. We demand health equity for our patients and communities, and demand pay equity for nurse workers at NYC Health+Hospitals and Mayorals”.
With a contract that expires on March 2, 2023, the NYC H+H/Mayorals nurses are demanding that the city negotiate a fair contract with pay equity for nurses and health equity for patients and communities.
New York City private sector nurses at 10 hospitals recently signed new contracts and tentative agreements which made historic gains in safe and compliance staff ratios, maintained quality health care benefits, and will increase wages by more than 19 percent in three years.
The pay disparity between public and private sector nurses will increase to more than $19,500 per year, which could further hurt public sector nurse retention efforts unless NYC H+H reactivates pay parity in the NYC H contract +H/Mayorals.
“Nurses are the backbone of our healthcare systems, providing care that saves lives,” said Council Member Carlina Rivera. “I stand in solidarity with these workers who deserve a fair contract and greater protections. I support the New York State Nurses Association in their march for health equity for communities and fight for improvements in the workplace.”
New York City Health+Hospitals is the largest public health system in the United States, serving 1.4 million New Yorkers each year, regardless of ability to pay, including 475,000 uninsured patients.
