NYC nurses reach a deal to end a strike at 2 major hospitals while walkout continues at another

NEW YORK — Nurses and two major hospital systems in New York City have reached a deal to end a nearly monthlong strike over staffing levels, workplace safety, health insurance and other issues.

The tentative agreement announced Monday by the nurses' union involves the Montefiore and Mount Sinai hospital systems. Nurses remain on strike at NewYork-Presbyterian.

The walkout began Jan. 12, prompting the hospitals to scramble to hire legions of temporary nurses to fill in during a demanding flu season.

The three-year proposal affects roughly 10,500 of the some 15,000 nurses on strike at some of the city's biggest private, nonprofit hospitals.

The union said nurses at Montefiore and Mount Sinai hospitals will vote to ratify their contracts starting Monday. If the tentative deals are ratified, nurses will return to work Saturday.

''For four weeks, nearly 15,000 NYSNA members held the line in the cold and in the snow for safe patient care,'' Nancy Hagans, president of the New York State Nurses Association, said in a statement. ''Now, nurses at Montefiore and Mount Sinai systems are heading back to the bedside with our heads held high.''

The nurses union said the tentative agreements call for a 12% pay raise over three years, as well as maintain nurses' health benefits with no additional out-of-pocket costs.

A Montefiore spokesperson declined to comment other than to confirm its nurses would be voting through Wednesday.

Brendan Carr, Mount Sinai's CEO, said in a note to hospital staff that it would take time for the system to ''rebuild the momentum'' after a ''long and difficult'' negotiation.

''I commit to you that we will heal the organization together in the service of continuing to help people to live longer and better lives,'' he wrote.

Meanwhile, NewYork-Presbyterian said it agreed over the weekend to a proposal from mediators that includes pay raises, preserves nurses' pensions, maintains their health benefits and increases staffing levels. The union responded that no deal has been reached and the strike remains in effect.

Jennifer Lynch was among the union members picketing in front of NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in Manhattan on Monday. She said staffing levels and job security were among the top sticking points in negotiations.

Maria Tsoi, a NewYork-Presbyterian nurse, said her hospital treats as many as 300 patients in the emergency department at any given time -- far too many to handle at the current staffing levels.

''So what we're asking is for more nurses,'' Tsoi said. ''That's why we want the hospital to hire more nurses, so that we can better care for our patients.''

The affected hospitals have insisted their operations are running smoothly during the walkout, with organ transplants, cardiac surgeries and other complex procedures largely uninterrupted. Many of the medical centers, however, canceled scheduled surgeries, transferred some patients and discharged others ahead of the strike.

The striking nurses' priorities vary by hospital, but staffing has generally been a central issue. Nurses complained of being overworked, saying the hospitals held out for weeks on committing to more manageable patient loads. The union said Monday that the tentative agreements would increase staffing and otherwise address those concerns.

The union has also sought workplace security upgrades and restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence. Hospital staffers' longstanding security concerns flared into public view when a gunman entered Mount Sinai in November and a man holed up in a Brooklyn hospital with a sharp object last month. Police killed both men.

The nurses have countered that top hospital executives make millions of dollars a year.

Not every hospital in the three health care systems was affected by the strike, nor were any city-run public hospitals. Other private hospitals reached last-minute deals with the union.

Nurses staged a three-day strike in 2023 in the Mount Sinai and Montefiore systems. They ultimately inked contracts that, among other measures, raised pay 19% over three years.

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