NewYork-Presbyterian, nurses union reach tentative agreement, potentially ending strike
The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) has reached a tentative contract agreement with NewYork-Presbyterian, signaling a potential end to the longest nurses strike in New York City history.
The potential deal was announced just after midnight Friday, after the two sides restarted bargaining Thursday morning, about six weeks into the strike.
New deal between NYSNA and NewYork-Presbyterian
According to NYSNA, the agreement with NewYork-Presbyterian addresses the nurses' key concerns, including protections against layoffs, increasing salaries by more than 12% over three years, improving health benefits and protecting nurses against workplace violence.
Nurses still have to vote to ratify the deal, a process that will continue through the weekend. If approved, the 4,200 striking nurses could return to work next week.
"We are proud to say that our nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian fought, and fought very hard, toward an employer who's always delaying the response, and then, now we are excited that our nurses will begin voting at 1 p.m. in order to ratify the contract, and they are looking forward to it to get back to their patients," NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said.
"We are pleased to have reached a tentative settlement with NYSNA, through the mediator, that reflects our tremendous respect for our nurses—the settlement is still subject to ratification," a hospital spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News New York.
This is NYSNA's second tentative agreement with NewYork-Presbyterian. Nurses overwhelmingly voted down a proposal last week, as the bargaining committee said it did not offer enough layoff protections.
Why NYC nurses went on strike
About 15,000 nurses from several NewYork-Presbyterian, Mount Sinai and Montefiore hospitals began their strike back on Jan. 12 after contract negotiations with the privately run hospitals failed.
The union said nurses were fighting for pay raises, health care coverage, safe staffing levels and protections from workplace violence.
Nurses walked the picket line for over four weeks, at times in frigid temperatures.
The hospitals brought in temporary travel nurses to ensure there was no disruption to patient care, and reported that some nurses did cross the picket line and continued to work.
Partial end to NYC nurses strike
On Feb. 9, NYSNA reached a tentative contract agreement with the three hospital systems, and on Feb. 10, Mount Sinai and Montefiore nurses voted to ratify the contracts, ending the strike for about 10,500 nurses.
NewYork-Presbyterian nurses, however, voted to reject their tentative agreement and mediator's proposal.
Mount Sinai and Montefiore nurses began returning to work on Feb. 14, while more than 4,200 nurses from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital continued to strike into a fifth week.
The union said the new three-year contract maintains benefits for nurses, and includes salary raises, safeguards against artificial intelligence and safe staffing standards to protect both nurses and patients.
