Manhattan and Bronx Nurses Strike Now Longest in Recent History

The largest strike by nurses in New York City history stretched into its second week as the union and three privately run city hospitals remain at loggerheads. The strike, which began on Jan. 12, involves nearly 15,000 nurses across three major hospitals: Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian in Manhattan and Montefiore Health System in the Bronx.

Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian returned to the bargaining table late last week, offering a glimmer of hope, but as of early this week, no settlement had been reached.

“Nurses care for New Yorkers. If nurses are not healthy, who will take care of New Yorkers?” asked Nancy Hagans, president of the New York State Nurses Association, the union representing the striking nurses, at a rally outside Montefiore on Jan. 15.

The NYSNA said the nurses it represents are fighting for better benefits, better staffing ratios, wage hikes, and protection against workplace violence.

The strike is now officially longer than the three-day walkout that the NYSNA undertook three years ago when 7,000 nurses walked out at Mount Sinai and Montefiore. On Jan. 15 this year, there was labor peace on Long Island, where 1,000 nurses at the Northwell Health facilities ratified the tentative agreement that was reached between that hospital and the NYSNA days earlier.

This year’s strike hit six Manhattan locations in total, including Mount Sinai Hospital at 1468 Madison Ave.; Mount Sinai West at 1000 Tenth Ave.; and Mount Sinai Morningside at 1111 Amsterdam Ave. It also hit NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center at 177 Fort Washington Ave.; NewYork-Presbyterian Allen at 5141 Broadway, and NewYork-Presbyterian Children’s Hospital at 3959 Broadway. It also hit Montefiore in the Bronx.

“Until management agrees to a fair contract that protects patients and nurses, strike lines will continue daily,” the union said in a statement.

The hospitals are arguing that the union’s economic demands are too extreme, given the drastic cuts in federal healthcare spending.

In response to the walkout, hospitals have brought in thousands of temporary travel nurses and agency staff, at a reported total cost exceeding $100 million. Management insists that patient care remains safe and uninterrupted, though some elective surgeries have been postponed or canceled to prioritize urgent needs.

A new flashpoint emerged Tuesday, Jan. 13, when it was revealed that Mount Sinai West fired three nurses via voicemail on Jan. 11 just hours before the strike began. The hospital accused the trio of deliberately sabotaging emergency-preparedness drills by hiding critical supplies from the replacement nurses.

A joint statement from nurses Berina Selimovic and Liliana Prestia, two of the three axed nurses, stated that they were fired because the hospital wanted to send a message before the strike began: “We were both fired in a pure act of intimidation.”

Selimovic claims that she was openly planning to join her colleagues on the picket line before receiving the termination voicemail. Prestia played the voicemail of her termination call during a press conference outside Mount Sinai West, where all three nurses worked.

“Mount Sinai cannot continue to punish nurses who speak out against patient safety and nurse safety,” said Prestia.

The union had filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over the terminations. The union had filed a similar complaint after several nurses at Mount Sinai on Madison Avenue were reprimanded for speaking to the media last November after an emotionally disturbed patient threatened to shoot up the hospital. He was shot dead by cops.

The hospitals have reportedly hired high-powered crisis management PR firm Heller Inc. to try to sway public opinion. Emails to Heller were not returned by press time. If passing motorists are any indication, the nurses continue to enjoy wide public support. Protesters, many of them dressed in red, elicited many honks of solidarity from passing cars when Straus News visited Mount Sinai West on Jan. 15.