Historic NYC Contract Campaign

cONTINueD frOM Page 9 not accepting the same wage “deal” that nurses at other New York City private hospitals accepted, failing to realize that union contracts are about more than dollars and cents.

Nurses strike

At 6 a.m. on Jan. 9, after several marathon negotiating sessions that failed to deliver tentative agreements, nurses at both facilities joined the strike line. Energy was electric, as nurses greeted their coworkers coming off the nightshift with homemade signs, cheers and hugs. There were three picket lines at the Montefiore Bronx facilities, where members kept spirits high with dancing and marching. Dozens of elected officials visited to support the nurses, and the media was a constant presence.

Members kept up the momentum outside for three days and nights from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. as bargaining committees at both facilities were hard at work hammering out an agreement inside. When the breakthroughs came that ended the strike, nurses gained agreements that included enforceable nurse-topatient staffing ratios with expedited arbitration and potential financial penalties payable to nurses when employers fail to uphold contractual safe staffing standards. Both facilities improved upon existing staffing standards in some areas exceeding California nurse-to-patient ratios. More details on the staffing victories at both facilities are available at www.nysna.org. Montefiore nurses won the community benefits and patient care improvements they had gone to the mat for.

When We Fight, We Win

This hard-fought campaign delivered major gains for tens of thousands of nurses at wealthy academic medical centers and safety-net hospitals alike. Guided by unity and the moral calling to improve patient care, nurses held the line for what was right for their patients and the future of their profession.

Do you have reflections on this contract campaign and the strike that you’d like to share with NYSNA members? Let us know by emailing nynurse@nysna.org day and night.