New York City saw a historic display of labor solidarity Tuesday as nearly 15,000 nurses entered the second week of a strike demanding better working conditions and patient care, drawing support from Senator Bernie Sanders and Mayor Zohran Mamdani amidst freezing temperatures.
Nurses Strike for Safe staffing, Fair Contracts
The largest nursing strike in New York history highlights growing concerns over hospital profitability and patient safety.
- Approximately 15,000 nurses are striking across six private New York hospitals.
- Key demands include increased staffing ratios,fully funded benefits,and protections against workplace violence.
- Senator Sanders and Mayor Mamdani publicly supported the nurses on the picket line.
- Nurses report facing unsustainable workloads and compromised patient care due to hospital policies.
The strike, now in its tenth day, centers on demands for improved staffing levels, comprehensive benefits, and enhanced workplace safety measures. Nurses accuse six private hospitals, including Mount Sinai, of failing to negotiate a fair contract. The core issue, as articulated by those on the front lines, isn’t simply about wages-it’s about the ability to provide quality care under increasingly strained conditions.
On the picket line outside Mount Sinai West Hospital in Manhattan, nurses shared deeply personal stories. Nicole Rodriguez, an executive committee member of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), described the sacrifices nurses are making. “Healthcare benefits,we will not accept any cuts,” she asserted. “these nurses do not deserve cuts to their healthcare. We need to be physically and mentally stable to take care of our patients.” Rodriguez revealed that she and her family currently have no health coverage due to the strike, expressing both fear and determination.
“I work at Mount Sinai West on 14B…We may have somebody in one room who has COVID; the next room, they just had gender reassignment surgery; and the next room, somebody is on their death bed,” Rodriguez explained, illustrating the immense emotional and physical toll of her work. “It is indeed very taxing. It’s very hard. I’m doing the best I can. But I’m out here fighting to make it better and easier for everyone.”
Nella Pineda-Marcon, a head nurse in child and adolescent psychiatry at Mount Sinai Morningside, spoke of her dedication to patient care. “I became a nurse as I really want to care for people,” she saeid. “Most of the time, the children are left to us by the parents, so we have to make sure that we give the care to the children the way the parents should.”
Michelle Gonzalez, a nurse at Montefiore Medical Center and a member of the NYSNA negotiating committee, highlighted the pandemic’s impact and the subsequent shift in how nurses are treated. “We put our own lives on the line to make sure that we were taking care of our patients…And I think now it’s sad and disheartening to see how we’re treated by our hospitals. We certainly know that five or six years ago, we were the heroes of New York city, and now we are treated with little to very no respect.”
Gonzalez pointed to the high salaries of hospital CEOs-Dr. ozuah at Montefiore Medical Center earns $16.3 million annually-as evidence of misplaced priorities. She described the unsafe conditions faced by patients in overcrowded emergency rooms,including being treated in hallway beds lacking basic amenities.
The nurses are also seeking protections against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence in hospitals, aiming to create a safe environment for all patients, notably in communities with large immigrant populations.
Gonzalez concluded, “This fight is as much for us as it is for them,” emphasizing the interconnectedness of nurse well-being and patient care.
