A possible strike by nurses at many New York City hospitals could happen as early as Monday morning, January 9 – just three days away.
“It could be a major public health disaster,” Ken Raske of the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) previously told NBC New York. He has described the mood among hospital managers as “extremely fearful” and a strike would send already busy hospitals into full crisis mode.
The New York State Nurses Association has about 10,000 members threatening to strike at five hospitals where contracts were set to expire on Dec. 31.
“Our ERs are backed up, the triage is raging,” Raske said. “Even if one hospital had a strike, it could ripple through the whole system.”
The New York State Nurses Association says its nurses are not backing down in a fight for better pay, staffing and benefits. Rana Novini reports.
News of the possible strike comes as the city deals with what is called a tridemic – simultaneous and serious increase in infections with COVID, influenza and the respiratory condition RSV. In an effort to keep the number of cases down and ease the pressure on hospitals, the city has already issued an advisory (not a mandate) suggesting that people go back to keeping the masks inside.
But what does a strike mean for you and your health care? Here’s what we know so far.
Which hospitals could see nurses on strike?
First, it’s important to note that not all NYC hospitals would have nurses going on strike, not by a long shot. A week ago, there were eight private hospitals that were looking at possible nurses’ strikes. But as of Friday morning, three of those hospitals have reached tentative agreements with their nursing staff and will avoid strikes if the unions vote to approve the deals.
Here are the five hospitals where a tentative agreement has yet to be reached (as of Friday morning) — meaning a strike is still very much on the table:
- Montefiore
- Mount Sinai Hospital
- Mount Sinai Morningside and the West
- BronxCare
- Flushing Hospital and Medical Center
Three hospitals have reached tentative agreements that still must be voted on by members of the nurses’ union: New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Maimonides, Richmond Hospital and University Medical Center. If approved, those hospitals would avoid a strike.
It’s also important to note that just because one hospital would see a strike, it doesn’t necessarily mean others would too. In theory, nurses going on strike in one hospital would have no influence on the decision of nurses in another hospital. Each of the hospitals negotiates individually with its nurses, so depending on how the talks go, there could be no strike at all, a single strike or up to five strikes.
What impact would a strike have on health care?
For those worried about what a strike could mean for their health care, there are already impacts happening, or soon to be.
Mount Sinai Health System is beginning to divert the “majority” of ambulances from its four facilities and transferring babies from its neonatal intensive care units to other hospital systems, according to a memo from hospital leadership to staff, a copy of which was obtained by News 4.
Here’s a summary of the changes announced in the memo that will happen soon, as of Friday:
- Ambulance diversion from Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai West, Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai Beth Israel
- Cancellation of elective operationsand assigning only emergency operations to the main and Morningside facilities
- Transfer of some patients. “Furthermore, this — unfortunately — means transferring NICU babies out of Mount Sinai Health System to ensure they receive the care they so desperately need.”
- Discharging “as many patients as appropriate” and moving services – inpatient care to the main and west facilities, and emergency and children’s psychiatry to the Morningside campus
A source working at Mount Sinai said the parents of the 50+ babies in the NICU did not appear to have been notified yet that their babies would have to be transferred to another facility — even though no babies had been transferred as of that day. . Thursday night (in fact, sources said one had been transferred).
A Mount Sinai spokesman said the plan is to move patients on Friday if there is no agreement. As for the other hospitals on the list, it was not immediately clear what emergency plans have been put in place or will be soon.
One thing patients and visitors could expect to see: Many more travel and trade nurses.
NBC New York has learned that other hospitals that haven’t reached agreements with their nursing staff have already begun pouring in tens of millions of dollars in non-refundable down payments to keep temporary traveling nurses in reserve — a huge expense they must bear. , even if not. strikes take place.
GNYHA said hospitals having to resort to this more expensive option works against nurses’ interest in unionizing because it forces hospitals to spend money that could go to nurses. However, it also increases the power of nurses once the strike notice is issued.
A nurse involved in the negotiations estimated the cost of trade nurses to be about $10,000 per week, per travel nurse. While the skill set for trade nurses is the same as union nurses, patients who have spent a lot of time with or are familiar with particular nurses may have to get used to seeing new faces if a strike were to occur and last. for some time.
Time is running out, with just four days left until a possible strike by New York City nurses at many major local hospitals — and one of the city’s largest hospital systems is taking drastic action. Romney Smith reports.
How likely is a hit (or hits) to occur?
Right now, it’s hard to say for sure. It all depends on what the respective hospitals offer the nurses, and whether they decide to accept the offers.
NBC New York obtained a memo from executives at Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West that makes clear that most of the issues in the ongoing negotiations have been resolved — but not all, and the clock is ticking.
Nurses have said there has been progress at several bargaining tables where hospitals are negotiating with their respective staffs, but there is still not enough progress to avoid a strike. The nurses’ union said there has been at least one sign of progress: All hospitals on the list have agreed not to cut health benefits.
“The New York State Nurses Association will rescind a strike notice when we reach a tentative agreement at Mount Sinai that respects our nurses and patients. Not before,” said New York State Nurses Association President Nancy Hagans. “There have been some offers and progress, but we’re not there yet.”
According to a source familiar with past Mount Sinai talks, the hospital had previously offered nurses a deal that included 14 percent raises over four years — a deal the nurses rejected that was significantly lower than the offer extended by NY-Presbyterian over the weekend.
This tentative agreement, if accepted, would give nurses at NY-Presbyterian 18 percent raises over the next three years, with added incentives to retain experienced nurses. There was also a promise to address chronic understaffing, the union’s biggest complaint.
While it remains to be seen whether nurses at NY-Presbyterian will accept the offer, Montefiore Hospital said Wednesday that representatives of nurses at their hospital had rejected a deal that mirrored the one offered by NY-Presbyterian. A hospital spokesman said the nurses were offered “an 18 percent pay raise over three years, fully funded health care for life and a significant increase in registered nurses in emergency departments, among other benefits.”
This development could spell trouble for other hospitals given the financial landscape. According to the Montefiore spokesperson, NY-Presbyterian posted $200 million in profits in 2022 while Montefiore posted a $200 million loss. This type of agreement was considered potentially out of reach for other hospitals on the list, but now nurses at NY-Presbyterian may think twice about ratifying the agreement they agreed to in advance (voting began Tuesday night and ends Saturday).
Why do nurses threaten to strike? What do they hope to get?
“Nurses feel abandoned and disrespected by their bosses,” Hagans said. “We held the hands of dying patients, set up final FaceTime calls so dying patients could say goodbye to their loved ones.”
Matt Allen, a labor and delivery nurse on the negotiating committee at Mount Sinai, told NBC New York on Monday that there are more than 700 vacancies for nursing positions at Mount Sinai Hospitals – something they desperately want addressed.
“Staffing is the biggest issue we’re fighting right now,” Allen said. “We hope to get something this week, before our strike is still on the table.”
The union says members are upset about staffing ratios at local hospitals, contract proposals they feel dramatically worsen their health care benefits (while paying huge bonuses to executives) and Mayor Eric Adams’ recent move to forcefully admit psychiatric patients. All of those elements have left workers overworked and burned out.
“We’re not able to clear the patient in time, we’re not able to give the medication in time, over and over again,” Allen said. “The burn was real, so we quit the profession and go to work in a travel agency that will pay us more.”
The median salary for nurses in New York is $93,000 and $98,000 in NYC, the nurses union and GNYHA confirmed. It’s not clear how much the union hopes to get in terms of compensation and raises for its members, but it’s clear that the numbers some of the hospitals have put up so far have not met their standards.
“If Montefiore can afford to pay its executives that much, they can’t cry foul when it comes to negotiating a contract with frontline nurses,” Hagans said.
Seven private hospitals are on alert for a possible strike on Monday morning. Melissa Russo reports.
Can the government step in and force the parties to reach an agreement?
In short, no. These are private hospitals that negotiate with unions and the government can’t do much officially to avoid a strike.
However, this does not mean that nothing can be done.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office has previously said they are “monitoring the situation.” Sources said both Hochul and NYC Mayor Eric Adams are getting regular daily updates on the talks. While neither Hochul nor Adams has any formal role in the negotiations, some have wondered whether they would step in to apply pressure or try to broker a deal.
Gov. Hochul’s aides confirmed that she has been very engaged for many days, not directly at the negotiating table, but talking to both sides regularly and pushing both sides to reach a yes. The state has also begun reviewing hospital strike contingency plans.
“We have been working with all parties to help reach a fair resolution to keep New Yorkers and health care workers safe,” Hochul spokesman Avi Small told NBC New York on Thursday.
