Nurses involved in New York City's largest strike in decades returned to the negotiating table on Thursday with hospital administrators, aiming to resolve the significant industrial action.
The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) confirmed that contract discussions recommenced this morning with officials from the three private hospital systems affected: Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and NewYork-Presbyterian.
The union has expressed its commitment to daily bargaining to settle the dispute, which saw approximately 15,000 nurses walk off the job on January 12. This prompted the hospitals to employ thousands of temporary staff to maintain operations.
Ahead of the renewed talks, the union stated, "Nurses stand ready to bargain to reach fair contracts and end the strike. Nurses will continue to picket and strike until tentative agreements are reached with the hospitals."
Last week, single bargaining sessions were held with each of the three hospital systems, but these lengthy meetings concluded with minimal progress and no plans for further discussions. Each affected hospital is negotiating independently, as not all facilities run by the three systems are involved. Other private hospital systems had previously reached tentative agreements with the union, thereby averting walkouts, and city-run public hospitals are not part of these current negotiations.
Nurses are primarily seeking to safeguard their healthcare benefits and secure contract provisions addressing staffing levels and protection against workplace violence.
Conversely, the hospitals contend that the union is demanding "unrealistic" and unaffordable pay rises, while also asserting they are not proposing to cut nurses' health benefits, contrary to the union's claims.
The resumption of talks this week follows urging from Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, both Democrats, according to the union. Mamdani spoke at a union rally on Tuesday in front of Mount Sinai's hospital on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, alongside U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
