What you should know
- About 3,500 nurses from Montefiore and 3,625 nurses from Mount Sinai went on strike at 6 a.m. Monday.
- Hospitals were preparing for the strike by transferring patients, diverting ambulances to other institutions, postponing non-urgent procedures and organizing the hiring of temporary staff.
- Gov. Kathy Hochul urged the union and hospitals Sunday night to submit their dispute to binding arbitration, but the Democrat cannot force either party into arbitration.
NEW YORK – The union that represents thousands of striking nurses at two of New York City’s largest hospitals is expected to hold a news conference Tuesday outside Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. This in the middle of the second consecutive day of strike in which salary and personnel increases are requested.
More than 7,000 nurses at Montefiore and Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan left work at 6 a.m. on Monday to go on strike after a new contract could not be agreed during lengthy negotiations over the weekend. Hospitals were preparing for action by transferring patients, diverting ambulances and canceling or postponing non-emergency procedures, as well as arranging temporary staffing, although disruptions to emergency room visits and delivery are likely.
The New York State Nurses Association said before the strike, and after it began, that no one wanted to leave, but said private non-profit hospitals had forced action. Three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the union says staff shortages remain a chronic problem and wages are not high enough to compensate.
Jed Basubas said he typically sees eight to 10 patients at a time, double the ideal number in the units where he works. Nurse Juliet Escalon said she sometimes skips bathroom breaks to care for patients.
The same goes for Ashleigh Woodside, who said her 12-hour shifts in the operating room are often stretched to 14 hours because staff shortages force her and others to work overtime.
“We love our job. We want to take care of our patients. But we just want to do it in a safe and humane way, where we feel valued,” Woodside said.
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The hospitals said they had offered the same raises, totaling 19% over three years, that the union had accepted at several other facilities where contract negotiations reached tentative deals in recent days.
The Mount Sinai administration said the union’s focus on the nurse-patient relationship “ignores the progress we’ve made in attracting and hiring more new nurses, despite the global shortage of health care workers plaguing hospitals across the country.” “.
The hospital called the union’s behavior “reckless” while Montefiore, who said it had added 170 nurses, said the strike was causing “fear and uncertainty in our community”.
“In my opinion, this action was completely unnecessary,” Montefiore chairman Dr. Philip Ozuah said in a memo Monday afternoon. Ozuah said the two sides came close to settling on “a very generous offer.”
Union sources familiar with the negotiations said nurses on Mount Sinai’s main campus want what their peers at Mount Sinai West have already gotten in their deal, which includes a more generous range of “differentiated” bonuses for more experienced nurses. . The sources also said they were looking into an integrated arbitration mechanism that would resolve disputes over staffing and working conditions (such as alleged lack of breaks for nurses) as they arise.
The latest issue is something the Montefiore nurses are discussing with hospital management and the Mount Sinai team hopes to discuss Tuesday, if the hospital and union meet.
Union officials say nurses are pushing the issue of staffing levels for the sake of patients as well as their own. Escalon said that sometimes she finds herself caring for twice as many people as the standards require, and that means missing breaks.
“What we’re really fighting for here is patient safety,” he said. “How can I meet their needs when they call me to another place with the rest of the patients?”
For some, it means they are left in limbo.
Darcy Gervasio took medical leave from her job at a suburban college library, arranged childcare and transportation, ran tests, and prepared for gastrointestinal surgery that was scheduled for Monday but is now had to postpone indefinitely, he said.
Although the procedure is considered elective, Gervasio said it’s essential for managing his Crohn’s disease.
“As a patient, of course, I’m upset,” she wrote in an email. But Gervasio, a union member, said he blamed the hospital management, not the nurses.
“I am very disappointed with the administration for allowing the nursing crisis to get out of hand in the first place, especially in the wake of the tremendous pressure on nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Gervasio wrote.
Elected officials, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, said Mount Sinai had already ignored staffing guidelines, which the state was supposed to monitor. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders also sided with nurses, noting that if hospitals “could grow their assets by more than $1 billion by 2021, they would be able to pay their nurses fair wages and treat them with dignity.” and respect”.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether either side would return to the negotiating table on Tuesday, but the hospital’s chief negotiator said they expected talks to resume at that time. Union representatives said they are usually invited to the talks on the morning of those discussions.
Montefiore and Mount Sinai are the latest in a group of hospitals with simultaneously expiring nursing contracts. The union initially warned it would hit them all at once, but other hospitals grappled as the deadline approached. All include increases of 7%, 6% and 5% over the next three years.
Associated Press writer Karen Matthews contributed to this post.
