New York City Council Member Mercedes Narcisse, a registered nurse, and U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, on Monday, Jan. 12, showed strong support for nearly 15,000 New York City nurses as they took to the picket lines for higher wages and better working conditions, among other benefits.
“I am deeply disappointed that it has come to this. Nurses belong at the bedside, not on a picket line,” Narcisse, the Haitian-born representative for the 46th Council District in Brooklyn, told Caribbean Life. “A strike of this magnitude reflects a failure to address long-standing issues that nurses have raised again and again.
“It feels like only yesterday that nurses were rightly recognized as the heroes they are during the COVID-19 pandemic,” added the chair of the New York City Council’s Committee on Hospitals. “Today, too many of those same nurses are being forced onto a picket line simply to be heard and treated with respect.
“This does not only hurts nurses, but it also affects patients across our city and the many hospital staff who depend on strong, collaborative partnerships with nurses to deliver safe, effective care,” Narcisse continued. “As a nurse myself, I stand firmly with my colleagues. They are asking for safe staffing, fair pay, and working conditions that allow them to care for patients properly.”
She said these are basic needs that go directly to patient safety and worker well-being.
She said these are basic needs that go directly to patient safety and worker well-being.
“I urge all parties to return to the negotiating table and reach a fair resolution as quickly as possible,” Narcisse said. “Our nurses have earned a contract that respects their work and allows them to get back to doing what they do best, caring for patients.
Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, said she stood “behind the 15,000 New York City nurses who took to the streets today with reasonable demands on their compensation, benefits, and workplace protections.
“Our nurses will always be the bedrock of our healthcare system, and they deserve a fair contract that recognizes their contributions and respects their instrumental role in keeping New Yorkers safe and healthy,” said the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus,” she said. “Anything less is simply unacceptable.”
After negotiations between five major hospitals in the city and the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), the union representing the nurses, failed to reach an agreement on a new contract by Monday’s deadline, nearly 15,000 nurses walked off the job at five privately-run hospitals.
They are Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside, Mount Sinai West, and NewYork-Presbyterian in Manhattan, and Montefiore Einstein in the Bronx.
They are Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside, Mount Sinai West, and NewYork-Presbyterian in Manhattan, and Montefiore Einstein in the Bronx.
In anticipation of the strike, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sunday declared a state of emergency, stating that it could impact critical care for thousands of patients.
“In every one of our city’s darkest periods, nurses showed up to work. Their value is not negotiable, and their worth is not up for debate,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani, only two weeks on the job, in joining picketers outside New York-Presbyterian in Washington Heights.
“In every one of our city’s darkest periods, nurses showed up to work. Their value is not negotiable, and their worth is not up for debate,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani, only two weeks on the job, in joining picketers outside New York-Presbyterian in Washington Heights.
“They show up, and all they are asking for in return is dignity, respect, and the fair pay and treatment that they deserve,” he added. “They should settle for nothing less.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who joined the nurses on the picket line on Monday, said: “If these hospitals have money to hire scabs, then they’ve got money and resources to address the needs of these nurses.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who joined the nurses on the picket line on Monday, said: “If these hospitals have money to hire scabs, then they’ve got money and resources to address the needs of these nurses.
“I urge management to negotiate in good faith, to get back to the table, to negotiate a real deal, to respect these nurses,” she added.
NYSNA said in a statement that “after months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections, forcing nearly 15,000 nurses out on the largest nurse strike in New York City history.
NYSNA said in a statement that “after months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections, forcing nearly 15,000 nurses out on the largest nurse strike in New York City history.
“Management at the richest hospitals in New York City is threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits,” it added. “These cuts would impact not just striking nurses at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Morningside, and West and New York-Presbyterian, but nearly 27,000 nurses at over 50 hospitals around the state who are enrolled in NYSNA’s health benefit plan.”
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said: “Unfortunately, greedy hospital executives have decided to put profits above safe patient care and force nurses out on strike when we would rather be at the bedsides of our patients. Hospital management refuses to address our most important issues—patient and nurse safety.
“It is shameful that the city’s richest hospitals refuse to continue healthcare benefits for frontline nurses, refuse to staff safely for our patients, and refuse to protect us from workplace violence,” she added. “It is deeply offensive that they would rather use their billions to fight against their own nurses than settle a fair contract. Nurses do not want to strike, but our bosses have forced us out on strike.”
“Shame on anyone who has seemingly forgotten who got our city through the COVID pandemic. Shame on anyone who knows the sacrifices our nurses make every single day and still denies them the pay and benefits they deserve,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Jr., whose father hails from Jamaica. “To our nurses taking this extraordinary step today, Queens salutes you for your service to our families and stands with you in your fight for fairness. In this city, the interests of working people will always come before those of private corporations.”
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said, “I stand with NYSNA in their fight for a fair contract. Nurses are irreplaceable, and safe staffing is not a luxury; it’s a lifeline. They carried our city through the pandemic, and they continue to keep Manhattan safe every single day. They deserve respect, real protection, and fair contracts. Hospital leadership must act now to protect both workers and patients.”
New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento said, “Union members across the city and state, from the public sector, private sector, and building trades, are united in our support of the nurses represented by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), who have been put in the unfortunate position of having no other choice than to strike. These nurses are dedicated professionals who provide quality patient care under unimaginable conditions day in and day out.
“It is unfathomable that these hospitals show such complete disregard for the pressure under which these nurses work and for all they do for their patients each day,” he added. “It is time for the hospitals to treat these nurses fairly, with the dignity and respect they deserve, and to negotiate in good faith and quickly to ensure nurses can get back to serving their communities by providing superior care to their patients.”
