Central Catherine Dawson, MSN, RN, CNOR catherine.dawson@nysna.org
Lower Hudson/NJ Mary Lynn Boyts, RN MaryLynn.Boyts@nysna.org
Western John Batson, RN john.batson@nysna.org
Eastern Victoria Davis Courson, MSN, RN Victoria.Davis-Courson@nysna.org
Editor Kristi Barnes
Executive Editor Pat Kane, RN, CNOR
Editorial offices located at: 131 W 33rd St., New York, NY 10001
Phone: 212-785-0157
Email: nynurse@nysna.org
Website: www.nysna.org
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What the Global Nurses Movement Teaches Us
This winter, I traveled with National Nurses United leaders to Costa Rica to meet with union nurse leaders from around the world. We had great conversations with nurses from Angola, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Malawi, New Zealand, Paraguay, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uganda and Uruguay.
Universal Issues
One thing that unites nurses from every part of the world is the fight for safe staffing. Every union leader had a story about how their hospitals tried to cut costs by cutting nurse staffing to the bare minimum. In some countries, the staffing ratio in the intensive care unit (ICU) is 1 to 15. Imagine being able to save lives and deliver quality care under those conditions. Mind you, these are not war-time conditions; this is daily staffing in a typical ICU in Chile. Health equity is another universal issue. Here in New York and the U.S., we see disparities in funding in rich and poor hospitals. We see how the rich hospitals maintain their profitability by relying on the public and safety-net hospitals to care for a disproportionate share of uninsured, underinsured and Medicaid patients. These funding disparities can lead to worse staffing, worse equipment, worse outcomes and healthcare disparities for our patients.
In less-wealthy countries with even worse income inequality than the U.S., these disparities are even worse. In Costa Rica, we saw a rich,
cash-only hospital across the street from a poor hospital that cares for every patient. The poor hospital had a long line of people outside its doors. People can wait for days to be seen.
Union Rights Around the World
We also heard from our global nurse union siblings about how they fight back and advocate for health equity, and some of their stories really shook me. In many countries, it is not legal to picket, and you can even get arrested for talking about racial healthcare disparities and hospital staffing conditions. In Honduras, the president of the nurses’ union is under threat of arrest. It takes incredible bravery to be a unionist and patient advocate under these conditions.
Maybe it’s not surprising that the countries with extreme income inequality also lack many of the basic labor rights that we take for granted in the U.S. The suppression of unions and working people’s power has led to high poverty and poor hospital conditions in places like Honduras.
Think It Can’t Happen Here?
We need to really look at where we’re heading in the U.S. This is a time when unions are under attack
like we have not experienced in a generation. Funding cuts, including proposed massive cuts to Medicaid, and firings are making practically defunct the institutions that we thought would always be there to protect workers’ rights — though slowly and not forcefully enough — like the National Labor Relations Board. Massive cuts to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration will make our workplaces less safe. And we can expect the Trump administration and Congress to roll back even more laws that protect workers’ rights and union rights.
The U.S. already has the highest income inequality of any wealthy industrialized nation, and our inequality is growing. In 1965, CEOs made 21 times as much as the typical worker. By 2022, they made 344 times as much as the typical worker. With workers’ power under attack and with corporate power going more unchecked every day, it’s more important than ever that we put our difference aside and fight back.
As union nurses, we have been able to accomplish so much together. We have been able to come together and bravely advocate for our patients. We have improved conditions in our healthcare facilities by working together. We have had the protection of our union to speak out without fear of retaliation. Now we must work together to defend our rights. We may soon be in a fight for our very existence as union members, and it will take all our bravery and solidarity to win this fight.
SOURCES
Read sources in the online edition of NY Nurse, at www.nysna.org/newyork-nurse.
Advocating for patients. Advancing the profession.SM
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
An Attack on One Is an Attack on All
As union members, we often say that an attack against one of us is an attack on all of us. Our strength lies in our collective power — whether out on a picket line, speaking out against hospital closures or advocating for better policies. By combining our numbers and our voices, we can make a difference.
Early Attacks
We know that bosses and the powers that be will use divide-andconquer strategies to get what they want. Today it will be one of us. Tomorrow it will be another one of us — or all of us.
When the new federal administration came in, it immediately attacked our immigrant patients and transgender patients. It threatened immigration raids on our hospitals, reversing the long-standing policy of hospitals being “sensitive locations.” The administration threatened withholding funding from hospitals that provide genderaffirming care, and we saw some hospital systems cancel appointments and change their policies to be less inclusive
NYSNA nurses pushed back. We requested information from every employer on their policies to ensure they are protecting our patients’ and nurses’ rights, and we reported what we were seeing in our facilities. We emphasized that federal law is clear that all patients have the right to seek emergency medical care and that all patients’ private medical information, including immigration status, is protected We emphasized that New York’s civil rights laws protect all patients from discrimination. However, we are still concerned about the chilling effect these policy changes will have, and we suspect many patients who need care will not seek it.
Shock and Awe
It turns out that those early attacks were just a warmup to much broader and extreme attacks on our patients and healthcare system. In March, Congress passed a budget that would mean more than $880 billion in spending cuts to fund tax
NYSNA members march with labor and community in the March to Stop the Cuts on March 15.
cuts for the super-rich and would decimate Medicaid.
One in 3 adult New Yorkers and almost half of New York’s children access healthcare through Medicaid. New York City’s public hospitals get 55% of their revenue from Medicaid. Upstate rural access hospitals get 55% of their revenue from Medicare and Medicaid, with most of their patients dually eligible.1
Simply put, if the government enacts these drastic cuts to Medicaid, we will see millions of our patients lose access to care and see hospitals close. Our private sector hospitals — which, for their own profitability, rely on public and safety-net hospitals caring for a disproportionate share of uninsured, underinsured and Medicaid patients — will also suffer financially. Hospitals will likely pass that suffering on to their nurses and patients in the form of service closures and staffing cuts. In our collective bargaining fights, nurses will again hear that hospitals cannot afford to improve staffing and wages and benefits — and for once, they’d be telling the truth. Medicaid is a matter of survival for children, seniors, people with disabilities and people of low income, but extreme Medicaid cuts are an attack on all of us. These
By Pat Kane, RN, CNOR(E) NYSNA Executive Director
Medicaid cuts are part of a campaign against our entire healthcare system and social safety-net that serve the majority of Americans. Although our healthcare system is far from perfect, these cuts will make it much worse by reducing access to care, decimating hospital funding, reducing nurse staffing and worsening healthcare disparities.
Medicaid isn’t the only extreme cut. Through executive orders, this administration has already slashed federal staff and spending, affecting 911 survivors, veterans, public health, infectious disease and other scientific research, and union and civil rights.
Defending Healthcare for All
The time to push back on cruel and unnecessary cuts is now. The time to protect our patients, our practice and our working conditions is now. With our mission as nurses to advocate for all patients and our values of solidarity as unionists, we need to take action to stop the cuts. I am so proud that nurses have already begun — by marching in the streets, testifying and contacting their members of Congress.
Nurses care for ALL New Yorkers. By staying united, we still have a chance to defend healthcare for all.
SOURCES
1 New York State Department of Health Hospital Institutional Cost Reports, 2021.
Read more sources in the online edition of NY Nurse, at www.nysna. org/new-york-nurse
NYSNA Members Advocate for a Healthier New York
On Tuesday, March 11, over 500 NYSNA nurses and healthcare professionals traveled from across New York state for our annual Lobby Day in Albany. With the legislative session in full swing and in light of recent attacks on our healthcare system by the federal government, NYSNA members turned out in droves to demand that our state legislators pass a budget that invests in safe, quality healthcare for all New Yorkers. In addition to budget advocacy, NYSNA members also sounded the alarm on the staffing crisis that puts patient care at risk, and they called on elected officials to push the Department of Health (DOH) to enforce New York’s safe staffing laws.
Listening to Nurses’ Voices
Each spring, NYSNA nurses travel to Albany to speak with lawmakers and share their experiences as frontline nurses in healthcare facilities across the state. This year, nurses met with more than 100 lawmakers to raise concerns about the state of healthcare in New York. With healthcare currently under attack on the national level, chief among nurses’ concerns was the impact these attacks might have on patient safety. Nurses demanded a budget that would prioritize investing in care for ALL; protecting hospital funding; defending Medicaid; and expanding access to much needed healthcare services, including maternal and mental healthcare.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “We know what’s happening in Washington, D.C. right now puts patient safety at risk. We know devastating cuts to Medicaid; defunding of our public health system; and discrimination against patients based on insurance status, immigration status, gender, gender identity or any other status is wrong and harms US ALL! Nurses, healthcare workers and our healthcare champions are here today to say, ‘Not in New York!’” In meetings with legislators, nurses presented a clear and united front, connecting their lived experience to NYSNA’s budget and legislative priorities for the year, including:
l Safe staffing in every hospital and nursing home.
l Investment in nurse recruitment and retention programs.
l Defending quality patient care and professional standards of nursing practice.
l Workplace violence prevention.
l Fair funding to save our public and safety-net hospitals.
l Defending Medicaid funding for the millions who rely on it.
l Expanding access to healthcare services, including maternal and mental healthcare.
l Advocating for long-term solutions like the NY Health Act.
In the Halls of the Capitol
In addition to meeting with legislators, NYSNA nurses also held a press conference with healthcare workers, labor allies and elected officials, including New York
NYSNA members from across New York pose with labor allies and elected officials following their press conference in the Capitol.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, speaks at a press conference demanding that lawmakers pass a budget that invests in safe, quality care for all New Yorkers.
the best care possible. Speaking on the need for increased staffing enforcement, Russel Wiser, RN, an emergency department nurse at Westchester Medical Center’s HealthAlliance Hospital, shared, “Getting the law was the first step, but enforcement is the rest of the battle. We need more enforcement.”
State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Senator Gustavo Rivera, Senator Jessica Ramos, Senator Robert Jackson, Assembly Member Harry Bronson, Assembly Member Karines Reyes, Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forest and 1199SEIU.
At the press conference, NYSNA leaders named the lack of enforcement for New York’s safe staffing law, the closure of vital maternal health and mental health services, hospital funding cuts and infringements upon our nursing standards of practice as threats to the profession and patient care. NYSNA Albany Medical Center leader Jennifer Bejo, RN, highlighted a recently released DOH staffing deficiency report, which revealed more than 500 violations of the staffing law as well as the hospital’s continued failure to produce a meaningful solution to the staffing crisis.
“Our local community and elected allies have shown incredible support and shown that they will not be silent as Albany Med puts patient care at risk,” Bejo said. “However, we need more. We need the DOH to enforce the law and hold bad actors accountable. We need safe staffing now!”
NYSNA Director at Large and Nathan Littauer nurse Marion Enright, RN, reminded the crowd about how hospital funding cuts would affect patients and working conditions. She said: “My hospital serves a large rural area of the state.
Many of our patients use Medicare and Medicaid to access care. For upstate critical access hospitals, over 55% of all hospital revenues come from Medicare and Medicaid. We are very concerned about what federal Medicaid cuts will mean for our patients and for our fights for fair contracts with safe staffing.”
Taking Patient Advocacy to the Next Level
Frontline nurses know that patient advocacy is a critical part of their profession that extends beyond the bedside. Advocacy at the state level helps nurses ensure that patients across New York state — not just the ones they see coming through their own hospitals — get
With the April budget deadline looming, NYSNA nurses will continue to advocate for safe patient care and a budget that invests in all New Yorkers’ health. Members will continue to monitor budget proposals, and our leadership is ready to step in when legislators propose policies that don’t have patients’ or nurses’ best interests at heart. Our advocacy is already starting to make a difference. On Lobby Day, we learned that the State Senate and Assembly rejected the Interstate Nurse Licensure Compact, a proposal that would have eroded patient care standards and would have not led to safe staffing. They also included revenue raisers in the budget to make New Yorker’s tax structure more equitable and to protect us from the cuts coming from the federal government.
Nurses will continue to call for increased enforcement of New York’s safe staffing law. And on the federal level, NYSNA will continue to push back against policies that threaten our patients, communities and profession. Stay tuned for more updates on this front as NYSNA members take their advocacy to Washington, D.C., for National Nurses United Lobby Day April 28-30.
‘‘
The experience was wonderful. The legislators have been really warm and welcoming to us and accepting of our views and our concerns, so I think we’ll have some success as we have in the past with our visits up here. It’s worth it to come to Albany because we owe it to our patients and our patients’ families and communities.”
– Kim
Wise, RN
NYSNA Executive Director Pat Kane, RN, CNOR(E) and members of the board of directors meet with Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to discuss NYSNA’s budget and policy priorities for the 2025 legislative session.
Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest, RN, speaks at the press conference, calling on the Department of Health to enforce New York’s safe staffing law.
Peconic Bay Medical Center nurses Kim Wise, RN (left) and Joanna Clasen, RN
SOURCES
Read sources in the online edition of NY Nurse, at www.nysna.org/ new-york-nurse.
NYSNA Nurses at Albany Med Fight On
For nearly one year, NYSNA nurses at Albany Med have been fighting to save safe, quality patient care in the capital region. And all the while, their employer has been pushing back against their advocacy — misleading the public about the extent of the staffing crisis, withholding critical information, and silencing outspoken nurse advocates. But nurses have hit the ground running in the new year and have seen a renewed outpouring of support from elected officials as well as labor and community allies. Coupled with the long-awaited release of the New York State Department of Health (DOH) staffing deficiency report, Albany Med nurses fight on.
Labor and Community Support Nurses
In early January, the New York State AFL-CIO invited NYSNA nurses from Albany to speak at its labor roundtable to talk about the contract fight at Albany Medical Center and hospital management’s vicious, anti-union behavior. New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento, Assembly Member Gabriella Romero and other labor allies and elected officials listened to nurses share stories about the staffing crisis and its impact on their ability to provide safe, quality patient care and the ways their employer has targeted and retaliated against outspoken, pro-union nurses. Attendees were deeply moved by nurses’ stories and pledged their continued support. After penning a letter to the editor
Albany Med Nurses and Executive Director Pat Kane, RN, CNOR(E), joined New York State (NYS) AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento and Assembly Member Gabriella Romero, as well as other union leaders and elected officials, at the NYS AFL-CIO Labor Roundtable in January.
in the Times Union, Cilento featured NYSNA local president Jen Bejo, RN, in a “Union Strong” podcast and pledged the support of all 2.5 million AFL-CIO members in New York state in a video message. Just one week later, Albany Med nurses held a town hall meeting to update the community about the ongoing staffing crisis as well as contract negotiations. Capital region residents came out in full force to support nurses, who have continued to sound the alarm, despite hospital leadership’s insistence that a staffing crisis does not exist. Frontline nurses know the truth, however, and reported to the community that not only is the hospital closing neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) beds and understaffing its most vulnerable patients, but it is also shifting patients in the overburdened emergency department out of sight in unheated hallways to wait for care.
A Bombshell Staffing Deficiency Report
In February, NYSNA nurses finally received the long-awaited Albany Med DOH staffing deficiency report through a Freedom of Information Law request. The report — which cited more than 500 violations of New York’s safe staffing law across 26 units, including 32 in the NICU — confirmed what frontline nurses at Albany Med have been saying: Chronic understaffing has had a significant impact on patient care. What is maybe more alarming than the sheer number of staffing
violations, though, is the extent to which hospital leadership has tried to hide the report. Since August, administrators have been denying NYSNA nurses access to the report, despite their legal obligation to do so, and have not been working together on a corrective action plan. The hospital submitted multiple corrective action plans that the DOH rejected because the plans do not adequately address staffing deficiencies or follow the law.
After learning about the report’s findings, the Albany Common Council passed a resolution in solidarity with Albany Med nurses calling on hospital leadership to address the staffing crisis.
In early March, the National Labor Review Board Region 3 validated NYSNA nurses and issued a complaint against Albany Med, finding that the hospital withheld critical information from nurses by refusing to share the number of travel nurses the hospital employs and the total cost to Albany Medical Center of traveler RNs who performed bargaining unit work.
What’s next?
NYSNA nurses won’t settle for anything less than the fair contract that capital region nurses and patients deserve — and will fight for as long as they need to get it. Nurses are urging the DOH to do its job and follow through with levying penalties against Albany Med for its failure to correct staffing problems, And with this latest outpouring of support from allies, nurses are feeling energized for the fight ahead!
Nurses testified at a packed town hall meeting at the Albany Black Chamber of Commerce.
Long Island Nurses Are United for Quality Care
Long Island nurses from Northwell Health/South Shore University Hospital, Northwell Health/ Huntington Hospital and Mount Sinai South Nassau have all been fighting to win fair contracts for nurses and patients across Long Island. For nurses at two hospitals, Northwell/Huntington and Mount Sinai South Nassau, this will be their first union contract.
Corporate Care Expands on Long Island
Northwell and Mount Sinai, two of the wealthiest hospital systems in New York state, have been busy buying up smaller community hospitals and expanding their reach on Long Island and beyond. When Mount Sinai took over South Nassau hospital in 2018, it promised to turn the hospital into its “flagship” hospital on Long Island. What’s certain is that health care costs and executive pay have skyrocketed, while nurses are stretched thin. Health care costs for patients and insurers increased by 68% since Mount Sinai took over the hospital.1 Mount Sinai CEO Kenneth Davis made nearly $7.3 million in salary, bonuses and perks in 2023. A total of 10 Sinai executives and doctors made well over $1 million in 2023 in salary, bonuses and perks.2
Northwell formally took over South Shore in 2010, expanding its empire of Long Island hospitals to 12. Northwell invested hundreds of millions on building renovations and expansions, but has been less generous with nurses’ contracts. Northwell is currently focused on expanding in upstate New York and Connecticut. Regulators are likely to approve the takeover of Nuvance Health, despite concerns about likely price hikes for
patients. Northwell CEO Michael Dowling made over $9 million in salary, benefits and perks in 2023.3
Long Island Nurses Are United Nurses from Northwell/South Shore, Northwell/Huntington and Mount Sinai South Nassau are fighting back. Nurses from all three facilities are bargaining and organizing to support each other in their fight for fair contracts. At a meeting in February, they spoke about their shared issues, such as having employers who spend millions on executive salaries, marketing and building expansions while dragging their feet on accepting commonsense proposals that ensure quality patient care and the recruitment and retention of nurses on Long Island.
Long Island nurses have taken action by walking the informational picket line, marching on the boss, speaking out, reaching out to the community with petitions and lawn and small-business signs, and organizing their colleagues. Nurses at Mount Sinai South Nassau walked an informational picket line in December alongside union members and New York elected officials to demand Mount Sinai South Nassau deliver a fair contract. Northwell/Huntington nurses, who in November won their National Labor Relations Board election to join NYSNA, also hit the ground running. With a contract expiring at the end of February, Northwell/ South Shore nurses started off the year by marching on the boss to deliver a petition demanding safe staffing and respect.
South Shore Fight Heats Up
As the largest private employer in New York state, it’s clear Northwell can afford to invest in
its nurses and patients. But instead of negotiating a fair contract with Northwell/South Shore nurses, Northwell has been busy interfering in nurses’ federal labor law rights by engaging in retaliation, interrogation and surveillance of nurses. After months of bargaining with little progress, Northwell/ South Shore nurses began voting to authorize an unfair labor practice strike.
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, two days before their contract expired, nurses at Northwell/South Shore University Hospital held a powerful speak-out with labor and community allies in front of the hospital to announce that 99% of nurses voted yes to authorize an unfair labor practice strike. On March 4, nurses dropped a strike notice.
Striking is always a last resort, but Northwell/South Shore nurses were ready to do whatever it takes to win a fair contract. After marathon bargaining sessions before the March 17 strike deadline, nurses were able to reach a tentative agreement with Northwell/South Shore that improves safe staffing, wages and benefits, and includes a provision for nurses to review any artificial intelligence technology before it’s implemented — a first for nurses’ contracts in New York state. Nurses voted by an overwhelming majority to ratify the contract.
Now the pressure is on Northwell/Huntington and Mount Sinai South Nassau hospitals to settle fair contracts with NYSNA nurses. The major corporate hospital systems should know that more than 2,500 NYSNA Long Island nurses at all three hospitals are ready to take action in solidarity with one another to ensure quality care for all Long Island patients.
Long Island nurses and labor and community allies joined Northwell/South Shore nurses at a Feb. 26 speak-out for safe staffing and a fair contract.
SOURCES
1 Mount Sinai and related organizations 990 annual financial filings, 2023
2 ibid
3 Northwell Health 990 annual financial filings, 2023
TNYSNA Celebrates Black History
his past Black History Month, with the theme of “African Americans and Labor,” we celebrated Black labor leaders’ contributions and prepared to take on the challenges of the upcoming year. We know that we are facing unprecedented challenges to our healthcare system, civil rights and workers’ rights. However, as NYSNA nurses, we have always been at the forefront of these battles, fighting for policy and contract wins that ensure that all patients get the care they deserve and that union nurses’ voices are heard.
Now more than ever, it is vital that we continue to organize around issues that affect us and our communities outside of the workplace and learn from the leaders who came before us, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and A. Philip Randolph, who led the historic Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP).
We Follow in Their Footsteps
In the long history of labor activism, Randolph stands out as one of the pioneers. He led a 10-year organizing drive that resulted in the nation’s first majority Black union in 1925. BSCP was the first Black union to join the American Federation of Labor and raised the wages and reduced the hours of porters covered under the agreement. Randolph was also one of the main organizers, along with John Robert Lewis, Anna Arnold Hedgeman and others, of the historic March on Washington of 1963, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. Throughout his long career, a source of inspiration for many unionists today, he fought to end discrimination and was a champion of the Black working class.
To honor some of the historic contributions of Black leaders like Randolph, in February, some members of NYSNA’s executive board joined National Nurses United in Austin, Texas, at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference, where attendees discussed the unique role that working people play in defending our rights and freedoms. They met with leaders from across labor, civil rights and social justice movements and spoke about how to advance
King’s legacy in the face of attacks on civil rights.
NYSNA Vice President Judith Cutchin, DNP, RN, reflected on her visit and this year’s Black History Month theme. “It’s important that we remember our Black labor leaders. Many people don’t center the Black contributions to labor, but Martin Luther King Jr. was a labor leader; John Lewis was a labor leader. And they lived and
died fighting for worker rights. These are our pioneers, and it’s vital that we know the forefathers and foremothers who led the path in these fights.”
Cutchin cited Lewis’s well-known quote, “Get in good trouble.”
He said these words in Selma, Alabama, just before his death, while commemorating that event that was pivotal in the fight for civil rights, but his career embod-
NYSNA and NNU leaders attended the AFL-CIO’s MLK Conference in Austin, TX in January.
Maida Springer Kemp (right) of Local 22 of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union.
A. Philip Randolph (center) and John Lewis (second from right) with other organizers of the March on Washington, 1963
Rowland Scherman
The Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
History Month and
Honors Black Labor Leaders
ied these words. March 7, 2025, marked the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Lewis participated in the 1960 Nashville sit-ins, the Freedom Rides and the Selma to Montgomery marches, and he was chairman of the Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
While white men are some of the most visible labor leaders of our past, Black female labor leaders made significant contributions that continue to inspire us today. Dorothy Bolden was inspired by her mother’s work and founded the National Domestic Workers Union in 1968, which taught members how to bargain, required all members to vote and fought for workers. Sylvia Woods helped organize the Laundry Workers Union, and Dora Lee Jones helped found the Domestic Workers Union in Harlem. Along with other key leaders like Maida Springer Kemp and Rosina Corrothers Tucker, these women paved the way for some of NYSNA’s work today.
Cutchin emphasized our duty to stand up for the rights of all communities today and to meet the
moment head on. She said: “As workers, we are leaders in the civil rights movements. The labor movement has made some of the biggest contributions to civil rights history and it is our responsibility to continue to fight for change today.”
Getting in Good Trouble Today
At a panel at Maimonides Hospital, President Nancy Hagans, BSN, RN, CCRN, also stressed the importance of remembering the role that Black leaders had in the labor movement and emphasized the challenges we face ahead. She spoke about the role that multiracial coalitions have had and continue to have in achieving social and economic change. “Right now, some of the largest and most powerful movements in labor are coming from those who have historically been excluded — Black women, people of color, immigrants — who have used unions to gain more power.”
Today, some of the most important labor leaders in our country are Black women. We can look to April Verrett, who recently
became the president of the Service Employes International Union; Becky Pringle, who leads the National Education Association; or Claude Cummings Jr., president of Communications Workers of America. As a woman-led organization with Black members in key positions, NYSNA takes seriously our responsibility to advocate for our larger communities. And that’s why, Hagans emphasized, NYSNA nurses fight for health care for ALL. From fighting for health equity and addressing the Black maternal mortality crisis to fighting for fair funding, NYSNA nurses know that civil rights are deeply intertwined with access to healthcare.
No Equity Without Health Equity
Over the past year, some of our biggest battles both in and out of our contract fights have been part of attempts to close the wage gap, address health disparities and lift up our most vulnerable communities. From supporting the Local Input in Community Healthcare Act, or LICH Act, and fighting against the closure of maternal and mental health services to winning historic contract fights that bring the wages of public sector nurses up to par with private sector nurses, NYSNA nurses have repeatedly fought for respect and dignity for nurses and our patients.
This year, we’ve already seen attacks on trans and immigrant healthcare and plans to decimate Medicaid. Although these plans would impact all New Yorkers, these would have a disproportionate impact on Black New Yorkers. We cannot allow these plans to happen.
“We’re in a political moment right now where there is a backlash against having a level playing field. Nationally, there is a swift movement to roll back 50-plus years of civil rights and equal opportunity protections for Black workers,” said Hagans. “Unions and all of us need to meet this moment and intensify our strategies to ensure fairness and racial justice.”
President Nancy Hagans, BSN, RN, CCRN, and 1199SEIU Vice President Leigh Howard, LCSW-R, at Maimonides’ Black History Month panel discussion.
AVIAN INFLUENZA UPDATE
What Nurses Need to Know
The last thing any of us want to hear right now is that there is the potential for another pandemic. However, we know that being prepared is the best way to minimize negative consequences to our healthcare system, patients and ourselves.
Flu strains that have mainly infected birds, known as avian influenzas, were identified well over 100 years ago. But in recent decades, these strains have spread to additional species, including humans, and have begun to decimate wild and domestic bird populations.
What to Know About the Current Outbreak
The current avian influenza outbreak in the U.S. has affected almost 200 million birds. While many wild birds have been infected, the vast majority of deaths have been on domesticated egg-laying farms. Dairy farms have also been dramatically affected, with over 800 dairy herds infected. Because testing and reporting vary by state, many more farms and herds have likely been infected, including in New York state.
Influenza is a virus that mutates frequently. While currently avian influenza does not transmit easily from person to person (most humans who have been infected have had direct contact with infected ani-
mals), each time a mutation allows the virus to infect another species, it comes closer to mutating in a way that allows for efficient transmission from person to person. Although that mutation has not yet happened, it is likely to occur at some point, possibly in the near future. We must be prepared for that eventuality.
In the past, avian influenza infections in humans have caused severe disease with a fatality rate of 30%-50%. Fortunately, most cases during this current U.S. outbreak have caused mild illness. At this time, there have only been two recent deaths in the U.S. attributed to avian influenza. Mutations in the current active strain (H5N1) or in another avian influenza strain could increase the risk of a more virulent strain. All of this means that taking steps to ready ourselves and our healthcare system are extremely important.
What Can We Do to Prepare?
One step that nurses can take right now is to add preparation discussions to labor-management meeting agendas, including:
l Making sure your facility has an effective system in place to quickly screen and isolate patients who may have avian influenza.
l Ensuring adequate testing systems are in place to quickly test for avian influenza. This should include methods for sending influenza A-positive specimens to outside labs that can test for H5N1 or other circulating bird flu subtypes. The New York State Department of Health is currently requiring healthcare facilities to be able to conduct testing within 24 hours.
l Educating healthcare providers on ways to identify and treat patients infected with avian influenza. If avian influenza is suspected, do not hold off treatment until testing confirms an avian influenza infection.
l Ensuring adequate ventilation. Because influenza is predominantly spread through the air, healthcare facilities must have adequate ventilation to decrease the airborne viral load. Methods to limit airborne transmission include:
l Increasing the amount of fresh air circulated throughout the facility.
l Increasing the air exchange rate (the amount of times air is completely changed over in a space during an hour).
l Creating additional AIIRs (negative pressure rooms) and having the ability to quickly set up temporary AIIRs using portable HEPA filters, flexible duct tubing, and HEPAfiltered or outdoor exhaust systems.
l Installing higher-level MERV filters on HVAC systems.
l Having in place adequate supplies of personal protective equipment, including:
l Respirators — N95s or higher, including PAPRs, CAPRS, elastomeric half or full-face. Note: If an avian influenza subtype that causes severe illness and high mortality rates is present, use a higher-protection respirator than an N95.
l Eye protection.
l Gowns.
l Gloves.
l Also have face masks for source control available for infected or potentially infected patients.
l Finding out the facility’s plans to handle significant patient surges and shortages of healthcare staff due to widespread infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages healthcare facilities to have in place nonpunitive sick leave policies to prevent infectious healthcare staff from coming to work.
l Identifying supply chain resources for medications and additional medical equipment, such as ventilators, should demand suddenly surge.
We have learned a great deal since the COVID-19 pandemic began five years ago. We must put that knowledge to good use as we move forward.
For more information or assistance with any health and safety issue, please contact NYSNA’s Occupational Health and Safety Representatives at healthandsafety @nysna.org.
NYC H+H/Mayorals Nurses Fight Back Against Sick Leave Policy
NYC Health+Hospitals (H+H)/ Mayorals members are fighting back against NYC H+H’s new interpretation of its long-standing time and attendance policy. Management recently reinterpreted the nearly 40-yearold policy and has pressured nurses to use less sick leave and counseled them over their use of sick leave.
NYC H+H/Mayorals NYSNA nurses have kicked off a campaign to demand that the administration reaffirm the practice of having three or more consecutive sick days constitute a single occurrence.
In February, NYSNA sent a letter to the Office of Labor Relations asking H+H to amend its policy to ensure fairness, con-
sistency and respect. Over 500 H+H/ Mayorals members gathered online for a Zoom town hall meeting to discuss the negative impacts of the policy change. Nurses launched sticker actions throughout the facilities and leafletted at facilities to urge nurses and patients to contact hospital CEOs and system CEO Dr. Mitchell Katz with the message, “If RNs work sick, you can get sick.” On March 18, dozens of nurses showed up to fight back against the new sick leave policy at NYC H+H’s annual board meeting at Gouverneur. Speakers sent a clear message to Katz that the nurse who keep the city healthy deserve to take sick time when they need it.
Montefiore Nurses Fight to Save Beds, End Overcrowding
The Bronx is in danger of losing hospital beds and essential services after Montefiore management announced a “restructuring” plan that will eliminate hospital beds and move essential services, including some surgical and palliative care services at Montefiore Moses, out of the Bronx.
NYSNA nurses launched a petition and sticker campaign with the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU and 1199SEIU healthcare workers at all Montefiore emergency departments in the Bronx. Frontline healthcare workers know that reducing beds will lead to longer wait times and even more patients in the hallways.
Nurses — along with labor, community and elected allies — came together on Feb. 28 to demand Montefiore reconsider the bed closures that are scheduled to take effect in March. Speaker after speaker talked about the unacceptable level of overcrowding currently in the hospital. NYSNA presented data from labor-management meetings that showed Montefiore is breaking its promises to reduce the number of patients in hallways — in fact, those numbers are steadily increasing. Montefiore Moses and Weiler sometimes have more than 500 and 600 patients a month packed into hallways and “overflow” areas not intended for patient care.
A week before the press conference, nurses learned that Montefiore administration applied to cut even more beds. If the state approves Montefiore’s application, it will mean 47 beds could soon close. Nurses contend that Montefiore has the space and resources to add more hospital beds and nurses to its hospitals in the Bronx. Spaces that the hospital used years ago for patient care are now executive suites. Montefiore is also investing in a major expansion at Montefiore White Plains Hospital in Westchester. Nurses will continue to fight for health equity and ensure their patients in the Bronx get the care they deserve.
Linda Appau, RN, one of the medicalsurgical nurses being displaced, says, “Fewer beds means less care. Montefiore needs to invest in more beds and nurses here in the Bronx!”
NYC H+H/Mayorals nurses turned out strong to show support at the annual meeting at Gouverneur.
NYSNA nurse Terry Delaney, RN, spoke to Channel 9, saying:
“It’s really about safe patient care. If we can’t retain nurses and we can’t recruit nurses, and we’re always shortstaffed, then we’re not giving [our patients] the care that they deserve.”
Oneida Nurses Take Action for a Fair Contract
NYSNA nurses at Oneida Health Hospital have been calling on management to negotiate a fair contract with safe staffing and a real plan to retain nurses. Before nurses’ contract expired on Dec. 31, 2024, management walked away from the bargaining table after delivering a so-called “final offer” and refused to bargain over the dozens of open issues that nurses say are nowhere near resolved.
Oneida nurses organized, marched on the boss, spoke out and got a federal mediator involved to get management back to the table.
Nurses’ Demands
Management finally agreed to come back to negotiations on Jan. 22, the same day that nurses held a speak-out across from the hospital with labor allies to demand a fair contract. Nurses are demanding clear, enforceable safe staffing standards to comply with New York state law and wages and benefits that would keep nurses at the bedside. Oneida nurses are concerned about the growing retention problem. There are not enough experienced nurses to train new nurses, and new hires leave just as quickly
as they are hired. The package that Oneida management offered would make Oneida nurses some of the lowest-paid nurses in the region, only exacerbating retention issues. Oneida can afford regionally competitive wages and benefits. Last year, the hospital brought in nearly $133 million in revenue, up from $121 million one year before.
Escalating Our Fight
Although management came back to the table to bargain virtually, the pace of negotiations has been slow. On Feb. 12, Oneida nurses marched on the boss and
delivered an unfair labor practice notice to management due to management’s refusal to bargain in person. That moved the boss back to the table, but management is still dragging its feet.
That’s why on March 19, nearly 100 Oneida nurses and allies turned out on the informational picket line in a show of solidarity and power. Member leaders spoke out about the need to settle a fair contract that protects patient care and keeps experienced nurses at the bedside. The press widely covered the informational picket, putting pressure on Oneida to settle.
Oneida nurses marched on the informational picket line on March 19.
Oneida nurses speak out on Jan. 22.
CenterLight Nurses Are Fighting for Their Healthcare!
CenterLight nurses have been fighting for a fair contract, and these nurses continue to care for some of the most vulnerable homebound New Yorkers without essential healthcare coverage of their own. Their contract expired in September 2024, and they were thrown off their healthcare in December 2024 after CenterLight management unlawfully refused to continue nurses’ health coverage during contract negotiations. CenterLight nurses are demanding immediate reinstatement of their health coverage and a fair contract.
Nurses have been fighting for higher wages and improved benefits, but when they didn’t accept management’s proposals that would have more than quadrupled healthcare costs, CenterLight refused to cooperate with their health plans’ rules and caused nurses to lose their health coverage.
This is not the first time
CenterLight has prioritized its profits over its workers and patients or used shady practices to make money. NYSNA published a website that exposes the millions CenterLight has spent on marketing and executive salaries as well as the $47 million it paid to New York to settle Medicaid fraud charges related to billing practices in 2016.
Nurses Take Action
CenterLight nurses are fighting back. They have spoken out in the press and filed an unfair labor practice charge over CenterLight kicking them off their health insurance.
Nurses also canvassed their neighbors in January outside of the three busiest CenterLight facilities in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn to garner public support. Community members were outraged and eager to support nurses by signing a peti-
tion demanding CenterLight restore nurses’ healthcare and negotiate a fair contract.
Nurses also gained the support of New York City elected officials. In February, several City Council members publicly called on CenterLight to reinstate nurses’ healthcare. And in March, nurses met with City Council Member Sandra Ung who represents the Flushing, Queens district, where CenterLight’s corporate headquarters is located. It’s clear local elected officials and the community have nurses’ back.
Homecare nurses are the backbone of CenterLight Healthcare and provide excellent, specialized care for some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers. Nurses will continue organizing to ensure CenterLight reinstates their healthcare and negotiates a fair contract.
NYSNA Nurses Win at New Wynn Hospital
After months of bargaining, NYSNA nurses at Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) - Wynn Hospital do what NYSNA nurses do best — they achieved a win for nurses and patients. Their new contract, reached on March 19 and ratified overwhelmingly on March 26, includes stronger safe staffing enforcement, break coverage to ensure safe staffing at all times, wage increases between 13.9%-21% over the life of the contract, and reduced costs for health insurance.
Sheila Conley, RN, ICU nurse and local union president said, “All we wanted in this contract was the ability to provide the best care possible. We have worked far too long
with too many vacancies. Finally, we achieved a contract that will ensure that nurses will be able to provide the care this community deserves with safe staffing, higher wages and improved benefits.”
This is the first contract reached since the hospital moved to its new location over a year ago, and nurses from the former MVHS-St. Elizabeth Medical Center and MVHS-Faxton St. Luke’s voted for and merged into one union — NYSNA. Nurses kept consistent pressure on Wynn management to win their contract. They marched on the boss with a petition signed by over 500 members and held a Valentine’s Day sticker action throughout the hospital.
Congratulations, Wynn nurses!
CenterLight nurses gave flyers to their neighbors in the Bronx on Jan.15, 2025, to win back their healthcare coverage.
SOURCES
Read sources in the online edition of NY Nurse, at www.nysna.org/newyork-nurse.
The Brooklyn Hospital Center Nurse Educators
Vote NYSNA
More nurses are organizing to join NYSNA! On Feb. 25, nurse educators at The Brooklyn Hospital Center voted overwhelmingly to join the union. NYSNA Executive Committee
Chair Debra Ambrose, RN, and Vice Chair Yvette Byer-Henry, RN, offered their congratulations and solidarity. The election caps a determined organizing effort that began in October 2022 and included a bargaining proposal to add the educators to the existing unit, an arbitration hearing and a two-day National Labor Relations Board hearing. Congratulations to The Brooklyn Hospital Center nurse educators!
NYC Private Sector Nurses Gather for First Bargaining Conference
Nearly 20,000 NYSNA members at 12 New York City private sector facilities are gearing up for bargaining before their contracts expire on Dec. 31, 2025. On Jan. 7, NYSNA labor bargaining unit executive committee members gathered for a bargaining strategy session to prepare NYSNA’s coordinated contract campaign. The day was filled with bargaining training courses and regional breakouts. Members reflected on lessons learned from 2022 bargaining, issues they currently face in the hospitals, implementation of the staffing law and their contractual staffing standards, and campaign strategies to defend their rights as healthcare professionals. The conference showed that none of us are alone in the fight to defend workers’ rights and demand safe, qual-
ity patient care. Together, nurses and healthcare professionals are empowered and ready to organize to win in 2025.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN — who kicked off the conference — reminded members, “There is great power in that solidarity when we set a common deadline and then work backwards from there on how to achieve those goals. And that work starts today. Let’s all learn from each other. Let’s share our issues with each other and how we hope to solve them. Most importantly, let’s make our first initial agreements with each other to act as one NYSNA against New York City’s private sector bosses in 2025. If we stay strong together as one NYSNA, I know and you know we can do anything!”
Onondaga Nurses Fight for a Fair Contract
Onondaga County nurses recently held back-toback actions demanding a fair contract. Nurses organized a sticker action when nurses heard that Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon was visiting the facility. Nurses proudly wore NYSNA red and “Fair Contract Now” stickers to remind manage-
ment and the county executive that nurses will take every opportunity to demand a fair contract. Nurses wore Valentine’s Day-themed stickers to keep up the pressure and let their employers know that the only gift they want is for management to bargain fair contracts with safe staffing and respectful wages and benefits.
Vassar Brothers Nurses Ratify Contract
On Jan. 31, Vassar Brothers Medical Center nurses reached a tentative agreement prior to their contract expiration date. The tentative agreement contains significant improvements, including respectful wage increases that reflect the work NYSNA nurses do to provide excellent care for their patients. Nurses were eager to vote, and hundreds showed up despite a snowstorm — over 99% of nurses voted yes to the new contract! Congratulations, Vassar Brothers Medical Center nurses!
Nathan Littauer Hospital Nurses Escalate Their Campaign for a Fair Contract
In February, Nathan Littauer nurses turned up the heat in their campaign to win a fair contract. They delivered to the CEO a petition that over 85% of NYSNA members signed. The petition calls on hospital leadership to settle a fair contract that prioritizes safe staffing and efforts to recruit and retain local nurses. Nurses are committed to continue organizing for a contract that allows them to provide the highest-quality care to their patients and community. The local community has shown nurses support as well. Nurses canvassed local businesses, asking them to hang signs supporting nurses and spread awareness about the ongoing contract fight. Local business owners, workers and community members met nurses with appreciation and support. As the only hospital in Fulton County, it’s clear the community recognizes the vital role Nathan Littauer nurses play in providing quality care.
Westchester Medical Center Nurses Save Their Healthcare
In November, Westchester Medical Center unilaterally made changes to nurses’ healthcare and dental benefits without informing NYSNA members. Nurses fought back with a button campaign and delivered a
NYSNA Nurses Join Caucus Weekend
NYSNA board of directors and member leaders attended the 54th annual New York State Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislators Legislative Conference — commonly known as Caucus Weekend — in Albany. NYSNA leaders participated in policy workshops addressing pressing issues facing New Yorkers and met key elected officials like Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. They also met with key union leaders, including Rev. Terrence Melvin, secretary-treasurer of the New York State AFL-CIO and president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.
petition of over 1,400 signatures to Chief Nursing Officer Phyllis Yezzo. Thanks to nurses’ advocacy, Westchester Med reversed its plan and returned all NYSNA nurses, including retirees, to the original level of coverage!
Room Members Demand Safe Staffing
At Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital, over 90% of NYSNA members from the emergency room met in person and virtually to present urgent safety concerns facing their unit to management. They shared alarming accounts of unsafe staffing, insufficient recruitment efforts and inadequate supplies necessary for proper patient care. NYSNA members held management accountable, and as a result, the hospital will confirm immediate action on recruitment strategies to ensure it addresses staffing levels on the same day to meet the unit’s needs.
Victory for Fresenius Nurses
Congratulations to NYSNA members at three Fresenius locations — Nephrocare, Soundshore and Montefiore III/IV — who overwhelmingly ratified their contract. Nurses defeated attempts
Stop the Cuts
New York healthcare unions, hospitals and healthcare advocacy groups are united to protect Medicaid. In January, NYSNA signed a joint letter urging lawmakers to protect and strengthen Medicaid. We cannot allow extreme federal budget cuts to Medicaid harm our patients, hospitals and communities.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, also testified alongside healthcare workers and patients at a Democratic committee hearing Washington, D.C., about how Medicaid cuts will harm access to care and damage our entire healthcare system.
NYSNA also spoke out against the mass layoffs at the World Trade Center Health Program that will leave the program further short-staffed and delaying care to those suffering from Ground Zero-related health conditions. NYSNA rallied at Federal Plaza in Manhattan against job and healthcare cuts and joined our elected officials in demanding the federal government and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reverse the cuts immediately.
H+H/South Brooklyn Health Nurses Fight and Win
In January, the chief nursing officer at NYC Health+Hospitals (H+H)/South Brooklyn began pushing operating room nurses to participate in the new interventional radiology department without the proper training in the specialty. Instead of caving into the pressure and risking patient safety, the nurses fought back and launched a petition. Their swift action and advocacy stopped the rollout of this new procedure and sent a clear message to upper leadership that NYSNA nurses are a strong, united force that puts patient safety first!
Nurses Celebrate Diversity
NYSNA nurses were busy this winter celebrating the diversity of our members and the communities we serve. On Feb. 16, nurses celebrated in spite of the cold, rainy day at the Lunar New Year Parade in Manhattan, spreading the message that nurses care for ALL New Yorkers. On March 2, NYSNA nurses and their families were out wearing their lucky green
to celebrate at the Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day Parade. As nurses marched down, they were greeted with cheers of “Thank you, nurses” and “We love nurses” from the crowd! NYSNA nurses were proud to spread the message that “Safe Staffing Brings Good Luck!” Long Island nurses also celebrated St. Patrick’s Day early this year at a parade in Bay Shore on March 8.
to dismantle their health and retirement benefits, made improvements in charge and preceptorship pay, and won market adjustments for members who have long deserved an updated and competitive experience scale.
