Thousands of nurses go on strike at several major New York City hospitals

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NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

“Nurses on strike! ... Fair contract now!” they shouted on a picket line outside NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital's campus in Upper Manhattan. Others picketed at multiple hospitals in the Mount Sinai and Montefiore systems.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to their union, the New York State Nurses Association. The hospitals remained open, hiring droves of temporary nurses to try to fill the labor gap.

The strike involves private, nonprofit hospitals, not city-run ones. But the strike, which the union casts as lifesaving essential workers fighting hospital executives who make millions of dollars a year, could be a significant early test of Mayor Zohran Mamdani's new administration.

The democratic socialist campaigned on a pro-worker platform and struck a similar note while visiting nurses on the NewYork-Presbyterian picket line Monday.

“These executives are not having difficulty making ends meet," said Mamdani, who extolled nurses' work and said they were seeking “dignity, respect and the fair pay and treatment that they deserve. They should settle for nothing less.”

Some other Democratic city and state politicians also visited striking nurses, while Gov. Kathy Hochul sent state health officials to the hospitals to keep watch over patient care. She called in a statement for the sides to negotiate a deal that “recognizes the essential work nurses do."

The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.

The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.

Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents such as an episode last week when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.

The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.

The hospitals say that they’ve been working to improve staffing levels but say that the union’s demands overall are too costly.

After the nurses gave notice Jan. 2 of the looming strike, the hospitals hired temporary nurses, vowed to “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions” and said they were prepared to deliver care no matter how long the strike lasts. Mount Sinai said in a statement Monday it had lined up 1,400 temporary nurses.

Mount Sinai said the union was making “extreme economic demands." Montefiore spokesperson Joe Solmonese said the union was pressing "$3.6 billion in reckless demands," including exorbitant raises. The union hasn't publicly disclosed its salary proposal.

New York-Presbyterian accused the union of staging a strike to “create disruption.”

"We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognizes the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment,” the hospital said.

Each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.

Both Hochul and Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike.

The last major nursing strike in the city happened in 2023. The three-day work stoppage resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at Mount Sinai's flagship hospital and Montefiore.

It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.