New York — Striking nurses in two major New York City hospital systems agreed to new contracts, but striking nurses in another system rejected the proposal, ensuring that… Strike for a month It will continue at some of the city’s major medical centers.
The New York State Nurses Association announced Wednesday that its members at Montefiore and Mount Sinai have agreed to new three-year deals while nurses at New York-Presbyterian rejected the proposal.
The nurses who will return to work in the coming days represent about 10,500 out of about 15,000 male and female nurses. He got out of work January 12, in what the union said was the largest and longest strike of its kind in the city’s history.
“This hard-won victory shows hospitals that they cannot afford to skimp on patient care,” Nancy Hagans, the union’s president, said in a statement. “Now is the time for NewYork-Presbyterian to do the right thing, agree to a fair contract and put all of our nurses back to work.”
Brendan Carr, Mount Sinai’s chief executive, urged hospital staff to cooperate with compassion, respect and a “shared culture” as unionized nurses return to work starting Saturday.
“The past few weeks have been difficult, emotional, frustrating and stressful in different ways for all of us,” he said in a letter to staff. “I want to remind us all that health care is built on compassion, and that compassion must extend not only to our patients, but also to each other.”
NewYork Presbyterian said it was disappointed that nurses did not endorse a proposal from the mediators that would have provided benefits and protections similar to those approved by their counterparts at Montefiore and Mount Sinai.
Senior union leaders also urged New York Presbyterian Nurses to accept the deal, despite its own union The negotiating committee rejected it.
“We believe the proposal, which includes the waivers, is fair and reasonable and reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play,” New York-Presbyterian said in a statement.
The hospital system said it is still determining its next steps. The union said that more than 4,200 nurses in New York are still on strike.
A Montefiore spokesman did not immediately comment.
The union said the deals approved Wednesday include wage increases of more than 12% over three years.
It also maintains health benefits for nurses at no additional out-of-pocket costs, and includes new protections against workplace violence, including specific protections for nurses and transgender and immigrant patients, the union said.
The agreements also include new safeguards against the use of artificial intelligence in hospitals for the first time, according to the union.
Unionized nurses began a sit-in in front of some of the city’s largest private hospitals at a time when the area was experiencing some suffering. Cooler temperatures Seen years ago.
Nurses said staffing and safety were among the top issues in contract talks.
They complained that their patient numbers were unmanageable and demanded better security measures in hospitals, especially afterward The last two are violentAccidents.
The union said new deals reached with Mount Sinai and Montefiore address those concerns by requiring hospitals to increase staffing levels and new safety measures, such as additional gun detection systems at entrances, more visitor screening and wearable panic alarms for staff.
Hospitals insisted on their part Operations in the affected hospitals are going smoothly During the strike, organ transplants, heart surgeries and other complex procedures went largely uninterrupted.
They brought in thousands of temporary nurses to fill staffing gaps, canceled scheduled surgeries, moved some patients in and discharged others in the days leading up to the strike.
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