NY Nurse Fall 2024

nurse NEW YORK

FALL 2024

NYSNA Members Show Solidarity in Saratoga Springs, pp. 11–12 2024: Year In Review, pp. 7–10

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NEW YORK NURSE FALL 2024

A New Year for New Victories

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By Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN NYSNA President

Advocating for patients. Advancing the profession.SM BOARD OF DIRECTORS President President Nancy Hagans, BSN, RN, CCRN nancy.hagans@nysna.org First Vice President Judith Cutchin, DNP, RN judith.cutchin@nysna.org Second Vice President Bill Schneider, BSN, RN, CCRN bill.schneider@nysna.org Secretary Michelle Jones, MSN, RN, ANPC michelle.jones@nysna.org Treasurer Margaret Franks, BSN, RN, MEDSURG-BC margaret.franks@nysna.org Directors at Large Marie Boyle, BSN, RN marie.boyle@nysna.org Marion Enright, RN marion.enright@nysna.org Denash Forbes, MSN, RN denash.forbes@nysna.org Flandersia Jones, MPH, BSN, RN flandersia.jones@nysna.org Sonia M. Lawrence, BSN, RN sonia.lawrence@nysna.org Petar Lovric, BSN, RN, CPEN, CCRN petar.lovric@nysna.org Ari Moma, MSA, RN ari.moma@nysna.org Aretha Morgan, MSN, RN aretha.morgan@nysna.org Jill Toledo, RN jill.toledo@nysna.org Pauline Wallace, BSN, RN pauline.wallace@nysna.org Regional Directors Southeastern

Christopher Honor, BS, BSN, RN, CAPA christopher.honor@nysna.org Southern Alizia McMyers, MSN, MHA, BSN, RN alizia.mcmyers@nysna.org 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 Executive Director Editorial offices located at: 131 W 33rd St., New York, NY 10001 Phone: 212-785-0157 Email: nynurse@nysna.org Website: www.nysna.org Subscription rate: $33 per year ISSN (Print) 1934-7588/ISSN (Online) 1934-7596 ©2023, All rights reserved

appy new year to all our members and their families! The new year is always a time when I like to reflect on past years and on new beginnings. This year, I am reflecting on where I was approximately two years ago.

In early January 2023, I was outside in the cold, walking the picket line with Mount Sinai and Montefiore nurses fighting for fair contracts. We were at the very end of our historic New York City private sector campaign contract, which brought together a record number of nurses from all five boroughs for one contract fight. It was our largest coordinated campaign in NYSNA history, and it was the most successful.

But it was also hard fought. We didn’t make history with safe staffing, our wage increases or saving our healthcare benefits, because our bosses gave us those things. We won them because we organized, bargained on a common platform and stayed united.

This year, we will have a similar fight. We will bargain with 17,000 nurses at 17 hospitals throughout New York again — from the smallest safety hospitals to the largest academic medical centers. In some ways, this fight will be much harder than two years ago. Our bosses have become comfortable with the postCOVID-19 world. Hospitals are not prioritizing getting staffing levels back up to where they were prepandemic. They’re not prioritizing nurses’ health and safety. They’re not prioritizing patients. But they are prioritizing their profits.

They Put Profits Before Patients If you saw the latest executive pay data since the COVID-19 pandemic, you might be shocked.1 You would definitely be disgusted. At our facilities, we hear day after day about how our hospitals are struggling and how they can’t staff to legal safe staffing standards because they just can’t afford it. We know that safe staffing improves patient care and patient outcomes. Quality care indicators in New York would improve if hospitals put patients over profits — and their own executive pay.

We know many of our hospitals have recovered financially.

They just haven’t let that recovery trickle down to staff and patients.

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN rallies with Montefiore nurses.

Some are investing in executive salaries and bonuses. Some are spending their resources on lobbying and baseless lawsuits to fight against the safe staffing gains that NYSNA nurses have made. Others are investing in restructuring, real estate investments and construction projects, all while letting patient care take the back seat.

We Are Unstoppable Hospitals would love to make our current conditions the new normal in healthcare: where we always have lean, bare-bones staffing; where our healthcare and other benefits are constantly under attack; and where we’re excluded from key decisions that impact patient care.

We’re not going to let that happen.

I know that we will take the lessons we learned from two years ago and apply them to our new contract fight

in 2025. We will win new victories.

Our New York private sector hospitals may be in different boroughs, be different sizes and have different challenges on the frontlines. The hospital executives in charge may also be different. But all our bosses are operating from the same playbook — they want to maximize their profits, even if that comes at the expense of their nurses and patients.

Fortunately, NYSNA members are getting to work early this year on our own playbook. I know that when we unite, we are unstoppable.

And I can’t wait to get to work and make history again this year.

SOURCES 1. Robinson, David. “As NY’s health care quality ranked poorly, hospital executives pocketed $79M in bonuses,” Lower Hudson Journal News, Nov. 13, 2024.

Accessed at https://bit.ly/4frWU1t

NY’s highest paid hospital executives & doctors These were the highest paid hospital executives and doctors in New York in 2020 based on their total compensation, which includes base compensation, bonuses and other perks.

1 $13.9 million 2 $9.9 million 3 $6.8 million 4 $5.3 million 5 $4.5 million

Dr. Steven Corwin, President and CEO, New York-Presbyterian Health

Dr. Philip Ozuah, President and CEO, Montefiore Health

Dr. Laura Forese, COO, New York-Presbyterian Health

Michael Dowling, President and CEO, Northwell Health

Dr. Robert Michler, Chair-Surg/Cardiothoracic Surgery Montefiore Medical Center

Source: Federal tax filings, New York Attorney General’s Office Charities Bureau, Public Authorities Reporting Information System

NEW YORK NURSE FALL 2024

The Staffing Crisis From the Frontlines

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ast month, NYSNA released our major report on safe staffing. It was the first comprehensive look at nurse staffing in the state since the COVID-19 pandemic and since the New York state staffing laws, which we advocated for, passed in 2021.

The report comes as the New York State Department of Health (DOH) has still not published actual staffing levels or staffing enforcement actions and as the independent advisory commission — tasked with releasing a report to assess the law’s effectiveness and make recommendations to the New York Legislature in the 2025 session — missed a key deadline. To fill the gap in evaluating the safe staffing law, we looked at data we gathered through surveys and collected from members as well as from case studies from frontline registered nurses’ experience.

More Evidence for Advocacy The data that our frontline members collected showed that understaffing in New York’s hospitals is still widespread and negatively impacts patient care. We analyzed how the law is working — and not working — to hold hospitals accountable and improve staffing levels.

NYSNA’s report found that on more than 50% of reported shifts, hospitals failed to staff intensive

care units and critical care patients at the 1:2 nurse-to-patient ratio that the staffing law mandates.

Only 55% of the hospitals we surveyed are publicly posting actual staffing levels on all units, and only 50% have implemented the solutions that staffing committees have generated to address complaints.

NYSNA members, our allies on the multiunion steering committee and state legislators now have a new tool to advocate for improved enforcement of New York’s staffing laws.

The report received widespread press coverage, starting with a feature in Politico.1 The media coverage put the DOH on the spot and forced it to answer specifics about how it was failing to enforce the law.

Recommendations to Fix the Staffing Crisis NYSNA’s report arms us with recommendations for legislators to fix the staffing crisis. NYSNA recommends: l The DOH must increase transparency so that the public can see actual staffing levels in New York’s hospitals. l The DOH must enforce safe staffing standards as the law requires. l New York State must expand nurse recruitment and retention. l Hospitals and educational institutions must restore quality training and orientation programs.

l Employers must respect nurses

by improving staffing and working conditions, including health and safety protections, pay and benefits.

The Fight Ahead When we head to Albany for Lobby Day in March, we plan to use this new report and actual data that our members have collected to escalate our call for the DOH to do its job. Even though the facts are on our side, we anticipate another safe staffing fight this year.

We will also renew our calls for fair hospital funding and nurse recruitment and training in the budget. Unfortunately, we can also expect another budget fight this year against recurring bad ideas like the Nurse Licensure Compact and other threats to the nurse scope of practice.

The hospital industry has some of our elected officials convinced that there is a nursing shortage in New York — not an industry-created staffing crisis. The new report will help set the record straight and make sure policymakers understand the solutions that frontline nurses and healthcare professionals prioritize. While it’s up to the DOH to enforce this law, the problem of unsafe staffing begins with the hospital industry continually putting profits before patient care.

NYSNA members are living the staffing crisis every day. We are the ones with the expertise to know what our patients need and what will improve quality care in every part of the state. And we will continue to fight for safe staffing every way we can.

By Pat Kane, RN NYSNA Executive Director

Read the Report: The report is available online at www.nysna.org/ resources/2024-nysna-staffing-report

SOURCES 1. Kaufman, Maya. “Lackluster enforcement hobbles hospital staffing law, nurses’ union says,” Politico, Dec. 16, 2024. Accessed https://bit.ly/404Atep

NYSNA leaders with NYS Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

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NEW YORK NURSE

ALBANY MED

FALL 2024

Albany Med nurses speak out for safe staffing and a fair contract.

Albany Med Nurses Hold Strong

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YSNA nurses at Albany Medical Center continue their fight to protect safe, quality patient care in the capital region — but at every turn, their employer stonewalls them by engaging in anti-union, unlawful behavior. Now, with the Albany Med administration silencing outspoken nurse advocates and bringing bargaining details into the public domain, nurses are holding strong and pushing back.

An Unprecedented Staffing Crisis

Dozens of union and community allies signed a letter calling on Albany Med management to deliver a fair contract. https://bit.ly/albanymed-solidarity

For months, NYSNA nurses have been speaking out about the staffing crisis at Albany Med. So far, though, the hospital administration has denied what frontline nurses know: that Albany Med doesn’t have enough nurses to provide the safe, quality patient care that this community deserves.

Though hospital leadership wasn’t listening to nurses, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) was. In August, the DOH delivered a long-awaited Staffing Deficiency Report to Albany Med, the result of an investigation the DOH launched in response to complaints from NYSNA nurses. But hospital leadership refused — and continues to refuse — to share the full report with nurses, despite its legal obligation to do so.

Though nurses still have not seen a copy of the report, CEO Dr. Dennis McKenna released — and downplayed — some of the report’s findings. During a closed press conference, held at the same time as the Staffing Committee meeting, McKenna admitted to more than 480 confirmed staffing violations, the largest publicly known number of violations that a DOH report has

ever found since the safe staffing law went into effect.

Albany Med’s Unlawful Behavior Throughout the bargaining process, Albany Med administrators have been vocal about their anti-safe staffing and anti-union position and have gone as far as to retaliate against and discipline outspoken nurse advocates. In November, the administration initiated the disciplinary process against a NYSNA nurse just days after she questioned management on a new neonatal intensive care unit staffing schedule. The same nurse was also unlawfully disciplined for taking part in a speak-out about staffing conditions. And she isn’t the only one — in total, NYSNA has filed eight unfair labor practice charges against the hospital for retaliation and management’s refusal to allow union representation in the disciplinary proceedings that followed.

In addition to silencing nurses, Albany Med has also attempted to shut down a campaign website set up to inform the public about understaffing at the hospital. In November, Albany Med filed a baseless lawsuit against NYSNA, claiming that the creation of Albanymedqualitycare.org constitutes “trademark infringement” and “will continue to cause serious and irreparable injury” to the hospital.

Instead of retaliating against nurses and filing meritless lawsuits, Albany Med should focus its resources on settling the fair contract that capital region patients deserve.

A Slap in the Face for Frontline Nurses In December, Albany Med administrators took another cheap shot at union nurses by holding a closed-door press conference to

publicly share a so-called “final offer.” The press conference — and subsequent PR blitz and pressure campaign — was yet another attempt on the hospital’s part to avoid accountability, silence outspoken nurse advocates, and pressure nurses into accepting a contract that won’t solve the staffing and quality care crisis at the hospital. Instead of bargaining in good faith with nurses and trying to create meaningful solutions to the staffing crisis, the hospital has spent untold thousands of dollars and countless hours using cynical public relations tactics to hide this truth from the public: Albany Med cares more about their profits than it does about nurses and patients.

Nurses Refuse to Be Bullied Despite the hospital’s best efforts, NYSNA nurses at Albany Med refuse to be bullied. Nurses know that this latest offer doesn’t do nearly enough to guarantee the safe staffing, fair wages and benefits, and union voice that they need to provide safe, quality patient care for the capital region. They are heading back to the bargaining table, and they won’t accept a contract that compromises on patient care when their friends’, families’, community members’, and fellow New Yorkers’ lives are at stake.

NYSNA nurses know that when we fight, we win — and Albany Med nurses won’t stop fighting until they win the fair contract for all Albany Med nurses and patients.

If you’re a nurse in upstate New York, you can support Albany Med nurses by signing their petition and sharing a story about the impact Albany Med’s staffing crisis has on your patients or facility at https:// nysna.salsalabs.org/albanymedceo.

NEW YORK NURSE

NP WEEK

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FALL 2024

Nurse Practitioners Are Key in the Fight for Health Equity

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he healthcare delivery system is constantly changing, and there are many unknowns, but we do know that the increase in nurse practitioners (NPs) leads to better health outcomes for patients. While NPs don’t always receive the recognition they deserve, they continue to form the backbone of our healthcare system and are key to improving access to important health services.

NYSNA represents NPs in nearly every part of the state. NPs are highly educated and skilled nurses who have a huge role in improving health outcomes for the most vulnerable populations. While recent media reports have focused on holes in training, studies have shown that increasing the number of NPs improves patient satisfaction, control of chronic disease, and cost-effectiveness when compared to physician-led practices.1 Amid a shortage of primary care physicians, NPs help close the gap, improving access to healthcare in rural and underserved areas. Studies show that NPs keep patients safe.

NYSNA Secretary Michelle Jones, MSN, RN, ANPC, cheers on the Convention speakers.

NYC H+H/Harlem members celebrate NP Week.

we need more time. We often are expected to address too many things in too short of a time.”

NYSNA Demands NPs Voices Are Heard

sion, but we need to make sure those entering into the profession obtain the required training and the support they need to transition into practice successfully. We need to ensure that the growth in this role comes with an increase in the respect for NPs, as they are a valuable part of healthcare,” says Jones. “NYSNA’s goal is to ensure that as the profession evolves and expands, the voices of NPs are heard and respected with the strength of the union behind them.”

SOURCES

NPs Help Close the Health Gap

The NP profession is growing much faster than average.2 While the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that healthcare professionals’ roles will grow by 9% over the next 10 years, the bureau projects a 46% growth for NPs.3 “It is exciting to see the growth of the nurse practitioner profes-

“The rise in the number of NPs practicing across specialties could not come at a better time, as nearly 100 million Americans currently live in primary care shortage areas,” says Kristle Simms-Murphy, FNP, NYC Health+Hospitals (H+H)/Jacobi Medical Center. “Fortunately, the growth in the NP role and the passage of legislation to provide patients with full and direct access to NPs’ services are two solutions to increase patient access to highquality healthcare.”

The scope of practice of NYSNA NPs is vast. Michelle Jones, MSN, RN, ANPC, is NYSNA secretary and has been an NP at Flushing Hospital Medical Center in Queens for 14 years. She says, “We address a whole range of issues — from educating patients on disease prevention to managing chronic conditions like diabetes. While other nurses might think of safe staffing ratios as key to patient outcomes,

Nurse practitioners (NPs) at NYC Health+Hospital/Jacobi celebrated NP Week and held their first informational health fair in September, educating the community about chronic diseases and healthcare maintenance.

1. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/ PMC11080477/ 2. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/ nurse-anesthetists-nurse-midwives-andnurse-practitioners.htm 3. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/ nurse-anesthetists-nurse-midwives-andnurse-practitioners.

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LABOR AI CONFERENCE TK

NEW YORK NURSE FALL 2024

NYSNA Joins Global Unions to Confront Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace

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NYSNA leaders meet with global union leaders about the threat of AI.

n early September, NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, BSN, RN, CCRN; First Vice President Judith Cutchin, DNP, RN; and Treasurer Margaret Franks, BSN, RN, MEDSURG-BC, attended AI and the Future of Work, an international conference at the Cornell School of Labor Studies, representing National Nurses United (NNU).

At the conference, NYSNA leaders had the opportunity to meet with our union siblings from across the world, listen to presentations on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on workers and workers’ rights, and brainstorm potential solutions and avenues for advocacy. Attendees included researchers from Communications Workers of America; advocates working on AI policy in both Europe and the United States; and workers from across the world, including California, New Jersey, the Dominican Republic, Germany and Spain.

On the second day of the conference, Hagans spoke on a panel and shared the experiences of NNU and NYSNA nurses who have had AI introduced in their workplaces.

Critically, Hagans was able to share her own experience with the introduction of AI at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, where she’s been a nurse for more than 30 years. Reflecting on her time at the conference, Hagans shared, “It’s been amazing to be here, not only with our union siblings, but with people from all over the world, and we’re all facing the same problems with AI.”

AI Rolls Out in Hospitals Across New York State In recent years, the tech industry has made enormous advancements in generative AI, or AI that uses models and patterns in existing data to create new data, like images, videos or text. Although AI offers powerful tools to assist us,

at the core it uses pattern recognition algorithms and lacks the ability to understand context, reason abstractly, or adapt to completely novel situations like humans can.

Chatbots and virtual assistants, like the popular ChatGPT, offer the latest examples of what AI can do, but AI and algorithmic technologies have existed and been used in healthcare settings for nearly two decades. Electronic health records, which store patient information and manage clinicians’ workflows, were introduced in the early 2000s.

This technology was rolled out in a way that might look similar to us today: with promises of dollars saved, a reduction in nurses’ workloads and an overall streamlining of healthcare. The reality is, though, that these technologies have only increased nurses’ workloads, have been extremely expensive to implement and have sometimes had glitches serious enough to endanger patient safety.

Nurses Fight Back In New York state, hospitals have made the same promises about generative AI technologies, but nurses know better. At Maimonides, Hagans and her colleagues were able to halt the rollout of an AI-powered thermometer. Earlier this year, the Maimonides administration wanted to transition to the use of an AI-powered thermometer throughout their facility; Hagans and her fellow nurses agreed — but only to a trial run. During the trial period, Maimonides nurses were surprised to find that 30 intensive care unit patients showed the same temperature when using the AI-powered thermometer.

Thanks to their years of training, nurses were skeptical and decided to double check their patients using “old-fashioned” thermometers. The second set of readings showed different temperatures and confirmed what these nurses knew to be true: that the devices were faulty and posed great risk to patient safety.

Hagans and her colleagues then were able to give patients the individualized care they needed, correcting the thermometer’s errors and administering safe, quality patient care.

The Power of a Strong Union Contract Hagans and her colleagues were able to fight back against the AI-powered thermometers, in large part because of the strength of their union contract. Thanks to our union siblings at SAG-AFTRA, who went on strike in 2023 demanding protections from AI, and NNU, who went on strike in 2023 demanding protections from AI, NYSNA members developed model contract language to address AI concerns. This has allowed nurses to incorporate strong contract language that safeguards professional clinical judgment and protects patients from unregulated and untested technologies. In other facilities, NYSNA has won the right to have staff nurse-controlled technology committees that we’ve used to push back against unsafe or ineffective technologies, and we’re preparing to leverage those committees to evaluate and respond to AI. NNU and NYSNA have also been hard at work at the federal and state levels, advocating for AI policies that adhere to our professional standards of nursing practice and put patients and healthcare workers first.

NYSNA Puts Our Members and Patients First As a union for and by registered nurses, NYSNA always stays on top of the changes to the healthcare industry that impact our patients and our professional standards of practice. At the moment, generative AI is the emerging threat, but alongside our partners at NNU, NYSNA is actively monitoring the threat and engaging with policymakers and employers to ensure that nurses’ voices and concerns are heard.

While you may not have seen the emergence of AI at your facility right now, you could be seeing it within the next year. If your facility is proposing or implementing AI-powered technologies, we want to hear from you! Please notify your NYSNA representative so that we can support you in making sure that management can’t implement changes that might harm patient care or professional standards of nursing practice.

NEW YORK NURSE

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FALL 2024

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YSNA members had another incredible year. We built on our groundbreaking contract and policy victories from the previous year and kept up our winning streak in every part of the state.

CONTRACT VICTORIES Members at 20 facilities across the state fought and won great new contracts, helping to set new high standards. They organized informational pickets and community forums, spoke out, worked together and delivered strike notices to put hospital administrators on notice that they were serious about safe staffing and respect.

Congratulations to: l A.O. Fox l Alice Hyde Medical Center l BronxCare Midwives l CUNY l Ellis Hospital and Bellevue

Woman’s Center l Erie County Health Department

l Lindenhurst UFSD l Montefiore Mount Vernon l Montefiore New Rochelle l Montefiore Nyack l Mount Sinai NY Eye and Ear l Northwell/Long Island Jewish

2024

Year in Review

Valley Stream l Northwell/ Peconic Bay Medical

Center l NewYork-Presbyterian-Hudson

Valley Hospital l St. Cabrini Nursing Home l St. Vincent’s Westchester l Staten Island University Hospital l Staten Island University Hospital

CRNAs l US Family Health l UVM-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital

Monte Lower Hudson Valley Nurses Unite and Win Montefiore nurses at Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Nyack Hospitals worked together for the first time, uniting on a common bargaining platform and campaigning together. Through speaking out and taking action, including taking CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Ellis Hospital and Bellevue Woman’s Center nurses held an informational picket on April 16, 2024.

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NEW YORK NURSE FALL 2024

2024 NYSNA members lobbied in Albany.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

a strike vote, these nurses brought home contract victories in the final days of 2023 and first days of 2024, starting the new year off right.

Solidarity Continues for Northwell Long Island Nurses Northwell NYSNA members at Long Island Jewish Valley Stream and Peconic Bay Medical Center kept the unity and momentum going, campaigning together to take on the wealthiest hospital system in the state. In February, members at both facilities ratified new contracts with major wage and enforceable safe staffing gains.

Ellis and Bellevue Nurses Persevered Ellis Hospital and Bellevue Woman’s Center nurses fought

long and hard for a fair contract in the capital region. In the middle of their contract fight, they won a staffing arbitration that delivered financial remedies to understaffed nurses — a first for upstate NYSNA members. They also took a stand to save women’s health services at the nearby Burdett Center and advocated for better community care throughout the capital region.

They organized tirelessly and took a strike vote for the first time, reaching a contract agreement before their strike deadline. They showed us what solidarity and success look like!

Nurses at Small But Mighty Facilities Won Nurses at A.O. Fox were struggling with a 50% nurse vacancy rate, and their employer had outrageous givebacks on the table. They

spoke out and won a great new contract with the respect they deserve. Nurses at Mount Sinai New York Eye and Ear were facing cuts, and they bravely spoke out and organized an informational picket for the first time, helping to deliver a fair contract this summer.

Congratulations!

Buffalo Nurses Build on Contract Victories NYSNA members at Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) and Terrace View Long Term Care had a major contract victory in 2023 that improved staffing recruitment and enforcement, wages, and workplace safety measures. In 2024, ECMC nurses built on this momentum.

They won the long-sought-after option of a 13-hour shift, expanded their weapons screening program to improve workplace safety, improved

NYSNA members sent a message of solidarity to Northwell Huntington Hospital nurses at Convention.

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nurse orientation and training, and strengthened nurses’ voice by winning inclusion on internal hospital committees that historically excluded frontline nurses.

ORGANIZING NURSES NYSNA continued to organize more nurses into the largest and strongest union for registered nurses in New York — NYSNA! We know that when nurses try to organize a union, the deck is stacked against them, and our labor law system moves too slowly. Nurses at Northwell/ Huntington Hospital on Long Island had to wait for more than four months to vote for NYSNA. Although justice was delayed, it wasn’t denied. After clearing roadblock after roadblock, nurses voted for NYSNA to represent them.

Nurses everywhere deserve to be part of a strong, member-led union — for the nurses, by the nurses!

Organizing the Huntington nurses into our NYSNA family builds on our key growth strategy — to organize the nonunion facilities in the systems where we already have contracts. This allows us to coordinate bargaining campaigns and wins with new members — all at the same employer. And a boss with divided attention is one that we can beat!

BUILDING WORKER AND POLITICAL POWER Safe Staffing

This year, NYSNA kept safe staffing in our sights and made steady gains through winning high standards and strong enforcement in our contracts, putting our contract language to the test by winning groundbreaking arbitration victories, and pushing the Department of Health (DOH) to do its job and implement and enforce the staffing law.

We had great safe staffing mediation and arbitration victories at: l Ellis Medicine l Maimonides l Montefiore l Mount Sinai, Sinai Morningside and Sinai West l NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP) l NYP Allen l NYP-Brooklyn Methodist

Mount Sinai ED nurses win staffing arbitration.

NYP tried to push back against our staffing wins. It spent untold thousands or millions on meritless lawsuits that the courts threw out.

NYP nurses kept pushing ahead and winning. In October, nurses in the Allen emergency department won three extra vacation days as a remedy for understaffing — the first ever award of its kind.

NYSNA members flexed their power with NYC Health+ Hospitals/Mayorals. Last year, New York City public sector nurses won pay parity for the first time in 30 years. When nurses saw that their second parity payment wasn’t in their paycheck, they refused to take the city’s excuses and delays.

Instead, they mobilized, spoke out and built support with elected officials. They succeeded in getting their pay parity payment expedited and showed that protecting our wins and enforcing our contracts is the way we keep building our power.

With our healthcare worker allies, we pushed the DOH to enforce the staffing law. Members at Vassar put the law to the test and delivered the first big win since the law was enacted. The DOH investigated and delivered a staffing deficiency report to the hospital. Frontline nurses and caregivers collaborated on a solution, and the hospital’s action plan involves hiring more nurses to fill vacancies, creating new float pool positions and adding a nurse residency program.

Saving Healthcare Services NYSNA members protected healthcare services everywhere. In

rural western New York, Brooks Memorial Hospital NYSNA nurses joined with 1199SEIU to campaign to “Build Brooks Now.” We pushed for the state to come through with long-promised funding to build a new modern Brooks Hospital in Chautauqua County, and we won.

When maternal healthcare was under attack, NYSNA members did not just sit back. At Catholic Health’s St. Catherine of Siena Hospital on Long Island, the Burdett Birth Center in Troy, and at NYP in Northern Manhattan, nurses and midwives fought back. As part of the Save Burdett Coalition, capital region nurses prevented the closure of the only birthing center in Rensselaer County. Although we were unable to save services at St. Catherine’s, our advocacy secured positions for our members and ensured expanded maternal-child health services at other Catholic Health hospitals. At NYP, we were unable to prevent the takeover of midwifery services but did preserve them at the NYP Allen Hospital.

New York State Budget Victories Our advocacy paid off in the New York state budget. Thanks to our strong advocacy, we defended nursing scope of practice, secured funding for hospitals and nursing homes, preserved COVID-19 leave for all workers, maintained nurse practitioners’ independent practice CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

NYC Health+Hospitals/Mayorals nurses wore red for pay parity.

Brooks Memorial nurses and caregivers demanded and won funding for a new modern hospital.

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YEAR IN REVIEW

NEW YORK NURSE FALL 2024 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

rights and improved Tier 6 public pension benefits.

National Nurse Power We continued to build nurse power nationally with National Nurses United (NNU). NYSNA leaders traveled the country, learning lessons to bring back to our shops and making our voices We marched in solidarity with nurses fighting for a fair contract at the NNU Convention on Sept. 24.

heard in solidarity with nurses everywhere to defend against hospital consolidation and artificial intelligence.

NYSNA and NNU health and safety representatives now have a seat at the table when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention makes rules about infection control and worker health and safety. This will be critical for whatever healthcare emergency we may face in the future.

WE MADE OUR VOICES HEARD NYSNA nurses continued to be trusted voices on patient care and a broad range of healthcare issues. In 2024, members made television, radio and print news over 550 times, commenting on important issues, such as safe staffing, health equity, health and safety, union

and community solidarity, and contract negotiations.

Our most popular content was a New York Times article about NYP’s meritless lawsuits, which reached 168 million people. See more of our popular content from this year.

NYSNA leaders attended the meeting of New York State AFL-CIO's first Women's Committee, which Pres.

Hagans co-chairs.

LOOKING AHEAD We know that there is still more work to do to win universal safe staffing ratios, protect our health and safety, ensure quality healthcare for all and more. We must continue to build our power to turn these goals

into reality. As we look to 2025, NYSNA members are ready to build on our strong track record of success to defend our patients and our practice and continue our winning streak.

CONVENTION 2024

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NYSNA Members Show Solidarity in Saratoga Springs

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n Oct. 29-30, NYSNA nurses and healthcare professionals from across the state gathered in Saratoga Springs to organize, learn and empower. This year’s theme was “We Are Unstoppable: Building Nurse Power for our Patients, Profession and Future.”

Together NYSNA members reflected on some of the biggest wins of 2024 — from contract victories and arbitration awards to political wins and the protection of vital community health services — and planned for another year of victories. Across the state, NYSNA nurses and healthcare workers raised the bar for healthcare worker standards and patient safety, showing that together anything is possible.

Convention attendees almost unanimously said that coming together showed them that “we all face the same problems” and that patient care is the central concern.

Many said that seeing the NYSNA nurses together showed them the union’s strength, which — as Jennifer Mattera, RN, from Peconic Bay Medical Center in Long Island shared — has only grown more powerful by joining National Nurses United (NNU). “I knew it would impact the union, but I didn’t realize how much stronger the union would become.”

Others said they were proud to be attending the Convention with their local bargaining units (LBU) and able to share their successes with their union siblings throughout the state. Nurses learned about the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI), discussed the stakes of upcoming elections, heard from inspiring speakers and voted on proposals that would guide the union’s future.

Virginia Allen Inspires Nurses NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, kicked off the Convention by reminding members of the powerful gains they’d secured. The fierce Virginia Allen, who many agreed was a force to inspire, followed Hagans. One of the last living Black Angels, 93-year-old Allen is one of the many Black nurses who

were recruited in the late 1920s to Staten Island’s Seaview Hospital to care for patients with tuberculosis when no one else would. She spoke about her long road to activism and explained that, in the fight for respect for nurses and patients, advances in medicine did not compare to the force of nurses building power together.

Michelle Pean, RN, NYC H+H/Kings County

Michelle Pean, RN, from NYC Health +Hospitals (H+H)/Kings County, said her favorite part of the Convention was watching Allen speak. “She is 93 years old. She is so strong. And she’s a militant.”

Patient care remained at the center of her message. Susan Quinell, RN, from Canton-Potsdam Hospital, shared that Allen’s story gave her hope. “Sometimes you feel a bit stuck. But she didn’t go out to do anything different and

try to change the world. She just was trying to take care of people.

Ultimately, that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. There was something very powerful about her message. I have a lot of respect for her.”

NYSNA board members celebrate solidarity at the 2024 Convention.

Gaining Knowledge During the first day of the Convention, members attended workshops that offered strategies for fighting for safe staffing, building coalitions across allied groups and how to address workplace violence.

They learned how to share their stories and how to fill out a protest-ofassignment when understaffed. They shared strategies and tools for ensuring that patients get quality care and nurses and healthcare professionals get the respect they deserve.

Marge Lacoste-Langston, RN, from NYC H+H/Queens Hospital Center said attending Convention workshops gave her skills she would take back to her work. “The Assessment one is really helpful. We love that one. We learn so much.

The robots, the AI. I can bring so much to the table now because of those classes.”

The AI workshop, which NYSNA and NNU staff put on, was a favorite. In the workshop, presenters discussed how AI would change the healthcare profession and ways nurses could confront the risks it posed. “We don’t talk about that much at home. I’m not seeing it yet, but I’m sure it’s coming. I know they are looking for ways to save money. If they can bring something CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

Virginia Allen, one of the last living Black Angels, inspired members.

Marge Lacoste-Langston, RN, and Yolette Janvier, RN, NYC H+H/Queens Hospital Center

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Solidarity in Saratoga Springs CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

in like this, we have to be educated.

And from the union standpoint, we have to know how to fight. I think it’s really important just to get the knowledge,” added Quinell from Canton-Potsdam.

Unstoppable Keynote Speakers

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When I think about doing this work and the future of nursing, I think of building a better future to honor nurses like my friend Ms. Virginia Allen — those whose shoulders we stand on. It's up to us to carry their legacy forward."

–NYSNA Executive Director Pat Kane, RN

NYSNA Executive Director Pat Kane, RN, kicked off the dinner program on the first night of the Convention. Members heard inspiring speeches from keynote speakers NNU Co-President Cathy Kennedy, RN; New York executive director of SAG-AFTRA Rebecca Damon; and Assembly Member Aileen Gunther. They shared some of the most inspiring moments for them over the past several months and gave words of encouragement to nurses in the audience.

Damon described how her first acting role playing a nurse on television brought her into the labor movement and how her union went on strike over the entertainment industry’s greed and increasing use of AI. She said: “In addition to our shared missions to protect the workers in our industries, NYSNA members and SAG-AFTRA members have something very important in common — a passion for our chosen career. I think many members of both unions would describe their drive for the work they do as a ‘calling.’ There is strength in this. Strength to know that you have dedicated yourself and your career to something that gives you purpose. And it is a strength that employers can — and do — exploit.”

Kennedy reminded us of our power as a union. “When it comes to the social determinants of health, we also know that we must speak out beyond the walls of the hospital. And we are so fortunate to have NYSNA in our national and global movement, because your union, YOUR UNION, is such a powerful voice for change, and don’t you ever forget that!”

The evening closed with a celebration of Gunther’s career; she is retiring at the end of the year. Gunther is an incredible healthcare champion who helped usher in safe staffing legislation in New York and joined with NYSNA members to save healthcare services. She announced

County Medical Center, who was attending the Convention for the fourth time, said her favorite part was, “Coming together, seeing the unity, feeling the energy of our union.” She noted that her unit’s accomplishments resonated with other members. “I’m very proud of our LBU; we worked really hard to be leaders and now people want to imitate what we’re doing with staffing. People will come to us and say, ‘Whoa, how did you do that? With staffing and getting such a good contract and the things we do to Sue Quinell, RN, Canton-Potsdam Hospital fight,’” she continued.

Yolette Janvier, RN, from NYC that she plans to return to bedside H+H/Queens Hospital Center nursing, so we hope to welcome her shared that this was her second as a NYSNA member soon!

Convention and that she wishes she had been able to take advantage Democracy in Action of the Convention sooner. “Being surrounded by so many nurses and On the second day, Convention being able to share experiences delegates gathered to hear proposed makes me feel great. For example, bylaws amendments and resolulast night at dinner we started tions. While some proposals sparked speaking and then realized we had healthy debate, others won almost the same problems!” unanimous support — like the resoJennifer Mattera, RN, from lution to fight for equity in maternal Peconic, Long Island, reflected on health and safety. You can read the the Convention and said that seeing full resolutions that passed at nysna. everyone together was empowerorg/Convention. Although it was ing. “We are one united group of a long day of debate and listening, people, and we all want the same members like Natalie Miller, RN, thing. Patient care is the center of our from Adirondack Medical Center focus.” The unity found at this year’s in Saranac Lake, said that hearing Convention was truly electrifying, members discuss proposals is always and it is an energy and solidarity that the part of the Convention she looks nurses take into every fight they have. forward to most. “I love the voting.

NYSNA members are looking forIt’s nice to know your vote counts.

There have been years when I’ve read ward to another year of victories as we prepare for contract campaigns a resolution and thought I was going across the state, advocate for health to vote one way, but after listening equity, and work to hold our employto people debate both sides, I’ve ers and elected officials accountable. changed my vote. Being here in person instead of voting online and read- Missed the Convention? Check out the video and photo highlights on ing the proposal there is helpful.”

NYSNA’s social media and on our First-time Convention delegate, website. And save the date for next Jessica Guncay, RN, from NYC year’s Convention: Oct. 28-29, 2025, Health +Hospitals/Gothamat Resorts World Catskills.

Sydenham shared that after speaking to various coworkers who had previously attended the Convention about their experiences, she was “most excited for the voting.”

A record amount of business was passed at the 2024 Convention. To read all the bylaws amendments and resolutions that were passed, visit the NYSNA website.

Unity and Solidarity Make Us Unstoppable Over the course of the two days, members also shared their own accomplishments with each other.

Victoria Daniels, RN, from Erie

Victoria Daniels, RN, and Lona DeNisco, RN, of Erie County Medical Center

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Mount Sinai South Nassau Nurses Take Action for a Fair Contract

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urses at Mount Sinai South Nassau walked the informational picket line on Dec. 9 to send a message to management: “It’s time for a fair contract!” Nurses have been fighting to win their first union contract. However, management

has yet to negotiate a fair contract with the safe staffing and respectful wages and benefits that nurses deserve. Long Island Jobs with Justice, the Long Island Federation of Labor and Senator Kevin Thomas joined nurses and also spoke out.

Bronx Midwives Speak Out and Rally for a Fair Contract

Supreme Court Dismisses NYP’s Appeal

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YSNA Physician Affiliated Group of New York (PAGNY) midwives working at NYC Health + Hospitals (H+H) in the Bronx held a rally and speak-out on Dec. 3, making their voices heard for safe staffing, pay parity and a fair contract.

Midwives at NYC H+H/Jacobi and North Central Bronx play a critical role in providing maternal

and reproductive healthcare in the Bronx. However, they currently struggle with understaffing and the pressure to care for too many patients in too short a time.

Together with elected officials, community members and patients, they called on PAGNY and NYC H+H to deliver the resources needed to continue reducing health disparities in the Bronx.

arlier this year, hospital executives at NYP escalated their anti-union attacks by filing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The lawsuit was an attempt to appeal its illegal firing of a nurse from NYP-Hudson Valley Hospital for union activity. Management had already lost multiple times before the National Labor Relations Board and took the unprecedented step to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

In October, the Supreme Court turned down the appeal and left management with no further right to appeal the case. This is a huge victory against NYP’s unprecedented attacks on workers’ and patients’ rights. Congratulations, NYPHudson Valley Hospital nurses!

RNRN Volunteers Huntington Nurses Vote to Join NYSNA Deployed to he nurses at Northwell Health/ election, nurses finally made their Asheville to Huntington Hospital in Long voices heard on Wednesday, Support Hurricane Island have voted for NYSNA Nov. 20. Huntington nurses are to be their union! After Huntington ready to take on Northwell Health Recovery

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nurses heard news stories about Northwell contract victories at other Long Island facilities, they reached out and began organizing to join NYSNA. After long delays preventing the National Labor Relations Board

and win a strong contract for their patients, community and profession. Congratulations, Huntington Hospital nurses and warmest welcome as the newest NYSNA members!

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N Response Network (RNRN) is a national network of direct care nurses — which the National Nurses United powers — that coordinates sending volunteer RNs to disaster-stricken areas where and when they are needed most.

The network deployed two teams of RNRN volunteers to Asheville, North Carolina, to support the Hurricane Helene recovery. Traveling from Tennessee, Arizona, New York, California, Minnesota and Florida, the 14 volunteer nurses cared for residents who had arrived at shelters and clinics in the immediate aftermath of the unprecedented storm.

Erie County Medical Center CRNAs Settle Contract

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he 22 certified registered nurse anesthesiologists (CRNAs) at Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo just settled a contract. They fought and negotiated massive wage increases ranging from 13.5% to 16.5% over the life of the contract.

Congratulations to the CRNAs for this fair contract victory!

Victory! NYP Nurses Break New Ground in Enforcing Safe Staffing

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urses in NewYorkPresybterian (NYP) Allen Hospital’s ED won a staffing arbitration award that breaks new ground in the type of remedies that an arbitrator can award in staffing cases. Due to the uniqueness of patient flow and overlapping shifts in the Allen ED, the arbitrator awarded three additional vacation days for each full-time regular Allen ED registered nurse (RN) — that is 143 violations divided by 47 RNs to reach three days. He ordered NYP to add these additional vacation days to the RNs’ personnel records and to treat this additional time as regular vacation days. This a huge win and the first staffing case in which an arbitrator has awarded additional vacation time to nurses as a remedy to the employer’s contractual violations!

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Safe Staffing Win at Catholic Health System in Long Island

Nursing Practice Alert: Required Completion of NYS Reporting Child Abuse Course All licensed health practitioners are required to repeat the Identification and Reporting New York State Child Abuse program, even if you have taken the program in the past. This is a onetime requirement that each individual practitioner must complete and send proof of completion to the New York State Education Department by April 1, 2025.

NYSNA members can take the course for free. To complete this requirement, go to https://learning.nysna.org/topclass; set up your individual account, if you haven’t already done so; register for and take the program at https://bit.ly/4fXLy5P; download your certificates of completion; and mail them to the New York State Education Department.

T Montefiore Nurses Petition Against Moses Hospital Bed Reduction

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orty nurses marched to Montefiore’s executive offices to demand that management reverse plans to reduce beds at Moses Hospital. Armed with a petition that 1,500 supporters signed, the nurses warned that cutting med-

surg and step-down beds would worsen overcrowding and compromise patient care. Members made their voices heard loud and clear against a proposed restructuring that could harm patient care.

Albany Med Nurses Win Arbitration on Uniforms

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n November, NYSNA nurses won an arbitration case on a long-standing dispute with management. As part of the contract, Albany Med was supposed to provide uniforms to all nurses. When this didn’t happen, union nurses took action to enforce our contract.

One highlight of the arbitration victory is that Albany Med will pay all nurses who did not receive

uniforms; each nurse will receive a payment of either $250 or $150 based on full-time-equivalent status.

Another is that Albany Med will provide new uniforms to employee, and all employees will be able to obtain additional uniforms in July 2025. These are great wins for Albany Med nurses who are fighting back and demanding that management negotiate a fair contract!

Welcome to the Newest NYSNA Members!

Mount Sinai RNs Enforce Safe Staffing in Their Contracts

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mergency department (ED) nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital won a safe staffing arbitration award and were awarded $900,000 to understaffed nurses to remedy those violations. This is the largest monetary award the union has obtained for any unit so far! Soon after, intensive care unit nurses at Mount Sinai Morningside won a safe staffing arbitration award thanks to nurses who documented violations over the course of 1.5 years. Despite management’s attempts to paint the protest of assignments as inaccurate, the arbitrator rejected management’s arguments and issued a financial remedy. Congratulations to Mount Sinai nurses for your persistent patient advocacy!

he ED unit at Catholic Health System’s St. Charles Hospital has been severely short staffed, and NYSNA nurses organized to hold the hospital accountable. The hospital was ordered to hire 10 new nurses — a 50% increase for the ED — and to safely staff the unit. The arbitrator gave St. Charles six months to hire, and the hospital agreed to report on its efforts to fill the vacancies at labor management and the clinical staffing meetings and allow one nurse from the ED to attend to receive updates on the recruiting process.

At St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center, nurses have also been organizing to hold the hospital accountable. On Nov. 13, mediation was held for the understaffing in the ED unit. Nurses spoke about the unsafe staffing issues they’re experiencing.

Management agreed to hire 12 more nurses to fill the staffing grid and agreed to additional language that includes monthly updates on recruitment efforts, release of ED staff to attend these meetings and more.

These is a tremendous victory for Catholic Health System nurses who work tirelessly to deliver quality patient care!

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YSNA members from the Capital Region, Central New York and Mohawk Valley recently held their first bargaining sessions. In Utica, members are bargaining their first union contract since Mohawk Valley Health System’s St. Elizabeth Medical Center and Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare united as NYSNA and moved into the new downtown Wynn Hospital. Nathan Littauer nurses are organizing and building union power before their contract expires on Dec. 31, 2024. Oneida

Hospital nurses delivered a comprehensive set of proposals during their first bargaining session. NYSNA bargaining committee members at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center and Carthage Area Hospital came together for the first time because both facilities are part of the North Star Health Alliance. They strategized and learned best practices for bargaining a contract. NYSNA members are ready to continue showing up union strong at negotiations and to organize and pressure management for a fair contract.

YSNA is proud to welcome nurse practitioners (NPs) working at One Brooklyn Health System (OBH) and nurse educators at Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC) on becoming the newest members of our union! NPs at OBH's Interfaith Medical Center and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center negotiated with the employer and won strong base salaries, inclusion in the NYSNA Health Benefits and Pension Plan, and stronger contract enforcement. At RUMC, nurse educators have been proud to stand alongside fellow NYSNA nurses and look forward to being part of the bargaining process in 2025 to win a strong, fair contract that protects nurses, patients, and our communities!

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Agency Fee Objection Policy NYSNA’s agency fee objection policy, which will be published annually in the January edition of New York Nurse, works as follows: To become an objector, a non-member who is represented by NYSNA shall notify NYSNA. Such objection must be in writing, signed by the non-member and mailed to the NYSNA Dues & Membership Department at 131 West 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001. The objection must be postmarked within 30 days of resignation of membership, or, if the non-member did not resign within the prior twelve months, in the month of February. A non-member employee who initially becomes a bargaining unit member after February in a particular year and who desires to be an objector must submit written signed notification to the NYSNA Membership Department within thirty (30) days after the employee has become subject to union security obligations and been provided with notice of these procedures. Public sector employees may revoke their dues deduction authorization and resign membership in accordance with applicable law and the terms of any signed dues deduction authorization card.

Agency fees payable by non-member objectors will be based on NYSNA’s expenditures for those activities undertaken by NYSNA to advance the employment-related interests of the employees the Union represents. These “chargeable” expenditures include: preparation for and negotiation of collective bargaining agreements; contract administration including investigating and processing grievances; organizing within the same competitive market as bargaining unit members; meetings, including meetings of governing bodies, conferences, administrative, arbitral and court proceedings, and pertinent investigation and research in connection with work-related subjects and issues; handling work-related problems of employees; communications with community organizations, civic groups, government agencies, and the media regarding NYSNA’s position on work-related matters; maintaining membership; employee group programs; providing legal, economic, and technical expertise on behalf of employees in all work-related matters; education and training of members, officers, and staff to better perform chargeable activities or otherwise related to chargeable activities; and overhead and administration related to or reflective of chargeable activities. Nonchargeable expenses are those of a political nature. The term “political” is defined as support for or against a candidate for political office of any level of government as well as support for or against certain positions that NYSNA may take, which are not work-related. The following are examples of expenditures classified as arguably nonchargeable: lobbying, electoral or political activities outside of areas related to collective bargaining; litigation expenses to the extent related to non-chargeable activities; and member-only activities.

NYSNA shall retain an independent auditor who shall submit an annual report verifying the breakdown of chargeable and arguably non-chargeable expenditures and calculating the percentage of arguably nonchargeable to chargeable expenditures (the “fair share percentage”). The auditor’s re-

port shall be completed promptly after the conclusion of the fiscal year. The report shall be provided to any non-member who submits an objection.

Non-members and new employees will be given the foregoing explanation of the basis of the reduced agency fees charged to them.

That explanation will include a list of the major categories of expenditures deemed to be “chargeable” and those deemed to be arguably “non-chargeable.”

The fees paid by non-member objectors shall be handled as follows.

Newly-Hired Non-Members. NYSNA will place or maintain in an interest-bearing escrow an amount at least equal to the agency shop fees remitted by newly-hired nonmember(s) (or by an employer on behalf of newly-hired non-member employee(s)).

A newly hired non-member employee will be mailed a copy of this Policy. The nonmember will have the later of the date he/ she is subject to the obligations of the union security clause or thirty (30) days from the date of mailing to remain a non-member, object or to join NYSNA. If the non-member employee joins NYSNA, then the full agency shop fee remitted on his/her behalf is credited from the escrow account to the Association’s general treasury. If the newly-hired employee does not join NYSNA and does not file an objection within the thirty-day objection period, then the escrowed amount will be credited to NYSNA’s general treasury.

If the newly-hired non-member timely objects, an amount at least equal to the fair share percentage shall continue to be escrowed pending resolution of a challenge (if any) by the objector. Once the challenge is resolved, the amount of the non-chargeable balance plus interest will be returned to the non-member from the escrow.

Resignation. In the case of an employee who resigns NYSNA membership (or who continues in non-member status) and who timely objects, NYSNA will place or maintain in an interest-bearing escrow account an amount at least equal to the fair share percentage of the agency fees received from the nonmember or employer on behalf of the nonmember and the non-member is permitted to challenge the fair share fee percentage during the thirty (30) day period noted in

the annual publication of the Association’s objection procedure. If the non-member files a timely challenge, amounts at least equal to agency fees collected from the non-member employee or employer will continue to be placed or maintained in the escrow account pending resolution of any challenge. If the non-member does not file a challenge within the challenge period, then the fair share fee amount will be credited to NYSNA’s general treasury and the balance (if any) paid to the non-member from the escrow plus interest.

A non-member objector may file a written challenge to the calculation of the fair share fee and percentage, challenging any of the items of the expenditures as chargeable. Such a challenge must be submitted within thirty (30) days of the date the nonmember objector is provided an explanation of the basis of the reduced agency fees and initiation fees charge to them. Such a challenge must be in writing, signed by the nonmember and sent to the NYSNA Dues & Membership Department at 131 West 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001. If NYSNA does not agree with the challenge either as to the expenditures or as to the percentage of amount of dues to be paid, it will notify the timely objecting non-member in writing that he/ she has thirty (30) days thereafter to request arbitration; and if he/she fails to do so within that time, then such non-member waives the right to arbitration. A request for arbitration must be in writing, signed by the person filing the request, and sent to the NYSNA Executive Director, 131 West 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001.

If more than one challenging non-member objector timely requests arbitration, NYSNA will consolidate all such challenges into one annual arbitration proceeding. NYSNA will provide an impartial arbitration proceeding through the American Arbitration Association and will pay the administrative costs and the arbitrator’s fees. The challenger will be responsible for any fees associated with his or her representation at the hearing.

NYSNA will administer this policy in a manner that is consistent with the objectives of the policy and the applicable federal and state law to provide a fair and equitable procedure regarding nonmember employees. NYSNA reserves the right to change the policy set forth above.

Beck Notification If you are represented for collective bargaining by NYSNA, you have the right to be or stay a nonmember and pay an agency fee equivalent to dues. If you choose to be a non-member, you are entitled to object to paying for activities unrelated to the association’s duties as a bargaining agent and to obtain a reduction in fees for such activities. If you submit a timely objection, the agency fee that you will be required to pay will include costs incurred by the union for expenditures related to collective bargaining, contract administration, grievances and arbitration, and other matters affecting wages, hours, and other conditions of employment. In 2024, the most recent calendar year for which a calculation was done, the agency fee charged to timely non-member objectors

represented 84.60% of the dues amount for that year.

If you choose to be a nonmember, please be aware that you will deny yourself the opportunity to exercise the full rights and benefits of union membership. Full membership rights include, among other things, the rights to: (1) vote on acceptance or rejection of proposed contracts covering your wages and working conditions, thereby ensuring your input on issues central to your working life; (2) participate in development of contract proposals; and (3) vote for your union officers.

A copy of NYSNA’s agency fee objection policy is published annually in the January edition of the New York Nurse. You can also request a copy from NYSNA’s Membership Department.

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131 West 33rd Street, 4th Floor New York, NY 10001

INSIDE Visit statewidepeerassistance.org to learn about the launch of the Compassion Project.

A New Year for New Victories, p. 2

The Staffing Crisis From the Frontlines, p. 3